.

LAHAINA—Joseph Bertrand had a season-high 14 points as Illinois beat Division II Chaminade 84-61 on Tuesday night to advance to the final of the Maui Invitational.Brandon Paul scored 13 points, D.J. Richardson had 11 and Tyler Griffey added 10 as the Illini denied the tournament’s host school a chance at shocking the college hoops world on consecutive nights. Illinois (5-0) shot 49 percent from the field and never trailed.Illinois will play Butler on Wednesday night for the tournament title. Butler took down the eight-team field’s only ranked team earlier Tuesday, beating No. 9 North Carolina 82-71.Chaminade (3-2) will play UNC in the third-place game. The tiny Catholic school became a trending topic on Twitter after a rout of Texas on Monday night.

LAHAINA—Vander Blue scored 18 points and Davante Gardner had a double-double as Marquette won big over Mississippi State 89-62 on Tuesday in its second game at the Maui Invitational.Marquette (3-1) never trailed, and the Bulldogs never trailed by less than 10 points after the opening minutes.Gardner finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds.Mississippi State didn’t score in the first four minutes as Marquette built an 8-0 lead. Gavin Ware hit a jumper and Craig Sword had a steal and dunk to make it 8-4, but Marquette responded by scoring 10 straight points in less than two minutes.Mississippi State (1-3) had 22 turnovers – 15 in the first half. Fred Thomas had 17 points for the Bulldogs.

SAN FRANCISCO—Make it EIGHT straight embarrassing losses at Candlestick Park for the Bears. Good thing is it will be used for just one more NFL season.
Strong-armed fill-in Colin Kaepernick made all the right throws, looking every bit a capable NFL No. 1 quarterback.Kaepernick passed for 243 yards and two touchdowns in his first career start in place of the injured Alex Smith, and the San Francisco 49ers routed the listless Bears 32-7 on Monday night in a highly touted NFC showdown that hardly lived up to the hype.Kaepernick threw touchdown passes to Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree, and Kendall Hunter ran for a 14-yard score as San Francisco (7-2-1) jumped out to a big lead by scoring on each of its first four possessions – with Aldon Smith wreaking havoc on the other side of the ball with 5 1/2 sacks.

“I really wasn’t too nervous,” Kaepernick said. “I’ve had a lot of time in this offense. My teammates were really supportive.”

Jason Campbell, the other quarterback in this matchup of backups for two division leaders, threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall in the third quarter but was sacked five times and threw two interceptions in his first start since October 2011 for Oakland.He faced fierce pressure all night, on the field for the Bears (7-3) as starter Jay Cutler recovers from a concussion suffered eight days earlier – just like Smith. After Kaepernick’s stellar night on the big stage, there’s certain to be chatter of a quarterback controversy for the NFC West-leading Niners.Aldon Smith took over the NFL sacks lead with 15, passing Denver’s Von Miller with 13, with the second-best total in franchise history behind Fred Dean’s six-sack day on Nov. 13, 1983, against New Orleans. Tarell Brown and Dashon Goldson each had an interception for San Francisco’s stingy defense, which shut down Campbell, Matt Forte and Co. three years after the teams last met in a 10-6 49ers home win.

“It definitely wasn’t our best effort, by no means,” Campbell said.

Kaepernick, Aldon Smith and Hunter sure made general manager Trent Baalke look good for his selections from the 2011 draft class.And reigning NFL Coach of the Year Jim Harbaugh earned a key victory four days after his own health issue. The 48-year-old Harbaugh underwent a minor procedure for an irregular heartbeat Thursday.The 49ers added a safety in the fourth quarter that was scored after review. With 9:24 left, former San Francisco offensive lineman Chilo Rachal was called for intentional grounding out of the end zone, but Harbaugh challenged and earned the safety after review showed Rachal was down in the end zone.The soft-spoken, stone-faced Kaepernick went 16 for 23 with a 133.1 passer rating. He completed 12 of his first 14 passes with a 57-yard strike to Kyle Williams that set up Davis’ 3-yard TD on the next play – and he already had amassed 126 yards passing by the end of the first quarter. The 49ers led 17-0 on Hunter’s early TD run in the second, quickly topping the 14.8 points the Bears were allowing per game.Kaepernick threw for 184 yards in the first half alone – an impressive outing for the second-year pro selected in last year’s second round out of Nevada.

