ATLANTA—Derrick Rose and the Bulls turned a heartbreaking loss in Atlanta into more motivation for their surge to the top of the Eastern Conference.Rose had 30 points and 10 assists, helping the Bulls move back in the East’s top spot with a runaway 114-81 win over the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night.The Bulls began the night tied with idle Boston for the conference’s best record.The Bulls led by 19 points in the second quarter of their 83-80 loss in Atlanta on March 2. Since then, the Bulls have won 10 of 11, including two lopsided wins over Atlanta.Rose said the Bulls made sure there would be no repeat of the loss to the Hawks earlier this month.Rose closed the first half with three 3-pointers, including one just before the half ended. The Bulls led 72-43 at the break after outscoring the Hawks 41-22 in the second period. The Bulls made 31 of 42 shots (73.8 percent) in the half and finished at 54.4 percent.Fans chanted “MVP! MVP!” during Rose’s spree of 3-pointers. He went 6 for 8 from long range for the game.The Bulls are making it more difficult for coach Tom Thibodeau to find fault in their wins.Thibodeau said he wasn’t satisfied with the Bulls defense in its 132-92 home victory over Sacramento on Monday night. One night later, the Bulls tightened their defense as Rose and Luol Deng led a devastating first-half offensive performance.Bulls starters sat out the final period after the Bulls set season highs with 41 points in the second period and 72 points in the first half. Deng finished with 27 points.The Hawks were denied an opportunity to clinch a playoff spot and absorbed their first home loss to the Bulls in four years.Jeff Teague scored 17 of his 20 points in the fourth for Atlanta, which trailed 98-60 after three and also decided to rest its starters in the final period. Josh Smith and Al Horford had 14 points apiece, but Horford departed in the third with a strained hamstring.Hawks coach Larry Drew said he expects Horford will be able to play Wednesday at Philadelphia.The Hawks, who lost 100-59 to New Orleans at home on Jan. 21, came close to a second 40-point home loss. The Bulls biggest lead was 47 points.The Bulls were almost perfect in pulling away from the Hawks in the first half.With 4:50 remaining in the second quarter, Drew called a timeout after Kyle Korver’s 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 57-35 lead. Atlanta had made 52 percent of its shots from the field and still trailed by 22 because the Bulls were shooting at a season-best pace.The Bulls best shooting game of the season came on Dec. 21, when they shot 64.5 percent from the field in a home win over Philadelphia. Against the Hawks, the Bulls were even better — for a half.The Bulls continued to stretch the lead in the second half. Rose had 10 points in the third quarter while earning the early exit.The Hawks’ frustrations showed when backup center Zaza Pachulia and Drew exchanged sharp words on the bench late in the game. The 7-foot Pachulia left after missing a long jumper.

NOTES—The Bulls ended a six-game losing streak in Atlanta, winning at Philips Arena for first time since April 1, 2007…..The Bulls made 17 of 21 shots while scoring a season-high 41 points in the second — the most Hawks have allowed in any period this season. The Bulls’ 72 first-half points also are the most Atlanta has allowed in a half this season…..The Bulls outscored Atlanta 48-18 in the paint.

Last season,the Sacramento Kings staged the second largest rally in NBA history by wiping out a 35 point Bulls second half lead for a win. This this time! Not even close. Derrick Rose and Kyle Korver scored 18 points apiece as the Bulls routed the Kings 132-92 on Monday night.The win gave the Bulls (50-19) their first 50-win season since 1997-98 and allowed them to remain tied with Boston atop the Eastern Conference. The Celtics beat the New York Knicks on Monday.Carlos Boozer scored 16 points in his return to the Bulls’ lineup after missing five games with a sprained left ankle. He joined a balanced Bulls attack that had eight players scoring in double figures in a game that was not close after the first period.Marcus Thornton led the Kings with 25 points.The Bulls had eight players score in double figures. The Bulls face the Hawks in Atlanta Tuesday night,teir first visit there since blowing an 18 point lead at Phillips Arena a few weeks ago.

