EVANSTON—Mississippi Valley junior transfer Davon Usher scored a game-leading 35 points to almost single-handedly keep the Delta Devils in the game, but Northwestern got key late baskets from sophomore guard Dave Sobolewski to pull out an 81-68 win on Thursday night.Sobolewski scored his first field goal of the season on a layup to break a 58-58 tie midway through the second half moments after Usher had hit a 3-point shot from the right corner to knot the score.Sobolewski scored all 13 of his points, including two 3-point baskets, down the stretch to give Northwestern (2-0) the victory.Reggie Hearn had 23 points and Jared Swopshire added 22 for the Wildcats, who needed a 23-10 spurt in the final 8:54 to win.Usher seemed to zone in as the game progressed, going 7 of 8 on 3-point attempts He had scored 32 points in his first two games with Mississippi Valley (0-3).

ROSEMONT—Max Landis scored a career-high 20 points and Kevin Hartley added 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead Gardner-Webb to a 71-59 upset win over DePaul in the first round of the Cancun Challenge on Thursday night.Gardner-Webb (2-2) got its first win against a Big East school, albeit against DePaul, which has managed to win just five conference games in the past four seasons.Gardner-Webb blew open a close game after halftime. Cleveland Melvin’s basket got the Blue Demons (1-1) within 41-33 early in the second half, but the Runnin’ Bulldogs answered with a 12-4 run to get the lead up to 16. Landis hit a 3-pointer and Donta Harper finished a missed layup with a dunk to put Gardner-Webb up 53-37 with 12:58 left.Harper finished with 13 points and eight rebounds for Gardner-Webb. Melvin had 18 points and Brandon Young added 10 for DePaul.

PHILADELPHIA—Jackie Carmichael scored 21 points and Tyler Brown had 20 as Illinois State edged Drexel 86-84 in overtime in a nonconference game Thursday night. Carmichael’s two free throws tied it at 75 with 2 seconds left in regulation.Drexel led by three early in the extra period before the Redbirds (2-0) scored seven consecutive points. Brown hit a tying 3-pointer, then another basket for an 81-79 lead.The Dragons (0-2) then turned the ball over and Johnny Hill’s layup put the Redbirds ahead by four. Chris Fouch’s 3-pointer with 6 seconds left brought Drexel within one, 85-84, but Hill added a free throw, and Frantz Massenat’s running 3-point try for Drexel missed.Drexel used a 12-1 second-half run to turn a three-point deficit into an eight-point lead. However, a 3-pointer by Brown, followed by a three-point play by Hill, got the Redbirds back into it at 71-69 with 5:06 left.

PHOENIX—Carlos Boozer had 28 points and 14 rebounds to help the Bulls outlast the Phoenix Suns 112-106 in overtime Wednesday night.Boozer, who scored 31 against Phoenix in the previous meeting last season, was a force at power forward again. He made 11 of 20 shots and had his way inside as the Bulls scored 50 points in the paint. Luol Deng added 21 points and center Joakim Noah had 21 points and 12 rebounds.The Bulls scored six points on putbacks in a 10-0 run that gave the Bulls a 79-61 lead in the third quarter. But the Suns fought back in the fourth by being active on the offensive boards. Luis Scola had 24 points and 14 rebounds, while Sebastian Telfair scored 17 off the bench. Marcin Gortat banked in a hook shot to cut the lead to 91-88, and Shannon Brown made it 91-90 on a driving layup with 4:22 to play in the fourth. Telfair’s 3-pointer tied it at 93 with 3 minutes left, but the Bulls hit four of six free throws over the next 2 minutes to go up 99-95. Brown converted a three-point play and Boozer missed a jumper to give Phoenix another chance to take the lead, but Brown missed on a drive to the basket with 19 seconds to go. Hamilton hit one of two free throws to give the Bulls a 100-98 lead, but P.J. Tucker gathered in a loose ball and laid it in to knot the score at 100 with 9.4 seconds left. Hamilton missed a chance for the lead, and Phoenix didn’t have time to get off a shot before the buzzer to end regulation. The Suns played their first overtime game since April 11, 2011. The Bulls led 29-27 at the end of a back-and-forth first quarter. Boozer scored 10 points and the Bulls shot 62 percent from the field. The Bulls led by as many as seven points in the second, 40-33, before Scola heated up. He scored eight points during a 13-6 run that gave the Suns a 46-42 lead with 4:45 left in the first half. The Bulls stormed back with a 13-0 run, led by Boozer and reserve Jimmy Butler. Boozer scored 16 points in the first half on 8-of-12 shooting and the Bulls went 4 of 7 on 3-pointers while shooting 58.5 percent in the first half to lead 57-51 at the break. Scola shot 8 of 13 and scored 16 points in the first half to go with seven rebounds. The Bulls jumped out to a 63-54 lead, matching their largest advantage of the game, in the first 3 minutes of the third quarter. Noah stole a pass and dribbled from beyond halfcourt for a dunk to cap a mini-run. Suns forward Markieff Morris went down hard in the closing seconds of regulation and walked slowly off the court with a bag of ice on his backside. He didn’t return.

