LOS ANGELES—Blake Griffin scored 12 of his 26 points in the final six minutes and grabbed 10 rebounds, helping the Los Angeles Clippers rout the Bulls 101-80 on Saturday night for their fifth straight victory.Reserve Jamal Crawford scored 17 of his 22 points in the second quarter for the Clippers, who lead the Pacific Division with a 7-2 mark. It’s their best record after nine games since 2005-06, when they won nine of their first 11, finished 47-35 and came within one victory of the Western Conference finals.Five of the Clippers’ six wins have come against teams that were in the playoffs last season, including the Lakers, Spurs and world champion Miami Heat on Wednesday. Both of their losses came against clubs which failed to make the postseason – Golden State and Cleveland.The Clippers’ reserves outscored the starters 35-18 in the first half and 53-48 for the game. Crawford, who signed with Los Angeles as a free agent in July after spending last season with Portland, leads the Clippers with 20.7 points per game and has scored 20 or more in six of his first nine contests.The Bulls, who blew an 18-point lead in their previous game on Wednesday at Phoenix before beating the Suns 112-106 in overtime, got 22 points and 12 rebounds from Carlos Boozer on the second leg of their annual circus road trip. Luol Deng and Richard Hamilton each had 14 points.Joakim Noah, who has been urged by Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau to take more shots, was 0 for 6 from the field and finished with four points in 30 minutes. It was the 6-foot-11 center’s worst shooting effort in 339 NBA regular-season games, including six occasions when he was 0 for 4.Crawford led Los Angeles to a 53-40 halftime lead with 17 points, including three free throws with 1:31 left in the second quarter after Kirk Hinrich fouled him on a fadeaway 3-point attempt near the Clippers’ bench.Los Angeles opened the second half with a 7-0 run and extended its lead to 71-48 on Griffin’s 21-footer with 5:04 left in the third quarter. The Bulls narrowed the gap to 87-74 with two baskets off offensive rebounds and a 3-pointer by Marco Belinelli with 6:14 left in the game.But Griffin put the Clippers back in control with two free throws, a fast-break layup and another layup – all in a 58-second span. For good measure, the two-time All-Star connected three straight times on perimeter jumpers from 18 feet and out during a 70-second stretch to make it 99-80 with 2:07 to play.The Bulls missed 12 of their first 15 shots, committed six turnovers in the first 7 1/2 minutes and fell behind by 15 on Matt Barnes’ 3-pointer from the left corner with 5:49 left in the half.Chris Paul finished with 10 assists and eight points for the Clippers

NOTES—The Clippers came in with an average of 40.9 points from their bench. … Crawford was traded to the Bulls on draft day in June 2000 by Cleveland in exchange for Chris Mihm and cash. The 13-year veteran spent his first four NBA seasons with the Bulls and went through two coaching transitions, playing for Tim Floyd, Bill Cartwright and Scott Skiles – but never making the playoffs during that stretch. The Clippers are his sixth pro team. … The Clippers’ victory put Vinny Del Negro one game over .500 in the regular season for the first time since he took over as head coach at the start of the 2010-11 campaign. He is 79-78 with Los Angeles, after guiding the Bulls to back-to-back .500 seasons and two playoff berths. The Bulls are 117-40 since firing Del Negro and replacing him with Thibodeau.

SOUTH BEND—Notre Dame got one first-place vote in the coaches’ poll last Sunday — head coach Brian Kelly’s.Against Wake Forest, the Fighting Irish reinforced his faith in his team.Everett Golson threw three touchdown passes and Cierre Wood scored on a 68-yard run as No. 3 Notre Dame beat Wake Forest 38-0 Saturday to finish the season undefeated at home for the first time since 1998 and keep its national championship hopes alive.

“I told them tonight I’m proud of them,” Kelly said. “I voted them No. 1 for a reason, because I think they’re the best team in the country. I think they played like that tonight.”

Kelly, who saw his 12-0 Cincinnati team left out of the BCS title game in 2009, said he has no doubt his 11-0 team deserves to play for the championship if they win the season finale at Southern California. That’s all he wants his players focused on, he said.