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TULSA—In a bracket filled with upsets, top-seeded Kansas is jumping for joy.Twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris combined for 41 points and 24 rebounds, powering Kansas past Illinois 73-59 on Sunday night to ensure the Jayhawks wouldn’t make an opening-weekend exit from the NCAA tournament for the second successive year.The Morris twins scored 24 of Kansas’ first 29 points in the second half, punctuated by consecutive two-handed slams by Markieff that made it 62-51 with 3:51 to play. After an Illinois turnover at the other end, the twins each followed Tyshawn Taylor in making leaping spins into teammates to start a timeout.The Jayhawks (34-2) avoided revisiting their loss to another No. 9 seed, Northern Iowa, exactly a year earlier and also on Oklahoma soil. Instead, they’re moving on in a bracket filled with underdogs.No. 11 seed VCU and 12th-seeded Richmond will join them in the Southwest regional semifinals in San Antonio. Kansas plays Richmond on Friday.Mike Davis led the Fighting Illini (20-14) with 17 points and seven rebounds. Star point guard Demetri McCamey was hardly a factor, finishing with just six points and seven assists.McCamey didn’t make his first basket of the second half until there was 2:15 left, after Markieff Morris followed his earlier throwdowns with another two-handed alley-oop slam that he had to reach down and retrieve before dunking to make it 66-51.That completed a 10-0 surge that finally put away the Fighting Illini — hardly a small-time upstart with a senior-laden roster featuring pro prospects McCamey and Davis, who both put their names into the NBA draft before returning for one last season.The Jayhawks had been down this road before, and never liked it much. Before Northern Iowa, they had another bad experience in Oklahoma City back in 1998, heading home early after a loss to eighth-seeded Rhode Island. Back in 1992, Kansas lost to No. 9 seed UTEP in Dayton, Ohio. All time, the Jayhawks were just 3-2 against No. 9 seeds in their second tournament game.Stanford is the only other team that’s failed even twice to make it to the round of 16 as a top seed.There’s nothing more to add to that dubious history now. Instead, coach Bill Self can celebrate a win against Bruce Weber, the man who replaced him as the Illini coach and once held a mock funeral to encourage everyone in Champaign to move on.The Illini were within two after Mike Tisdale’s jumper to open the second half, and again after Davis’ hook shot a few moments later, but never could find out if the Jayhawks would get nervous if they got behind.Markieff Morris ended up with 24 points and 12 rebounds and his brother had 17 points and 12 boards. Taylor, playing with his right middle finger taped to his ring finger, added 13 points.D.J. Richardson scored 15 and Tisdale chipped in 13 points and 11 rebounds for Illinois.Eager to avoid another early exit, Kansas raged out to an 18-6 advantage in the first 6 1/2 minutes. Markieff Morris nailed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, giving a confident nod of his head after it went through, and Tyrel Reed followed with his own 3. After a timeout, Elijah Johnson skied for a two-handed throwdown of Marcus Morris’ alley-oop pass and the Jayhawks.

CLEVELAND—Darius Johnson-Odom started the party on the court. Buzz Williams took it into the stands.Johnson-Odom’s 3-pointer with 27 seconds left snapped a tie and gave Marquette a 66-62 win over Syracuse on Sunday night that put the Golden Eagles into the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 for the first time in eight years.The 11th-seeded Golden Eagles (22-14) had the winning basket set up by one of Syracuse’s 18 turnovers. Dion Waiters’ pass went long and Scoop Jardine’s jump to grab it resulted in an over-and-back.Johnson-Odom delivered for a 62-59 lead and Marquette is moving on at the expense of its Big East rival. Marquette will play No. 2 seed North Carolina (28-7) in the East regional semifinals Friday in Newark, N.J. The Golden Eagles are in the round of 16 for the first time since Dwyane Wade led them to the Final Four in 2003.This was the second straight early exit for third-seeded Syracuse (27-8). The Orange were a No. 1 seed last year and lost in the round of 16 to Butler.Williams, Marquette’s emotional coach, broke into a delirious celebration. He hugged his players, ran to press row and pounded the table. He pumped his fists toward the fans, then over to the seats and gave his wife and family a long, emotional hug.He couldn’t stop smiling as fans chanted his name and broke into the traditional “We are [clap-clap] Marquette!” cheer.Williams had 40 minutes of emotion bottled up because neither team could ever shake the other. It was a typical bruising Big East battle that could have been played at the Carrier Dome, the Bradley Center or Madison Square Garden.Cleveland, though, is the setting for Williams’ greatest coaching triumph.Johnson-Odom scored 17 points and Jae Crowder had 16 for the Golden Eagles. Marquette beat the Orange in nearly every important category, from free throw shooting (19 for 23 vs. 5 for 7) to rebounding (30-24) and steals, assists — on it went.Marquette was one of a record 11 Big East teams to make the field — and the most scrutinized. With 14 losses and a 9-9 record in conference play, the Golden Eagles were a shaky pick when the brackets were announced.Who’s counting them out now? The Orange, who were swept 2-0 by Marquette this season, saw their season come to a stunning end yet again. Waiters scored 18 points and Kris Joseph had 12, but no one else had any kind of offensive impact.