NOTES—Kirk Hinrich returned to the lineup after missing Monday’s game against Minnesota with a strained right hip. He scored three points and had seven assists in 27 minutes. … Suns C Jermaine O’Neal was activated before the game after missing the previous five to attend to a family matter. He did not play. O’Neal has not played since Nov. 4 at Orlando. … Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp sat courtside.

DE KALB—Jordan Lynch threw for 407 yards and three touchdowns Wednesday night and Northern Illinois defeated Toledo 31-24 to claim a spot in the Mid-American Conference championship game. Lynch also ran for 162 yards for the Huskies (10-1, 7-0), who extended the longest home winning streak in Division I to 21 games. The defending MAC champions won their 10th straight game and wrapped up the West Division title to advance to the conference championship Nov. 30 in Detroit. Toledo (8-3, 5-2) led 14-7 at halftime, but 18 seconds into the third quarter Lynch hooked up with Martel Moore for a 74-yard touchdown pass, their second scoring connection of the game. NIU went ahead 21-14 on Lynch’s 6-yard TD pass to Ashford Perez. The Rockets trailed 31-14 but got within seven points after Jeremiah Detmer’s 34-yard field goal with 5:57 left. The Huskies picked up three first downs and ran out the clock. Moore had 153 yards receiving for NIU. Terrance Owens threw for 265 yards and ran for a score for Toledo.

The 2013 schedule has been published by the Arena Football League, and the Rush will open up their season by hosting the Iowa Barnstormers on Saturday, March 23 at 7:00 pm.

The matchup features what is quickly becoming one of the hottest rivalries in the AFL. Iowa Head Coach Mike Hohensee was the first coach in Rush history, leading the team for their first nine seasons. The two teams, which are only separated by 330 miles, have enjoyed their share of close games since the Barnstormers returned to the AFL for the 2010 season.

The next week will have the Spokane Shock visiting the Allstate Arena. Both teams finished with a 10-8 record in 2012, and their back-and-forth duel last season came down to the final minutes of play.

Three of the next four games will be on the road as the Rush visit the defending Central Division champion San Antonio Talons on April 6 before a Sunday, April 14 home game that features the Pittsburgh Power. Weeks 5 and 6 will see the Rush travel to Utah and Iowa.

The American Conference Champion Philadelphia Soul visit the Allstate on Saturday, May 4. The Rush did not face Philadelphia in 2012 when they tallied a league-leading 15-3 record. They’ll then head to Cleveland to try and exact some revenge for the Gladiators’ Hail Mary victory to close out the 2012 season. The Rush will come home on Sunday, May 19 to face the Arizona Rattlers. These few weeks give fans the unique opportunity to witness the two teams who faced off in last season’s ArenaBowl in back-to-back home games.

The Rush will take a 2-week hiatus from the Allstate Arena as they head south to face off against the New Orleans VooDoo and the Orlando Predators on May 25 and June 1. Their matchup against New Orleans features their first game in an NFL stadium, as the VooDoo will be playing their home games at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome by that point in the season due to renovations at New Orleans Arena.

The Rush will then play two Friday home games on June 7 and June 14.  The first of those two weeks features a matchup with the Utah Blaze. On the 14^th, the Rush host the San Antonio Talons, who defeated the Rush twice last season.

