MINNEAPOLIS—MarQueis Gray rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another score, guiding Minnesota past backsliding Illinois 27-7 on Saturday in the season finale and sending the Fighting Illini to their sixth straight defeat.Gray took off 27 times to break the single-season rushing record for a Golden Gophers quarterback, giving him 966 yards. Billy Cockerham had 831 yards rushing in 1999.Troy Pollard’s 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the only highlight for the Illini (6-6, 2-6 Big Ten), who wasted their best start in 60 years and put coach Ron Zook’s job in obvious danger. Nathan Scheelhaase, who was 4 for 6 for 15 yards in a time share with Reilly O’Toole, lost a costly fumble on one of his five sacks.Illinois held an opponent under 100 yards passing for the fifth time this season – Gray went 7 for 14 for 85 yards – but couldn’t stop him from scrambling and converting critical first downs. Jordan Wettstein kicked field goals of 43 and 51 yards for the Gophers (3-9, 2-6), who have won nine of their last 12 games against the Illini.They held Illinois to 18 yards on 23 plays in the first half and a season-low 160 yards on 59 plays for the game, by far the best performance of the year for a defense playing with a lot more speed and confidence than during that 58-0 loss at Michigan on Oct. 1.This was the first time Minnesota led from start to finish since winning 17-6 at Purdue on Oct. 25, 2008. The Gophers posted their largest margin of victory since beating Florida Atlantic 37-3 on Sept. 20, 2008, and their biggest in a conference game since a 63-26 win over Indiana on Nov. 4, 2006.They appeared to want this one more than the Illini, who looked defeated and lethargic except for a first-down run by freshman O’Toole, who jumped up and pumped his fist to fire up the sideline in the third quarter. That drive was extended by a successful fake-punt run by Jay Prosch and capped by Pollard’s score, but the Gophers were unfazed.They danced on the sideline between the third and fourth quarters and kept up their sure tackling throughout the final minutes. The outcome – and perhaps Zook’s dismissal – was sealed when sixth-year senior free safety Kim Royston sacked Scheelhaase for a 7-yard loss on fourth-and-goal to give the Gophers the ball back at the 5-minute mark.The Gophers punted on their first four possessions, but they got their first break early in the second quarter when Scheelhaase was sacked and stripped of the ball by Ra’Shede Hageman. Michael Amaefula recovered at the 16-yard line, and Gray slipped out of Steve Hull’s tackle on the next play on his way to an easy touchdown run.Gray owned the next drive, too, finding Da’Jon McKnight for a pair of first downs and a wide-open John Rabe from 8 yards out on third down to stretch the lead to 14-0. Wettstein, the walk-on who took over four games ago when Chris Hawthorne got hurt, nailed a couple of kicks before the end of the half, and the Gophers took a 20-point lead to the locker room.They padded it on their first possession of the third quarter after a 21-yard punt by Ryan Lankford gave them the ball at their 43. Gray finished the possession with a 14-yard touchdown run, putting a slick juke on DeJazz Woods at the line of scrimmage to jog into the end zone untouched.The Illini, who beat Baylor in the Texas Bowl last year, have never won bowl games in consecutive seasons. There’s no guarantee they’ll get invited this time, with more eligible Big Ten teams than assigned slots.Zook, 57, is 34-51 in seven seasons, a winning percentage that ranks 11th among the 13 Illini coaches who’ve coached more than one season.