“They cannot do anything else but beat USC,” Kelly said. “The rest is up to other people to decide.”

The reality of that situation is either Oregon or Kansas State — the top two teams in the BCS rankings and, separately, the AP Top 25 – will likely have to lose for Notre Dame to get a place in the championship.Wake Forest coach Jim Grobe seemed to think the Irish have as much right as anybody to be there.

“No question about it. But maybe a couple of others should be, too. That’s kind of the deal right now,” Grobe said. “I can’t imagine anybody from what I saw today playing any better than Notre Dame. But I think there are some other really, really good teams. They impressed me today. I think there as good as any team in the country.”

Wood got the Irish moving with his 68-yard burst on the game’s fourth play. Three plays later, Wake tailback Josh Harris caught a 13-yard pass but fumbled after a hard hit by Irish linebacker Carlo Calabrese and safety Zeke Motta recovered. Harris, Wake Forest’s leading rusher, didn’t play the rest of the game because of a head injury.Golson kept the Irish going with his best passing game of the season. He threw three touchdown passes of 50, 34 and 2 yards in the first half.Fourteen of his 17 first-half completions led to first downs as the Irish opened a 31-0 halftime lead. He finished with 346 yards on 20 of 30 passing with one interception.Wood rushed for 150 yards on 11 carries and Tyler Eifert had six catches, giving him 130 for his career, breaking the school record of 128 set by Ken MacAfee in 1977.The Irish improved to 11-0 for the first time since 1989 and need to beat USC to finish a regular season undefeated for the first time since 1988, the last time they won a national championship. The Demon Deacons (5-6) fell to 1-33 all-time against top 5 teams.The victory virtually assures the Irish of a berth in a BCS game, even if it’s not the title matchup.Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o, draped in leis after playing his final game at Notre Dame Stadium and handing out candy to anyone within reach, wasn’t ready to make his argument that the Irish deserve to be in the title game.

“If we don’t beat USC, there is no need to say whether you deserve it or not,” he said. “You have to beat USC first. You can ask me that question after.”

The Irish dominated on both sides of the ball, outgaining the Deacons 584 yards to 209. It was the first shutout for the Irish since a 35-0 win over Nevada in the season-opener in 2009 and their first shutout against a major conference team since a 42-0 victory over Rutgers in 2002.

“They jumped on us quick, got momentum, kept momentum rolling, and when the defense can’t stop them, it’s hard for the offense to really play hard,” Wake Forest nose guard Nikita Whitlock said.

Tanner Price was 22 of 33 passing for 153 yards for Wake Forest with his longest pass for 16 yards. The Irish held the Demon Deacons to 55 yards rushing as Wake Forest dropped to 1-4 on the road this season.

“They were where they needed to be and they just force you to execute,” Tanner said. “Obviously we weren’t able to do that today.”

After posting a 17-16 record at home the past five seasons, the Irish victory Saturday improved their record at Notre Dame Stadium to 6-0 this year. But this was the first time they made it look easy. The Irish needed overtime to beat Stanford, triple overtime to beat Pittsburgh and won the three other home games by a combined 13 points.

“We put it all together and played a complete game today,” left tackle Zack Martin said.

Many Notre Dame students showed their respect by wearing yellow leis to honor Te’o, who is from Hawaii and who has played a key role in the Irish resurgence. Te’o, senior defensive end Kapron Lewis-Moore and senior safety Zeke Motta left to standing ovations with 13 minutes left.

“I wanted to make it a special moment for the seniors on defense. They have been obviously the rock. They’ve carried us while we were trying to find ourselves offensively,” Kelly said. “It just seemed to me to be a pretty good gesture to allow us to honor those seniors.”

When Notre Dame went 11-0 in 1989, the Irish were beaten by Miami in the regular season finale and finished the season ranked No. 2 behind the Hurricanes. The last time the Irish headed to Los Angeles to play Southern Cal undefeated was a year earlier, in 1988, when the squad coached by Lou Holtz beat the second-ranked Trojans 27-10 en route to the school’s last national championship.Te’o said that’s the only focus now.