They’ll head back down to Florida on June 22 to face off with the Tampa Bay Storm, followed by their first and only bye week. After resting up, they’ll hit the road again as they travel to Philadelphia for a Saturday night showdown on July 6.

The Cleveland Gladiators will come to Chicago on Saturday, July 13; the regional rivalry is followed by a game in Arizona against the Rattlers on July 20. Following that game, the Rush will have played four times against the league’s ArenaBowl XXV competitors.

To conclude the regular season, the Rush host the San Jose SaberCats on Saturday, July 27. The first week of the 2013 AFL playoffs will begin August 2, and ArenaBowl XXVI will be August 17^th at noon on CBS.

All times are Central Standard Time, and all dates and times are subject to change.

Week 1 Saturday March 23 7:00 PM vs. Iowa Barnstormers

Week 2 Sunday March 31 3:00 PM vs. Spokane Shock

Week 3 Saturday April 6 7:30 PM at San Antonio Talons

Week 4 Sunday April 14 3:00 PM vs. Pittsburgh Power

Week 5 Saturday April 20 8:00 PM at Utah Blaze

Week 6 Friday April 26 7:05 PM at Iowa Barnstormers

Week 7 Saturday May 4 7:00 PM vs. Philadelphia Soul

Week 8 Saturday May 11 6:00 PM at Cleveland Gladiators

Week 9 Sunday May 19 3:00 PM vs. Arizona Rattlers

Week 10 Saturday May 25 7:00 PM at New Orleans VooDoo

Week 11 Saturday June 1 6:30 PM at Orlando Predators

Week 12 Friday June 7 7:30 PM vs. Utah Blaze

Week 13 Friday June 14 7:30 PM vs. San Antonio Talons

Week 14 Saturday June 22 6:30 PM at Tampa Bay Storm

Week 15 BYE

Week 16 Saturday July 6 6:05 PM at Philadelphia Soul

Week 17 Saturday July 13 7:00 PM vs. Cleveland Gladiators

Week 18 Saturday July 20 8:00 PM at Arizona Rattlers

Week 19 Saturday July 27 7:00 PM vs. San Jose SaberCats

EVANSTON—Northwestern senior guard Drew Crawford’s hot start sparked the Wildcats, as his game-high 20 points, all in the first half, propelled them to a 79-49 win in their season opener against Texas Southern Tuesday night.Crawford scored 5 seconds into the game off the opening tip and never let up, hitting 8 of 9 shots in the first half including four 3-pointers.The Wildcats’ defense pressured Texas Southern (0-2) the entire game, aided by five players 6-foot-8 or taller which limited the Tigers’ effectiveness in the post. Texas Southern failed to crack double digits until forward Aaron Clayborn’s layup with 3:15 left in the first half, but that barely put a dent in Northwestern’s 40-11 lead.Ten players scored for NU, led by Crawford and freshman Kale Abrahamson, who added 15 points including two deep 3-pointers that brought the fans at Welsh-Ryan Arena to their feet.

VALPARAISO—Ryan Broekhoff scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to help Valparaiso cruise to a 69-46 win over Northern Illinois on Tuesday.The Crusaders (2-0) led by nine at halftime but blew the game open by hitting a trio of 3-pointers in the first 2:24 of the second half and leading by 25 as they pulled away. Two of the 3s came from Ben Boggs, who finished with 11 points.Northern Illinois (0-2) was led by Aksel Bolin with 10 points and Daveon Balls, who had nine, but the Huskies shot only 29 percent (19 of 65) for the game – including just 4 of 18 from 3-point range.

Rajon Rondo extended his own pursuit of a record and helped the Boston Celtics reverse some recent history.Rondo had 20 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Boston Celtics to a 101-95 win over the Bulls on Monday night. He stretched his streak of consecutive games with 10 or more assists to 31, the longest in the NBA since John Stockton had 37 straight from Feb. 27 to Nov. 29, 1989.

“We played pretty well offensively,” Rondo said. “Besides the turnovers I had, we took pretty good care of the ball. We got out on the break, kept it simple offensively.”