Oh yeah, Virginia Commonwealth belongs in the NCAA tournament. The real question now: Who can stop the Rams? Fresh, fast, furious and at times flawless, VCU didn’t look a bit like a team playing its third game in five nights. The Rams pressured Purdue, broke through its defense for numerous layups, and overwhelmed the third-seeded Boilermakers of the Big Ten 94-76 Sunday night to earn their first trip to the round of 16.As their fans chanted “VCU, VCU,” players hugged and celebrated on the floor of the United Center. What a trip — what a week — it has been. Now it’s on to San Antonio for the 11th-seeded Rams (26-11) to play the winner of Notre Dame-Florida State on Friday in the Southwest regional semifinals.It was just a week ago the Rams received an at-large bid to the disbelief of some critics. Shuttled off to Dayton for a first-round game, they beat Southern Cal on Wednesday, got into Chicago in the wee hours Thursday, routed Georgetown on Friday and then did the same to the Boilermakers.Purdue coach Matt Painter, whose Boilermakers (26-8) were denied a third straight trip to the round of 16, agreed. Bradford Burgess scored 23 points to lead a balanced offense, and the Rams’ depth wore the Boilermakers down in the second half when the lead reached 20 points.VCU finished with 26 assists to just four turnovers. The Rams didn’t hesitate to pop up 3-pointers — making 8-of-21 — but they also took it inside against Big Ten Player of the Year JaJuan Johnson, challenging the 6-foot-10 center.Johnson did finish with 25 points and 14 rebounds in the final game of a stellar career.But VCU really stopped the Boilermakers’ other star, E’Twaun Moore, holding him to 10 points on 5-of-15 shooting. That’s eight points below his average. Ryne Smith had 20 for Purdue, hitting 6-of-8 on 3-pointers.

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]Bernard James scored 14 points, Michael Snaer added 13 and Florida State showed there’s more to its game than defense with a 71-57 upset of second-seeded Notre Dame on Sunday night that put the Seminoles in the Regional semifinals for the first time since 1993.It was an impressive effort by the 10th-seeded Seminoles, who had four players in double figures and went 9 of 19 from 3-point range. Even more astounding, James was so sick he needed three IVs on Sunday and felt as if he was going to get sick the whole night.Derwin Kitchen, who had 10 points and six rebounds.Florida State (23-10) now faces upstart Virginia Commonwealth in the Southwest Regional semifinals Friday in San Antonio. The 11th-seeded Rams, maligned as not worthy of being in the 68-team field, stunned third-seeded Purdue earlier Sunday for their third win in five nights.It will be the first 10 vs. 11 matchup in NCAA tournament history.For Notre Dame, meanwhile, it was another disappointing showing in the NCAAs. The Fighting Irish (27-7) had their highest seed since also receiving a No. 2 in 1981 under Digger Phelps, yet ended up the same way they have for much of the last two decades — headed home after the first weekend.Notre Dame has made the regional semifinals just once in the last 24 years, back in 2003.