“I don’t care about anything else but winning and being part of this team,” he said. “And now we have to work on USC, and beating USC.”

CHAMPAIGN—Akeem Hunt turned a short pass into a 63-yard touchdown, and Purdue took another step toward a second consecutive bowl berth with a 20-17 victory at Illinois on Saturday.Hunt’s big play gave the Boilermakers (5-6, 2-5 Big Ten) a 13-3 lead in the third quarter.Meanwhile,the misery for the Fighting Illini continues. After Illinois pulled within 13-10 on a 16-yard touchdown run by Dami Ayoola, Ralph Bolden’s 63-yard run set up Akeem Shavers’ 6-yard TD scamper for a 20-10 Purdue lead.With their first back-to-back Big Ten road wins since 2009, the Boilermakers stayed alive in their chase for postseason play. If Purdue can beat Indiana at home next Saturday to earn bowl eligibility, it will be its first three-game winning streak in one season since 2007.The Boilermakers rallied after losing their first five Big Ten games, but Purdue never trailed against Illinois.Hunt made a big play on a short pass. After Robert Marve rolled to his right, he threw back to Hunt on the left. Hunt sped down the sideline untouched. Bolden’s long run, meanwhile, was a big contribution after multiple knee surgeries had sidetracked his career.Shavers rushed for 99 yards and Bolden had 93. Marve threw for 173 yards, and the Boilermakers didn’t commit a turnover in winning at Illinois for the first time since 2006.Quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase scored on a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter to cut the deficit to 20-17, but Illinois (2-9, 0-7) remained the only Big Ten team without a conference win. The Illini have a 13-game conference losing streak.Ayoola’s score was the first by the Illini offense in roughly eight quarters. His touchdown came one play after Scheelhaase connected with Darius Millines on a 22-yard pass on third and 14.Illinois started the day ranked last in the Big Ten in total offense, scoring offense and rushing offense, and the Illini didn’t get much done until late in the game. Scheelhaase completed 22 passes for 160 yards and rushed for 76 yards to lead Illinois.The Illini were already going with some unconventional thinking, using co-coordinator Chris Beatty to call plays on first and second down before colleague Billy Gonzales handled the duties on third down. Illinois also used defensive tackle Akeem Spence as an extra blocking back.Purdue took a 6-3 halftime lead on field goals of 31 and 29 yards from Sam McCartney. The Illini’s only scoring in the half came on a 54-yard field goal, the third-longest in school history, by Taylor Zalewski.

EAST LANSING—Jeff Budzien kicked a 27-yard field goal with 7:30 remaining, and Northwestern was able to hold on to this fourth-quarter lead, beating Michigan State 23-20 on Saturday.Trevor Siemian threw for 165 yards, including a 41-yard pass to Dan Vitale that helped set up the winning kick. The Wildcats (8-3, 4-3 Big Ten) then forced a punt near midfield, and by the time Michigan State (5-6, 2-5) got the ball back at its own 20, there was only 1:29 left.The Cats lost fourth-quarter leads in gut-wrenching losses to Penn State, Nebraska and Michigan, but this time Michigan State’s Andrew Maxwell threw four straight incompletions to seal the Spartans’ fate.All seven of Michigan State’s conference games have been decided by four points or fewer.It was Northwestern’s first win over Michigan State since 2007, and the Spartans must now beat Minnesota next weekend to become bowl eligible.The Wildcats spoiled Michigan State’s home finale despite what was announced as an upper extremity injury to running back Venric Mark, who didn’t play in the second half. Siemian and Kain Colter split time at quarterback for the Wildcats. Colter went 13 of 20 for 81 yards and a touchdown.Northwestern led 13-5 early in the third quarter after David Nwabuisi returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown. Maxwell seemed shaken up on the play, but he was able to keep playing and quickly led the Spartans on a sharp 65-yard drive that ended with his 15-yard scoring pass to Aaron Burbridge. A 2-point conversion pass to Keith Mumphery tied it at 13.Colter’s 6-yard touchdown pass to Tim Riley gave NU a 20-13 lead, but the Spartans tied it again on a 6-yard scoring pass from Maxwell to Tony Lippett with 9:22 left in the fourth.Michigan State lost the ball twice inside the Northwestern 5-yard line in the first half. A fumble on the snap gave the Wildcats the ball at their own 2 late in the first quarter, but Colter was hit in the end zone by Max Bullough and William Gholston for a safety that made it 3-2.Michigan State led 5-3 in the second and had the ball at the Northwestern 1, but star running back Le’Veon Bell was dropped for a loss of 3 on fourth down.The Wildcats took a 6-5 lead into halftime when Budzien made a 43-yard field goal in the final minute of the quarter, and Michigan State’s Dan Conroy missed from 37 at the other end.