MINNEAPOLIS—MarQueis Gray rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another score, guiding Minnesota past backsliding Illinois 27-7 on Saturday in the season finale and sending the Fighting Illini to their sixth straight defeat.Gray took off 27 times to break the single-season rushing record for a Golden Gophers quarterback, giving him 966 yards. Billy Cockerham had 831 yards rushing in 1999.Troy Pollard’s 11-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the only highlight for the Illini (6-6, 2-6 Big Ten), who wasted their best start in 60 years and put coach Ron Zook’s job in obvious danger. Nathan Scheelhaase, who was 4 for 6 for 15 yards in a time share with Reilly O’Toole, lost a costly fumble on one of his five sacks.Illinois held an opponent under 100 yards passing for the fifth time this season – Gray went 7 for 14 for 85 yards – but couldn’t stop him from scrambling and converting critical first downs. Jordan Wettstein kicked field goals of 43 and 51 yards for the Gophers (3-9, 2-6), who have won nine of their last 12 games against the Illini.They held Illinois to 18 yards on 23 plays in the first half and a season-low 160 yards on 59 plays for the game, by far the best performance of the year for a defense playing with a lot more speed and confidence than during that 58-0 loss at Michigan on Oct. 1.This was the first time Minnesota led from start to finish since winning 17-6 at Purdue on Oct. 25, 2008. The Gophers posted their largest margin of victory since beating Florida Atlantic 37-3 on Sept. 20, 2008, and their biggest in a conference game since a 63-26 win over Indiana on Nov. 4, 2006.They appeared to want this one more than the Illini, who looked defeated and lethargic except for a first-down run by freshman O’Toole, who jumped up and pumped his fist to fire up the sideline in the third quarter. That drive was extended by a successful fake-punt run by Jay Prosch and capped by Pollard’s score, but the Gophers were unfazed.They danced on the sideline between the third and fourth quarters and kept up their sure tackling throughout the final minutes. The outcome – and perhaps Zook’s dismissal – was sealed when sixth-year senior free safety Kim Royston sacked Scheelhaase for a 7-yard loss on fourth-and-goal to give the Gophers the ball back at the 5-minute mark.The Gophers punted on their first four possessions, but they got their first break early in the second quarter when Scheelhaase was sacked and stripped of the ball by Ra’Shede Hageman. Michael Amaefula recovered at the 16-yard line, and Gray slipped out of Steve Hull’s tackle on the next play on his way to an easy touchdown run.Gray owned the next drive, too, finding Da’Jon McKnight for a pair of first downs and a wide-open John Rabe from 8 yards out on third down to stretch the lead to 14-0. Wettstein, the walk-on who took over four games ago when Chris Hawthorne got hurt, nailed a couple of kicks before the end of the half, and the Gophers took a 20-point lead to the locker room.They padded it on their first possession of the third quarter after a 21-yard punt by Ryan Lankford gave them the ball at their 43. Gray finished the possession with a 14-yard touchdown run, putting a slick juke on DeJazz Woods at the line of scrimmage to jog into the end zone untouched.The Illini, who beat Baylor in the Texas Bowl last year, have never won bowl games in consecutive seasons. There’s no guarantee they’ll get invited this time, with more eligible Big Ten teams than assigned slots.Zook, 57, is 34-51 in seven seasons, a winning percentage that ranks 11th among the 13 Illini coaches who’ve coached more than one season.

EVANSTON—All week long Michigan State vowed to look straight ahead at Northwestern instead of a week down the road to the Big Ten championship game. The Spartans were true to their word, beating Northwestern 31-17 on Saturday in a competitive tuneup. With a spot in next Saturday’s title game against Wisconsin secured, Michigan State wasn’t about to coast in the regular season finale. Michigan State (10-2, 7-1) wanted 10 wins and even though the Spartans had already clinched the Legends Division by virtue of a tiebreaker over Michigan, they wanted to ensure the best record in their division.All of it was accomplished on a drizzly day at Ryan Field. Keshawn Martin returned a punt 57 yards for a TD just before half, Kirk Cousins became the school’s career TD pass leader with two more and Michigan State’s league-best defense came up with six sacks. Cousins threw a 33-yard TD to B.J. Cunningham in the third quarter and hit him again on a juggling 29-yard TD pass with 5:17 left to complete a 93-yard drive. It was the 62nd career touchdown pass for Cousins, breaking the school record held by Jeff Smoker (61). Northwestern (6-6, 3-5) had its four-game winning streak snapped in the regular-season finale and now hopes for a bowl bid. The Wildcats closed to 24-17 early in the final quarter on Dan Persa’s 12-yard TD pass to Demetrius Fields, set up by a clutch fourth-down pass from Persa to Jeremy Ebert. The Wildcats got the ball back at the MSU 47, but a holding penalty and Jerel Worthy’s sack of Persa forced a punt and then MSU went on its long, game-clinching drive.Cousins completed 14 of 20 for 214 yards and Cunningham had six catches for 120 yards. Persa completed 23 of 32 for 245 yards and two TDs. Michigan State scored two touchdowns in the final 1:40 of the second quarter, including Martin’s punt return, and took a 17-3 lead at the intermission. Instead of being ahead, all of a sudden Northwestern was behind by two touchdowns.