Rondo, who leads the NBA with an average of 12.9 assists per game, took advantage of Bulls point guard Nate Robinson by getting all of his scoring in the first three quarters to help the Celtics build a 12-point lead while shooting 56 percent.

“(Rondo) had an excellent game,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “He is starting to get comfortable with the players that are out there on the floor and what he can call with them there.”

Brandon Bass led four other Celtics in double figures with 16 points as Boston held off a furious late rally to snap a five-game losing streak at the United Center. Kevin Garnett had 15 points.Luol Deng led the Bulls with 26 points and 11 rebounds. Joakim Noah added 17 points and 11 boards and led the fourth quarter rally with nine points.The Celtics became the first team to score 100 points against the Bulls since April 8 of last season, ending a streak that had reached 15 straight games.

“They scored 58 points in the first half,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “You give up 33 (points in the first quarter) to a team like that, you’re giving them confidence and they’re hard to slow down after that.”

The Bulls held Boston without a point for 5:15 of the fourth quarter, scoring 10 straight pull to 87-84. The Bulls had five straight possessions to close the gap further but couldn’t, and Jason Terry finally snapped the Celtics’ drought with a jumper with just under 5 minutes to play.

“They did make a good run at us,” said Paul Pierce, who was held to 10 points on 4-for-13 shooting. “We just have to run to the finish line in games. There were a few times when I thought we were up 12 to 14 and could have gone to 20 and didn’t.”

Rookie Marquis Teague replaced Robinson in the fourth and helped curb Rondo’s scoring. Noah outplayed Garnett during the Bulls spree, aggressively driving to the basket while Garnett missed three straight jumpers on the other end, including an air ball that landed out of bounds. In the final minute, Deng made two free throws to cut the lead to three, but after a timeout Rondo passed to Garnett for an alley-oop dunk with 41.9 seconds to play.

“Actually we covered that play in the pregame,” Thibodeau said. “They’re good at it.”

After Taj Gibson missed two free throws, Rondo then passed to Bass for a dunk to seal the win and extend his assists streak. The Celtics shot just 35 percent in the fourth after their strong start.

“We thrive in situations where it’s a tight ballgame,” Boston’s Jason Terry said. “We’ve all been in that situation plenty of times–we know what to do.”

The Celtics used a 10-0 run over a 3:45 stretch of the second quarter to establish its biggest lead of the first half at 51-38. Boston led 58-46 at the break, getting 59.5 percent shooting.Rondo continued to take advantage of Robinson in the third quarter, scoring 10 points in the period as the Celtics maintained their shooting touch. Boston led 82-70 after three and appeared to be in good shape.The Celtics have won their last 27 games when leading after three quarters, a streak more than twice as long as any other in the NBA.

“This is a competitive group of guys and they want to find a way to win,” Rivers said.

Pierce and Rondo scored eight points apiece as the Celtics took a 33-27 lead after the first quarter, shooting 63.6 percent from the field and setting a new season high for points in a quarter.

“I don’t know where to start,” Gibson said. “There were a lot of things. They got a lot of confidence early.”

NOTES—The Bulls played without starting PG Kirk Hinrich, who sat out with a strained right hip. Hinrich suffered the injury in Saturday’s win over Minnesota and is considered day to day. Robinson started in his place….Boston coach Doc Rivers called the news that the rival Los Angeles Lakers had hired Mike D’Antoni as their new coach “very interesting” and added that “I hope they don’t do too well.”…..In what has become an annual ritual, the Bulls will play their next five games on the road over the next two weeks while a circus occupies the United Center…..Carlos Boozer snapped out a recent shooting slump to score 10 points on 5 of 6 shooting in the first quarter. Boozer finished with 15 points, but didn’t play in the fourth quarter.

There weren’t many style points in this one. J.J. Watt wasn’t interested in them, anyway. All that mattered was the result, and the Houston Texans will take that along with everything else they took from this game. They took away the ball. They even took out the quarterback in a 13-6 victory against the Bears on Sunday.

“I think we showed them we can win any game, any situation, any time, any place, tough weather conditions, tough place on the road, a very good football team,” Watt said. “We won, so say what you want.”