Legendary coach Mike Ditka has suffered a minor stroke, according to various reports.Ditka was hospitalized after experiencing difficulty speaking and while playing cards with friends on Friday, according to NFL.com.

“I feel good right now and it’s not a big deal,” Ditka told Dan Pompei of the Tribune and National Football Post.

ESPN NFL producer Seth Markman tweeted about Ditka’s status, noting he would not be participating in the network’s coverage this weekend. ESPN publicist Mike Humes also reported the stroke via Twitter.

HONOLULU—D.J. Richardson drained a 3-pointer at the overtime buzzer, capping a comeback from a 16-point second-half deficit and giving Illinois a wild 78-77 victory over Hawaii on Friday night.Richardson’s buzzer-beater followed one by Hawaii’s Vander Joaquim, who hit a jumper at the end of regulation to force overtime. Before that, Brandon Paul’s basket with 2:08 to play had given the Illini (3-0) their first lead of the game.The teams traded baskets in the extra session before Jace Tavita made one of two free throws to give the Warriors (3-1) a 77-75 lead with 7 seconds left and set the scene for Richardson, who finished with 16 points.Brandon Paul scored 25 points, including five 3-pointers, for Illinois, and Tracy Abrams added 22. The Illini improved to 7-0 against Hawaii.Joaquim led the Warriors with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Brandon Spearman added 20 points and nine boards.

BROOKLYN—It would be too easy to say Langston Galloway fought tooth and nail for Saint Joseph’s on Friday night.The junior guard had a tooth knocked out when he dived on the court for a loose ball with 5 minutes to play in regulation.He missed less than a minute of play and returned to score six points including the final baskets of regulation and overtime as the Hawks beat No. 20 Notre Dame 79-70 in the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Barclays Center.

“I dove on the floor and someone jumped on top of me and my face went into the floor,” Galloway said. “I got the tooth and they tried putting it back but it hurt too much so they stopped. Hey we won.”

Ronald Roberts had 21 points and 16 rebounds for the Hawks and he scored the first seven points of the overtime as the Hawks pulled away, outscoring the Fighting Irish 13-4 in the extra 5 minutes.Saint Joseph’s closed regulation on an 8-0 run to tie it at 66.

“We had a couple of wild plays but we passed those tests and were down six and to come back against that veteran group and the way they were shooting it, I am really happy we have advanced our game,” Saint Joseph’s coach Phil Martelli said. “We will have to be better tomorrow than we were tonight.”

The Hawks (2-0) will play Florida State in Saturday night’s championship game. The Seminoles (2-1) beat BYU 88-70.Jack Cooley had 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Fighting Irish (2-1), who didn’t score over the final 4 minutes of regulation and first 4 minutes of overtime.

“What an unbelievable November game,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said. “We’re disappointed because we were up eight but they got second shots but what hurt us when we had control is that we had some open looks but couldn’t hit them. I’m disappointed with our effort against their frontline which is a very good one.”