“It drives me crazy when we don’t win and it drives me up a wall,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “I expect to win and I expect to win everything we do. To not do that six times this year is disappointing.”

With the score tied at 3-3, Northwestern was driving when Treyvon Green fumbled after a hit by Max Bullough and Michigan State’s Denzel Drone recovered at the Spartan 3 with just more than five minutes left in the half. Northwestern called a timeout — presumably to have the play reviewed — but Michigan State retained possession. MSU then took off on a 97-yard drive — Cousins hit Brian Linthicum for 15 yards and heaved a 46-yarder to Martin that carried to the NU 7. Le’Veon Bell then carried the final 7 yards for a TD, completing an eight-play march that put the Spartans up 10-3. The Spartans defense then forced a Northwestern punt and Martin fielded Brandon Williams’ boot, broke to his right, signaled to blockers and sailed in for a 17-3 lead. The two TDs came just 66 seconds apart. Northwestern responded quickly once the second half began. The Wildcats’ Drake Dunsmore got wide open on a blown coverage, hauled in a Persa pass and raced downfield on a 69-yard play before he knocked out at the 3. One play later, Persa flipped a 2-yard TD to Jeremy Ebert and two minutes into the third quarter, Northwestern was back in the game at 17-10. But Cousins had a third-down keeper of 8 yards for a first down to keep the Spartans moving. And then on a third-and-13 he rolled out and avoided the rush before making a beautiful throw to Cunningham for a 33-yard TD that made it 24-10. NU lost senior defensive back Jordan Mabin to a right shoulder injury in the first quarter and it was a costly injured against the Spartans’ talented passing attack.

Joe Crisman scored 14 points and Loyola won its home opener at revamped and slightly newly named Joe Gentile Arena Saturday with a 64-50 victory over Fordham.Denzel Brito had a double-double of 11 points and 10 assists for the Ramblers (1-4), who never trailed. Ben Averkamp scored 13 points for Loyola.Chris Gaston had 19 points with 10 rebounds and six blocked shots for the Rams (1-2).Loyola, whose largest lead was 14 points, led 8-0 and 15-3 before settling in with a 34-25 halftime edge.After Fordham trimmed it to 52-47 with 7:34 left, the Ramblers ran off nine unanswered points for a 61-47 lead with 4:21 left and cruised home.Loyola shot 52.1 percent (25 of 48).The Rams shot only 27.7 percent (18 of 65) and went just 2 of 19 from 3-point range.