“I think after the first drive I felt really comfortable with what they were doing and what we had in our game plan,” he said.

Frank Gore ran for 78 yards and David Akers kicked field goals of 32, 37 and 32 yards for the 49ers, eager to defend their home field a week after settling for a frustrating 24-24 tie against the division rival St. Louis Rams.They outgained the Bears 249-35 in a lopsided first half.Davis got his prime-time moment just how he loves it. Eager to get more involved in the offense down the stretch this season, the tight end had a team-best six catches for 83 yards.
The only Bears score came thanks to a gift(awful penalty call on SF for ‘hitting a Bear on the back)that kept a drive alive and Campbell found Brandon Marshall for the TD. Other than that? ZERO.
THIS SUCKED BIG TIME and now the Bears are no longer the first seed in the NFC North.

.

LAHAINA—Brandon Paul scored 26 points and Illinois used a hot first half to ride to an easy 94-64 win over USC Monday night at the Maui Invitational.Illinois shot just under 69 percent in the first half on its way to a 31-point lead at the break. USC pulled no closer than 18 points in the second half despite some sloppy play from Illinois, which finished with 20 turnovers.The Illini (4-0), who never trailed, also got 13 points from DJ Richardson, 11 from Tracy Abrams and 10 from Tyler Griffey.USC (2-1) was led by Eric Wise with 13 points.Illinois plays host team Chaminade on Tuesday. The Division II school knocked off Texas earlier Monday.

LAHAINA—Butler’s Rotnei Clarke hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to shock Marquette 72-71 on Monday at the start of the Maui Invitational.Clarke hit the improbable basket after the Bulldogs (2-1) drove the length of the court down two points with less than 8 seconds left.Clarke – who had missed most of his 3-point shots for the game – made the shot from the right side and was mobbed on the gym floor by his teammates after it went through.Marquette’s Andrew Thomas hit an acrobatic putback layup and made a free throw to put the Golden Eagles (2-1) up three with 30.9 seconds left. Clarke missed a 3-pointer for the tie, but Erik Fromm got an offensive rebound and made a layup with 9 seconds left. Clarke fouled Marquette’s Junior Cadougan on the next play, but Cadougan missed his second free throw to set up the winning shot.Clarke had 20 points and made just 4 of 14 3-point attempts. But the shots he hit came in big moments, including two to tie in the first half.None were bigger than the last shot in a tournament built on celebrating improbable upsets.Khyle Marshall had 24 points and nine rebounds for Butler. Vander Blue scored 21 points for the Golden Eagles.Marquette went on a quick 12-0 run after Marshall scored the opening basket for Butler. But the Bulldogs grinded their way back, making a few more baskets during a stretch in which both teams kept a frenetic pace, but neither shot particularly well.Clarke hit a 3-pointer with just under 4 minutes left in the half to tie the game at 23, and Butler went into halftime with a 31-30 lead.The teams then traded blows from the start in the second half. Cadougan hit a jumper 3 minutes in to give Marquette a one-point lead, Marshall responded with an alley-oop dunk from Jones, then Anderson shot back with a reverse layup to put the Golden Eagles back up again.Marquette maintained a small lead through the bulk of the last 10 minutes of the game.The game had three ties and four lead changes.

ST. THOMAS—Hayden Humes had 22 points and eight rebounds, and UIC rallied from a 12-point deficit late in the game to beat Iona 86-81 at the Paradise Jam on Monday.Gary Talton added 17 points and Daniel Barnes had 16 for UIC (3-1), which trailed 70-58 with 6:57 to play but broke off a 12-0 run to tie it – led by nine points from Talton.UIC went ahead on Marc Brown’s free throw with 2:25 left. The Gaels got within two on a layup by Lamont Jones with 16 seconds remaining, but Iona coach Tim Cluess was hit with a technical foul and the Flames hit three free throws over the final six seconds to seal it.Jones scored 22 points for Iona (2-2), Sean Armand added 20 and Tre Bowman 18.