Chris Wilson had 19 points for the Hawks while Halil Kanacevic had 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists.The Hawks are going to play the three big men together.Scott Martin had 13 points for Notre Dame while Eric Atkins had 12 points and 10 assists.Atkins hit a 3 with 4 minutes left to give Notre Dame a 66-58 lead. Galloway had four points in the closing spurt, including the drive that tied the game at 66 with 1:39 left.Jerian Grant missed a drive for Notre Dame, Kanacevic missed a 3 for the Hawks and C.J. Aikens got the offensive rebound but missed a shot as he was falling.Atkins stood dribbling alone with 19 seconds left as Notre Dame held for the last shot. Atkins drove but missed the shot and Cooley couldn’t really get control of the rebound.Atkins fell to the court screaming in pain with cramps in both legs. He was attended to by trainers and returned to the game with 2:30 left in the overtime.

“We had good looks but we just couldn’t knock them down in a timely manner at the end of the game,” said Atkins, who came to the postgame news conference with ice bags on the back of each leg. “They did a great job defending us the whole game.”

Galloway capped the game with an impressive dunk as the final buzzer sounded. He finished 13 points.

“Those two shots will give me more confidence as we go along,” he said.

This was the last game of a three-game suspension for senior guard Carl Jones, who led the Hawks in scoring the past two seasons. He was suspended for violation of community standards.

KENT—Devareaux Manley scored 20 points to lead a balanced Kent State offense in a 92-63 nonconference victory over Chicago State on Friday night.Randal Holt added 15 points and Chris Evans 14 for the Golden Flashes (2-1), who got points from 12 players.Kent State shot 60 percent (18 of 30) in the first half to take a 42-32 lead. The Cougars (1-2) helped Kent State along by committing 11 first-half turnovers.Evans scored eight points and Holt six to lead an 18-6 Kent State run in the opening 6:07 of the second half to make it 60-38. The Golden Flashes continued to pad their advantage as Manley scored 15 of his points in the second half, including five 3-pointers in seven attempts. He was 6-of-8 behind the arc in the game.Jeremy Robinson and Matt Ross scored 14 points each and Nate Duhon added 13 to pace Chicago State.

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands—Kendall Williams scored 23 points and New Mexico withstood a spirited comeback bid by UIC in a 66-59 victory at the Paradise Jam on Friday.Demetrius Walker added 14 points for New Mexico (2-0), which saw its 13-point halftime lead whittled down to two, at 58-56, with 35 seconds remaining, after a steal and layup by UIC’s Daniel Barnes.But the Lobos hit their final eight foul shots down the stretch to hold off the upstart Flames (1-1).Hugh Greenwood had nine points and nine rebounds for New Mexico, which shot just 27.8 percent (5 for 18) from the floor in the second half.Hayden Humes led UIC with 16 points, Gary Talton added 14 and Barnes 11.New Mexico will now face George Mason on Sunday at 6 p.m. UIC will face Mercer on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

LAKE FOREST—When the Bears take on the 49ers Monday night, they’ll be without quarterback Jay Cutler, the team announced on Friday. Jason Campbell will start in his place.Cutler, who suffered a concussion against the Texans last Sunday night, left the game at halftime was replaced by Campbell for the remainder of the game.The starting quarterback’s been limited this week in terms of practice and hasn’t been available to the media either, leading to the (eventually correct) speculation that Cutler wouldn’t play against San Francisco.Campbell now has a large task in front of him, although he certainly sounded prepared on Friday when he took to Twitter.Monday night’s game is an interesting litmus test for the Bears backup. He struggled against the Texans, but the weather was awful, he didn’t prepare to start and first one to 10 was winning that game.The Bears signed Campbell this offseason in a direct response to the disaster that was Caleb Hanie down the stretch in 2011. They were in prime position to make the playoffs and Hanie couldn’t produce a modicum of offense against the easiest of opponents, leading to a Bears freefall out of the postseason.Campbell simply needs to perform adequately enough to let the defense and running game take over against San Francisco and how many more games Cutler misses. If he can guide the Bears to a win on Monday night, fans and members of the organization can breathe a big sigh of relief.