HOFFMAN ESTATES—Wisconsin went through a few rough patches, but guard Josh Gasser was looking on the bright side after the 11th-rankied Badgers’ 66-43 victory over Bradley in the Chicago Invitational Challenge on Friday night.Gasser, Ryan Evans and Jordan Taylor scored 15 points apiece and center Jared Berggren grabbed 10 rebounds for the Badgers (5-0), who scored 18 points off turnovers and face BYU in Saturday’s championship at the Sears Centre.Wisconsin never trailed in the teams’ first meeting since 1989.Taylor Brown scored 18 points for the Braves (3-2), who have dropped two straight.Bradley had 17 turnovers and shot just 34 percent (18 of 53) from the field. Wisconsin hit 25 of 59 from the field (42.4 percent).
Wisconsin established a 10-2 lead as five different players scored in the first 3 minutes, 34 seconds. Bradley replied with Dyricus Simms-Edwards’ 3-pointer and Jordan Prosser’s baseline drive to cut the lead to 10-7.The Badgers then rattled off a 13-2 run, highlighted by back-to-back 3 pointers from Traevon Jackson and Ben Brust, and Taylor’s steal and feed to Berggren for a jam and a 23-9 advantage.A Bradley surge trimmed Wisconsin’s lead to 30-22 with 1:33 left in the half, but Gasser and Taylor scored in the final minute to push the Badgers’ lead to 34-24.After the opening minute of the second half, the Badgers restored and maintained double-digit leads the rest of the way. Taylor’s 3-pointer with 4:34 to play opened a 64-41 lead, the largest of the night before reserves came in to wrap up play.Bradley coach Geno Ford said his team had to contend with pressure it hadn’t faced yet.Despite playing in adjacent states, the teams met for just the fifth time Friday. That’s partly due to Wisconsin’s policy of not playing nonconference games against teams with Native American mascots and nicknames.The Braves removed all direct references and stopped using a Native American mascot in 1994. The teams last met in 1989, a 63-57 Badger victory in the San Juan Shootout. The Badgers now have a 3-2 series lead.Bradley takes on Nevada (3-3) in Saturday’s consolation game.Wisconsin, 16th in last week’s AP Top 25 poll, is off to a 5-0 start for the second time under coach Bo Ryan. The Badgers won their first five games in 2007-08.Ryan is now second on Wisconsin’s all-time wins list (247-91) and just 18 from tying Bud Foster’s school record for victories.Following Saturday’s games, Wisconsin is at top-ranked North Carolina on Wednesday. Bradley is idle until Dec. 3, when it travels to Wyoming as part of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.

ANAHEIM—The Blackhawks took the ice Friday afternoon against the Anaheim Ducks in an attempt to snap their three-game losing skid and get their six-game road trip back on track.Consider it mission accomplished as the Hawks got three goals from Patrick Sharp and two goals and three assists from Jonathan Toews as they rallied past the Ducks 6-5 at the Honda Center. Trailing 4-2 after two periods, the Hawks’ offense exploded to halt their losing streak and improve to 2-3-0 on the trip. Dave Bolland also scored and Duncan Keith and Viktor Stalberg each added two assists to help goaltender Corey Crawford earn the victory.Bobby Ryan scored two goals for the Ducks in the loss.The Hawks had a little help as defenseman Brent Seabrook returned to the lineup after missing four games with a lower-body injury suffered Nov. 13 against the Edmonton Oilers.It was the fourth consecutive season the Hawks have played at Honda Center against the Ducks the day after Thanksgiving.Healthy scratches for the Hawks included defensemen Sami Lepisto and Sean O’Donnell and rookie forward Ben Smith. Sitting for the Ducks were center Maxime Macanauer and defenseman Kurtis Foster.The Hawks upped their season record to 13-7-3 while the Ducks fell to 6-12-4.The Hawks move about 40 miles north to face the Los Angeles Kings at Staples Center Saturday night to end the “Circus Trip”.