GLENDALE—Chris Campoli scored a power-play with 6:34 remaining and the Blackhawks beat the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 on Sunday night.Campoli, acquired from Ottawa on Feb. 28, scored his first goal for the Hawks when he took a cross-crease pass from Jonathan Toews and put a shot into the vacated left side of the net before Ilya Bryzgalov, covering the right side, could recover.Duncan Keith also scored for the Hawks, who moved into sixth place in the Western Conference with 86 points. Los Angeles also has 86 points, but is ahead because the Kings have one more victory.Eric Belanger scored for the Coyotes, whose five-game winning streak was snapped. Phoenix, fourth in the West with 89 points, hadn’t lost in regulation since March 3 (6-0-1).Keith gave the Blackhawks a 1-0 lead on a power-play goal with 30 seconds left in the first period. He fired the puck between Bryzgalov’s pads from the center of the left circle.Belanger tied it at 18:43 of the second when his blast from the top of the right circle bounced off Nick Leddy’s skate and past partially screened goalie Corey Crawford.

NOTES—Nashville also has 86 points but with one less win than the Blackhawks……Patrick Sharp left the game with 1:35 to go in the first period after a knee-on-knee collision with Coyotes D Rostislav Klesla. Toews has a point in 19 of 23 games….The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 17,328. Coyotes D Adrian Aucoin played in his 1,000th NHL game.

BOSTON—John Shurna scored 20 points with nine rebounds and Juice Thompson had 22 points and six assists as Northwestern beat Boston College 85-67 on Saturday to advance to the NIT quarterfinals for the first time.The Wildcats (20-13) made 15 of 36 from 3-point range and tied a school record for wins that they set last year. They will play the winner of Monday night’s game between Oklahoma State and Washington State for the chance to reach the tournament’s final four. Joe Trapani scored 18 and Josh Southern had 12 for BC (21-13), which ends its first season under coach Steve Donahue. NU, which has never been in the NCAA tournament, made the NIT for the third straight year and beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 70-61 in the opening round. BC beat McNeese State 82-64 in the first round.BC led 14-12 early before Thompson hit a short jumper and then Crawford hit back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key. It was 23-all when the Wildcats scored 15 of the next 23 points — six of them by Shurna — to take a seven-point lead. Northwestern led 56-46 with 13:19 left before scoring nine of the next 11 points to put the game away.Donahue took his starters out with 1:21 left and BC trailing by 14, giving the crowd a chance to cheer for seniors Trapani, Southern, Biko Paris, Corey Raji and John Cahill.

NOTES—This was the first time the Wildcats ever won an NIT game outside of the Chicago Area, having won in Rosemont against Notre Dame in 1983, and in Evanston against DePaul in 1994, and Wednesday against UWM also at home….The Quarter Finals game will definatly be on the road no matter if Washington State or Oklahoma State wins that matchup Monday.

The Rush’s Home Opener against the Philadelphia Soul didn’t start quite the way Rush Head Coach Bob McMillen might have liked. The Soul scored an early touchdown in their first series just 46 seconds into the game. However, following that initial score by the Soul, the Rush was quick to strike back on their own opening drive and dominated the turf from that first possession on, scoring five unanswered touchdowns.Two of the touchdowns, one in the first quarter and one in the second, were the result of a fumble recovery by FB/LB Marcus Waugh (#40) and a net recovery by DB Perry Kyles (#5). Additional scoring drives by FB Johnnie Kirton (#37)resulted in two more of the Rush’ six TDs in the first half. Philadelphia was able to squeak in one last score before the end of the half but the scoreboard said it all at the end of the first half: Chicago Rush 40 – Philadelphia Soul 14.The second half of the rivalry began as a defensive battle with a pair of interceptions; the first coming from Soul DB Mike Brown and the other from Rush DB Vic Hall. Rush Quarterback, Russ Michna , scored the first touchdown of the 3rd quarter and followed the score with a 2 point conversion by Vic Hall off of a bad extra point snap. Soul Quarterback Ryan Vena scored the final touchdown of the 3rd quarter with 13 seconds left on the clock. A failed onside kick closed out the 3rd quarter with the Rush still ahead 48-21.The final quarter of the game saw Rush QB Michna finding WR Micah Rucker in the corner of the end zone. Rucker hulled in a one handed catch for another Rush touchdown with 12:42 left to go in the game making it 55-21 game. However, the Soul struck back one last time with QB keeper for a touchdown by Vena.The final nail in the coffin came on a touchdown reception between former college teammates, Michna and WR Reggie Gray at the 1 minute mark as well as a final interception by Rush DB Jason Simpson.One last touchdown reception by WR #1 Reggie Gray, at the 1 minute mark, and a final interception by Rush DB #6 Jason Simpson, with 49 seconds left, sealed the win for the Rush with a final score of 62-28.The overall story of the game was turnovers. The Rush caused 9 turnovers, 4 of them coming from Interceptions, and five from fumbles and the Rush handed the Soul their largest loss since 2006 on this same date; March 18^{th.The Rush not only celebrated a victory but celebrated with 10,582 fans who packed into the Allstate Arena for the match. This is the largest attendance since the 2008 season.The Rush play at home again next Friday, March 25th when they take on the San Jose Sabercats with a 7:30pm kick-off.}