PORTLAND—Wesley Matthews was kind of taken aback when he was told that Portland’s last three-game winning streak came in the Trail Blazers’ first three games of last season.The Blazers had been unable to string a trio of wins together since then until Sunday night, when they beat the Bulls 102-94.

“It feels good, getting our juices going, our confident going,” said Matthews, who had 21 points. “We’re finally playing like a team that knows how to win.”

The other two wins, a 103-89 victory at Sacramento before a 119-117 overtime victory over Houston at the Rose Garden on Friday, came after a three-game losing streak. As for it being the longest winning streak since the Blazers opened last season with three wins, Matthews shook his head. Portland finished the lockout season 28-39, capped by a seven-game losing streak.

“Last season was such a debacle,” he said. “I don’t want to talk about it for the rest of my life.”

Nicolas Batum also scored 21 points and LaMarcus Aldridge added 18 points and 13 rebounds as all of Portland’s starters were in double figures.After trailing by as many as 15 in the third quarter, the Bulls came back to tie it at 73 early in the fourth. But Portland pulled back in front 87-75 on Matthews’ pull-up jumper with 5:04 left.Matthews appeared to seal it with a 3-pointer that made it 93-81 with 1:26 left, but Nate Robinson hit a 3 to narrow it to 98-94 with 13.9 seconds to go. Batum and Aldridge each hit a pair of free throws and rookie Damian Lillard dunked to help the Blazers hang on.Joakim Noah had 16 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists for the Bulls, who lost their second straight after falling 101-80 to the Clippers in Los Angeles on Saturday night. The Bulls (5-5) had not lost two straight this season.

“The defense right now, the intensity, we’ve got to get that part right,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “The defense, the rebounds and the turnovers, all three are a problem right now, so we’ve got to correct that. Those three things put you in a position to win.”

The Blazers have won five straight games against the Bulls at the Rose Garden.Portland improved to 5-5 in coach Terry Stotts’ first season with the team.

“It’s good to be .500, but we didn’t go into the game saying `Let’s be .500,”‘ Stotts said. “The important thing is winning at home and playing well. The record takes care of itself.”

The Bulls pulled ahead 30-23 with about 10 seconds left in the first quarter on Luol Deng’s layup. Matthews’ pullup jumper tied it at 32 before Aldridge made a jumper to put the Blazers in front.Batum’s dunk with 3:59 left in the half gave Portland a 43-39 lead. The Blazers went on to lead 51-43 at the break. Batum opened the second half with a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 54-43. Another Batum 3 put Portland ahead 61-47 and yet another one made it 67-53.Taj Gibson got the Bulls within 69-64 with a layup with 2:31 left in the quarter. The Bulls pulled even closer on Deng’s layup to open the final quarter, then evened it at 73 at Gibson made a layup and a free throw.Ronnie Price’s long jumper prevented the Bulls from taking the lead, and Batum’s 3-pointer and Price’s layup extended it. Price also hit a free throw, making him the first Blazers reserve to score in double digits this season.Price, who has been hampered this season by a right ankle injury, finished with 10 points and five assists. The Blazers could use his help to spell Lillard, the sixth overall pick in the June NBA draft.

“I’m not completely 100 percent by any means, but I’m able to contribute,” he said.

Lillard finished with 16 points and J.J. Hickson had 10.

NOTES—Portland won the only meeting against the Bulls last season, a 100-89 victory in the United Center…..It was the first game under interim head coach Kaleb Canales following the dismissal of Nate McMillan. Canales was retained as an assistant after the Blazers hired coach Terry Stotts in the offseason…..Luol Deng and Portland’s Joel Freeland were teammates on Britain’s Olympic basketball team……Lillard is the first player to average 19 points and six assists through his first 10 games since Isiah Thomas in 1981…..It was Portland’s first game of the season with six total players in double figures.