LAKE BUENA VISTA—Cleveland Melvin had 25 points and Brandon Young added 24 as DePaul beat Texas Tech 76-70 in the consolation round of the Old Spice Classic on Friday.After Young had a basket, Melvin scored on a fast-break layup and followed that with a 3-point play to put DePaul (3-1) up 57-50 with nine minutes remaining.Young scored 23 and Melvin had 20 in DePaul’s 86-85 loss to Minnesota on Thursday.Ty Nurse scored 19 for Texas Tech (3-2). Jordan Tolbert had 16 points and nine rebounds.DePaul, up 71-68, had a chance to secure the game, but Young, with 1 minute to go, and Krys Faber, at the 31-second mark, both missed free throws.Texas Tech turned the ball over after Faber’s miss, forcing a foul that resulted in Melvin connecting on two free-throw tries to make it 73-68.After Nurse had a 3-point play to get Texas Tech within one, DePaul responded with a 7-2 run for a 68-62 advantage. Jeremiah Kelly made three free throws and Melvin had a base-line slam during the stretch.Melvin put DePaul up 48-41 with a layup 6 1/2 minutes into the second half. Texas Tech got the next seven points, including five by Terran Petteway, to tie it at 48.Nurse scored 11 points, helping Texas Tech go up 37-36 at halftime. He had just one point in the Red Raiders’ 60-49 loss to Indiana State on Friday.Young had 15 first-half points, a tight session that had 14 lead changes and five ties. The biggest lead for either team was five points.The win gave DePaul 1,375 in its history.This was the first time the two teams have played each other since the 1983 Suntory Ball Classic, which took place in Japan.

EVANSTON—John Shurna scored 20 points and freshman Dave Sobolewski added 16 as Northwestern remained undefeated with a 63-58 victory over Stony Brook on Friday.Northwestern (5-0) used a 14-4 run early in the second half to take a 46-36 lead over the Seawolves (2-3). Stony Brook got within 55-52 with 2:47 remaining, but NU’s JerShon Cobb sank a 3-pointer to push the lead back to six.Stony Brook scored the game’s first eight points, but the Wildcats’ 14-0 run midway through the first half put them ahead 20-13. Northwestern led 30-28 at halftime.Dallis Joyner and Leonard Hayes led Stony Brook with 13 points each. Bryan Dougher added 12 points and Dave Coley had a game-high 12 rebounds for the Seawolves.Drew Crawford had 12 points and seven rebounds for Northwestern.

LAKE BUENA VISTA—Trevor Mbakwe had 16 points and 12 rebounds as Minnesota rallied to beat DePaul 86-85 in the opening round of the Old Spice Classic on Thursday.Minnesota (5-0) also got 18 points from Rodney Williams. The Golden Gophers will play Indiana State, a 60-49 winner over Texas Tech, in a winner’s bracket game Friday.Brandon Young scored 23 points and Cleveland Melvin added 20 for DePaul (2-1), which will meet Texas Tech in a consolation game Friday.Williams had a key rebound basket, making it 86-83, after a pair of missed free throws by Julian Welch with 13 seconds left.Krys Faber had a rebound basket in the final second after DePaul’s Moses Morgan missed a potential game-tying three-pointer.Young hit a jumper to get DePaul within 84-83 with one minute left. After Minnesota’s Austin Hollins missed a 3 with the shot clock winding down, Melvin was called for charging with 13 seconds remaining while driving toward the basket. Williams had a layup and Andre Ingram made two free throws as Minnesota, which trailed by as many as 12 points, went up 72-71 when 8:03 left. An in-close basket by Mbakwe extended the Golden Gophers’ lead to 76-73 at the 14-minute mark.Minnesota took an 83-79 lead on Mbakwe’s slam with three minute to go.Baskets by Andre Hollins and Ralph Sampson III during the opening minute of the second half got Minnesota within 43-37.After a DePaul timeout, Young responded with consecutive 3-point plays to put DePaul ahead 49-37.After Minnesota made it 51-45, fast-break dunks by Charles McKinney and Melvin reinstated the Blue Demons’ 10-point lead.Young and Melvin both had 10 points, helping DePaul take a 43-33 halftime advantage. While the Blue Demons went 5 of 10 from 3-point range, Minnesota missed all four of its attempts.Young hit a 3 to put DePaul up 38-26 with 4 minutes left.DePaul played its first game since Nov. 14 due to class schedules.