TULSA—All those late-season struggles are behind Mike Davis and Illinois. The NCAA tournament is all that matters now.Davis tied his season high with 22 points, Demetri McCamey added 17 points and seven assists and Illinois dominated UNLV 73-62 Friday night to set up another meeting between Fighting Illini coaches past and present in the Southwest region of the NCAA tournament.The ninth-seeded Illini (20-13) took control with an early 15-0 run and led by as many as 25 in a surprisingly easy rout, after losing 10 of their previous 16 games to bring into question whether they’d even make it into the 68-team bracket.

Bruce Weber’s squad led by double digits throughout the second half against eighth-seeded UNLV (24-9), with former Illini coach Lon Kruger in charge. Next up for Illinois is a Sunday night clash against No. 1 seed Kansas and Weber’s predecessor, Bill Self.”It’s been such a long time. Both Lon and Bill did tremendous job at Illinois. I respect them. Everywhere they’ve been they’ve been very good coaches, there’s no doubt,” Weber said. “At Illinois, they helped the program.”I’m just worried about Kansas. That’s what I’m really worried about, their players and seeing if we can match up with them.”Illinois moved to 15-0 this season when McCamey has at least seven assists. The Illini played without freshman reserve Jereme Richmond, who was suspended for violating unspecified team rules. Weber said he hadn’t decided whether Richmond will play Sunday.Oscar Bellfield scored 14 to lead the Runnin’ Rebels, who had lost just three of their previous 13 games — all against BYU and San Diego State, the Mountain West’s pair of top-10 powers.”It’s disappointing for the guys because they played really well in the last month especially, and doing the things they needed to do to create the opportunity to be here,” said Kruger, going against Illinois for the first time in his 25 years as a college coach.Illinois was ranked as high as No. 12 at midseason but faded with a series of late-game failures. That wasn’t an issue this time.The Illini were on from the start, handling UNLV’s in-your-face defense with ease and building a 23-point lead while shooting 63 percent in the first half. The Runnin’ Rebels went scoreless for a span of nearly seven minutes in the first half.McCamey ran the show, setting up his teammates early and then getting to the basket himself. He started the Illini’s big run with back-to-back layups and finished it off with a 3-pointer from the left wing that made it 29-12 with 6:51 left before halftime.Mike Tisdale answered UNLV’s next basket — Anthony Marshall’s driving layup that resulted in a three-point play — with a highlight-reel throwdown of Brandon Paul’s alley-oop and Illinois kept rolling.McCamey provided the finishing touches with another 3-pointer that dropped in at the halftime buzzer, putting Illinois up 46-24, and then leaped into a teammate before heading to the locker room.It was the second time in the last three games the Illini were so dominant in the first half. They also rushed out to a 46-21 halftime lead against Indiana on senior day in Champaign. But in between, they squandered a 12-point lead in the final 8½ minutes against Michigan at the Big Ten tournament to provide a fresh reminder of a season-long quandary heading into the NCAAs.UNLV got within 61-45 on Stanback’s jumper with 8 minutes left, but D.J. Richardson hit back-to-back 3-pointers and then a layup to bump the lead back to 22 by the 5-minute mark.A Rebels rally that came way too late made the score look deceivingly close in Illinois’ first NCAA tournament win in five years.The next task is to make it out of the opening weekend for the first time since losing to North Carolina in the 2005 national championship game. And it won’t be an easy one against the Jayhawks, who have lost twice all season and will be trying to exorcise the demons of a second-round loss against Northern Iowa last year.