EVANSTON—Reggie Hearn scored 14 points and Northwestern’s defense did the rest Sunday in an 80-53 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson.Fairleigh Dickinson’s inability to convert in the paint prevented them from staying in the game early. The Knights missed six layups in the first half alone, which allowed Northwestern (3-0) to quickly take command in the first meeting between the schools.For the second time in three games, Northwestern held its opponent to 14 points in the first half, a feat it previously had not accomplished since December 2008. The Wildcats led by as many as 36 points.Eleven different players scored for the Wildcats, who shot 49 percent from the field. Northwestern’s big men dominated Fairleigh Dickinson (0-2) in the post, outscoring them 36-16 in the paint.

TAMPA—Ben Averkamp scored 27 points and Loyola beat Maryland-Eastern Shore 62-46 on Sunday.Averkamp also had eight rebounds and became the 19th player in Loyola (3-2) history with at least 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.Maryland-Eastern Shore (0-6) got 13 points from Troy Snyder.Both teams lost games Friday and Saturday in the three-day South Florida Invitational.Loyola grabbed a 47-36 lead with five minutes remaining on Christian Thomas’ three-point play and three in-close baskets by Averkamp.Averkamp’s rebound basket after a missed free throw and his 3-pointer on the Ramblers’ next possession extended their lead to 54-36.Jordan Hicks connected on a long-range jumper, part of a 7-0 run, as Loyola took a 32-31 lead eight minutes into the second half.

NORMAL—Tyler Brown scored 14 points, Jon Ekey and Nick Zeisloft each chipped in with 11 and Illinois State had no problems with visiting Delaware State in an 87-48 rout for the Redbirds on Sunday afternoon.Illinois State (3-0) shot 54.7 percent from the field, making 35 of 64 shot attempts including a 9 for 23 mark from behind the arc. Jordan Threloff scored nine points, had eight rebounds and added four assists to his stat total while Bryant Allen and Jackie Carmichael each had eight points.Delaware State (3-1) had only one player in double figures with Miles Bowman scoring 10 points off the bench, going a perfect 5 for 5 from the field in 20 minutes of play. The Hornets had 22 turnovers and were outrebounded 42 to 28 by the Redbirds.ISU put the game away in the first half, taking a 49-22 lead at the break.

NEW ORLEANS—Ricky Tarrant scored 21 points and Josh Davis recorded a double-double as Tulane dominated Chicago State 79-51 Sunday in a nonconference game. Davis scored 18 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and made 10 of Tulane’s 23 free throws.Tarrant, who recorded a game-high four steals, knocked down 3 of 4 3-pointers. His trey with 7:52 left in the first half gave Tulane a 19-17 lead and sparked a 20-4 run for the Green Wave.Tulane (3-1) led 39-21 at the break.Chicago State (1-3) would not get any closer as Tulane built leads of 16, 23, and 29 in the second half.Tulane shot 24 of 52 from the field and made 23 of 27 free throws. Chicago State shot just 34.5 percent (19 of 55) from the field and committed 23 turnovers. The Green Wave scored 16 points off those errors.Corey Gray led the Cougars with 16 points.

KENT—Kevin Van Wijk netted a career-high 25 points, including a last-second tip-in to ensure overtime, as Valparaiso topped Kent State 88-83 Saturday in a nonconference showdown.The Crusaders (3-1), who led by nine with 10:48 to play, were down 75-72 with seven seconds left after Chris Evans hit a pair of free throws for the Golden Flashes (2-2).Kent State fouled Erik Buggs with four seconds left, and Buggs hit the first but missed the second of his two shots. Van Wijk tipped in the rebound off Buggs’ miss, though, sending the game to overtime.Backed by five points from Buggs, Valparaiso opened overtime on a 7-0 run en route to the win. Buggs finished with 15 points.Randal Holt netted 20 for Kent State, and passed Nate Meers for fifth on the Golden Flashes’ all-time leaderboard for 3-pointers, draining three 3s to give him 168 for his career.