CANCUN, Mexico—Sam Maniscalco scored 14 points, including five in the final minute, and Illinois hung on to beat Illinois State 63-59 Wednesday night in the championship game of the Cancun Challenge’s Riviera Division.Richardson scored 13 points and Brandon Paul added 12 for the Illini (5-0). Maniscalco’s basket gave Illinois a 59-54 lead and his layup restored a five-point lead after a pair of Illinois State free throws.Jackie Carmichael had 17 points and Jon Ekey scored 14 for the Redbirds (3-2), who had a chance to win at the end, but Tyler Brown missed a long 3-pointer with a second remaining and the Redbirds trailing 61-59. Paul made two free throws for the final margin.Illinois is 8-0 all-time against ISU. The schools, whose campuses are only 50 miles apart, went nearly 3,000 miles to meet in Cancun.

SAN JOSE—Something about playing his former team seems to bring the best out of Antti Niemi who made 34 saves for his first shutout of the season and Jason Demers broke a scoreless tie late in the second period with his first goal to lead the San Jose Sharks to a 1-0 victory over the Blackhawks on Wednesday night.Niemi was tested often as San Jose was sluggish at the start and also helped kill off a power play late in the third period with a toe save against Jonathan Toews to give the Sharks their fourth straight win and sixth in the past seven games.Niemi, who helped the Hawks knock out San Jose on the way to winning the Stanley Cup in 2010, got the best of his former team in his 14th career shutout.He improved to 4-1 and has allowed only 10 goals in five games against the Blackhawks since they let him go before last season instead of paying him the $2.75 million salary he was awarded in arbitration. “As time goes by it gets less and less, but it’s still a little bit [special],” Niemi said. The Blackhawks have lost three straight games on a two-week road trip as the circus has taken over the United Center. After starting the annual trek with a win in Vancouver, the Hawks have been outscored 15-4 in losses to Calgary, Edmonton and San Jose.Even a two-day respite in Las Vegas after a 9-2 loss in Edmonton on Saturday night was unable to change their luck even if their play improved.The Sharks got off to a good start on a two-game homestand against the teams that eliminated them in the Western Conference finals the past two seasons. San Jose hosts Vancouver on Saturday night in the first meeting between the teams since the Canucks won the conference final in five games last spring.Despite being thoroughly outplayed for the first two periods, the Sharks had a 1-0 lead going into the third thanks to stellar play from Niemi and a fortuitous bounce on a power play.Dave Bolland got sent off for tripping Brent Burns late in the second period and San Jose took just 4 seconds to turn that into the game’s only goal. Logan Couture beat Toews on the faceoff and the puck went back to Demers at the point. His shot hit Toews’ stick and bounced past Corey Crawford for San Jose’s only goal on 21 shots.The Blackhawks had a 23-11 shot advantage after two periods but were unable to convert on a number of good chances. Niemi made a good save against Steve Montador on a power play in the second period after Dan Boyle was sent off for his third minor penalty of the game. Bolland then had a chance on the rebound but missed an open net.Niemi made up for some uncharacteristic mistakes by his defense to keep his former team off the scoreboard in the first period. Marian Hossa shot high after a giveaway by Burns in his own zone. Then with Boyle in the box for a tripping penalty, Niemi made a nice pad save to rob Toews. Boyle then had a disastrous shift that didn’t end up hurting the Sharks. First, he fell down leading to a breakaway by Bryan Bickell that Niemi stopped. The Hawks got a 2-on-1 break after a turnover by Boyle, but Niemi knocked away a deflected pass from Hossa. Boyle was called for boarding at the end of that play, but Niemi helped kill off the power play.

NOTES—Demers has scored three of his seven career goals against the Blackhawks…..Brent Seabrook missed his fourth straight game with a lower-body injury. F Michael Frolik returned after missing two games with an injured left shoulder…..The Sharks improved to 7-0-0 when scoring the first goal of the game.