Arian Foster finished with 102 yards rushing and a touchdown catch, and the Texans intercepted Jay Cutler twice before knocking him out of the game with a concussion. In a showdown between two of the NFL’s best teams, the Texans (8-1) beat the Bears (7-2) at their own game. They came away with four takeaways against a team that came in with a plus-16 turnover differential, and Tim Dobbins delivered the biggest blow when he drove his helmet into Cutler late in the second quarter. Foster was the only reliable offensive weapon on either side, particularly in the first half when he ran for 85 yards and made a sprawling catch for a 2-yard touchdown to put Houston ahead 10-3.Otherwise, neither team got much going on a soggy night. The Texans were outgained 215 yards to 249, but they did just enough to come away with the win. Now they’re tied with Atlanta for the league’s best record after the Falcons were upset by New Orleans.

“It’s huge for us, we were 7-1 going in, to come out 8-1 in a hostile place, given the weather and the team we were playing, that’s a tough group to go against,” said Matt Schaub, who threw for just 95 yards and was picked off twice by Tim Jennings.

Andre Johnson, Schaub’s top target, had just four catches for 35 yards with Charles Tillman on him. Former Bear Danieal Manning helped set the tone, forcing a fumble by Kellen Davis on the Bears first play from scrimmage and picking off Cutler later in the first quarter. Cutler completed just 7 of 14 passes for 40 yards with two interceptions in the first half and was seen in street clothes after the game being driving off on a cart by team officials. Jason Campbell threw for 94 yards in the second half.

“You never want to lose anybody, especially our starting quarterback,” receiver Brandon Marshall said. “He is our leader, he is the heart and soul of our offense so we definitely want him to have a quick, speedy recovery.In the meantime, Campbell is more than capable. There was no heads hanged down when Jay was down. There was no complaining. We understand we have a starting quarterback in the backup so we’re fortunate to have him. There will be no drop off in our offense.”

Marshall managed 107 yards receiving but also dropped a pass in the end zone. Matt Forte never got going, running for 39 yards. But the biggest sequence came when Cutler got hurt. The Texans had just gone up 10-3 on a lunging 2-yard touchdown catch by Foster. A scrambling Cutler took a helmet-to-helmet hit from Dobbins after unleashing a pass on third down at midfield late in the first half. There were offsetting penalties on the play. Cutler got called for an illegal forward pass because he was beyond the line of scrimmage and then got drilled by Dobbins, who was called for unnecessary roughness.Cutler stayed in and the drive ended with his second interception. Kareem Jackson picked off a pass intended for Marshall in double coverage at the Houston 27.

“It’s tough,” Campbell said. “That what defenses try to do.”

Was it a cheap shot?

“He caught him right under the chin,” Campbell answered.

Cutler was in for the final drive of the half, but Campbell started the third quarter, sending a big chill through Soldier Field. After all, the Bears crumbled last season after Cutler injured his thumb, spoiling a 7-3 start. They went into a tailspin with Caleb Hanie and finished 8-8, costing general manager Jerry Angelo his job. With Campbell now in the mix, the Bears believe they could at least survive, and that theory could be put to the test in a big way with a game at San Francisco next Monday night.

“If I have to play, of course, during the week I will get those practice reps and get the guys used to [me],” Campbell said. “And they will get used to me as a quarterback, until Jay is ready. That’s something that we have all week to get ready for. We don’t have to work that out during the middle of the game.”

Campbell couldn’t lead them back in the second half, although there was plenty of blame to go around. Robbie Gould kicked a 24-yard field goal late in the third period, but missed a 48-yarder early in the fourth that would have made it a one-point game. Shayne Graham kicked a 42-yarder for Houston to make it 13-6 with 4:49 left.

“It shows we can win in any environment, in any situation,” Watt said. “Our team prevailed and obviously a lot of perseverance.”

NOTES—It was a game Davis would like to, forget. His early fumble set the tone for the night. He also had two drops….Cutler was 7-14 for 40 yards and the two Interceptions with a passer rating of 16.7…..Campbell was 11-19 for 94 yards and a QB rating of 70.9….Shea McClellin left with a concussion in the opening minutes…..Texans TE Owen Daniels was out because of a back injury. He was limited in practice on Friday after sitting out the previous two days.