MILWAUKEE—The Bulls weren’t about to squander another second half lead against the Milwaukee Bucks. Twice this season, the Bucks have rallied in the second half to beat the Bulls, including storming back from a 27-point deficit late in the third quarter at the United Center in November.

“The fact that we lost a couple of leads against these guys before, we didn’t want to let our guard down,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said. “They are a very good team and they keep coming at you. You have to stay ready. We had a lot of guys step up.”

One of those guys was Nate Robinson, who scored 16 of his 24 points in the second quarter, leading the Bulls to a 104-88 victory Wednesday night.

“Nate played with great energy, which was a huge plus,” Thibodeau said.

Another key was Jimmy Butler, a second-year pro from Marquette, who added 18 points, one shy his career high set in the Bulls’ previous game, and five rebounds in a return to the arena where he played college basketball.Thibodeau credited Butler with being valuable whether starting or coming off the bench.

“He’s a big lift,” Thibodeau said. “He can guard, he can score and play multiple positions and make hustle plays. He’s doing a lot for us. He’s a big part of this team.”

Samuel Dalembert had 14 points and a season-high 13 rebounds for the Bucks. Ersan Ilyasova added 18 points and seven rebounds.The Bulls broke open the game midway through the second quarter, using a 20-4 run to take a 49-30 lead. The run included a long 3-point shot by Robinson, who capped the rally with a driving layup. He was fouled on the play by Brandon Jennings, and converted the free throw.Robinson, who also had a breakaway dunk during the run, shot 7 for 9 from the floor during the quarter to help take a 55-37 lead at the half.

“My teammates have been teasing me all season, talking about how I’m a three-time slam-dunk champion and I didn’t get no dunks,” Robinson said. “My fans have been asking me when I’m going to dunk again so hopefully they’ll get off my back now.”

The Bulls shot 51 percent from the field in the first half, while the Bucks made just 39 percent of their attempts. Jennings and Monta Ellis, the Bucks’ top scorers, combined for just 11 points in the half on 4-for-14 shooting. Jennings finished the game with 15 points, while Ellis had 12. The Bucks stormed back in the third quarter, using a 25-14 run at the start of the period to pull within seven points. Jennings, who was ejected late in the game after being called for a technical foul keyed the comeback, scoring 11 points in the quarter.The Bulls used a 10-6 run to close the period to take a 79-68 lead.The Bulls scored 10 of the first 14 points in the fourth quarter to extend the lead, highlighted by a breakaway dunk by Butler.

“They started to make a run, but we slowed them down, stopped them in transition and contested their shots and they started missing and we went down and capitalized,” Butler said.

The Bulls big second quarter forced Milwaukee to play “uphill” for the remainder of the game, Bucks coach Jim Boylan said.

“We just didn’t have enough in the tank. It was their typical game; they’re a good, physical team and they play a physical brand of basketball and it took its toll on us tonight,” he said.

Ilyasova admitted that the Bucks weren’t effective on offense throughout much of the game.

“Offensively, we looked a little tired. We couldn’t make some open shots,” he said.

The Bulls scored a season-high 66 points in the paint.

“We needed to stop the guy with the ball in the paint,” Ilyasova said. “We have to play a little more aggressive next time defensively.”

The Bulls took a 23-19 lead at the end of the first quarter, paced by Taj Gibson’s six points and four rebounds. The Bucks were led by Dalembert’s seven points and five rebounds in the period.Boylan said he didn’t think Jennings, who wasn’t available for comment after the game, was forced off his game because of his heated head-to-head battle with Robinson.

“Even though he and Brandon are going at it, I don’t think it’s taking away from Brandon’s game,” Boylan said.

Butler viewed it differently.

“They were going at it. Brandon Jennings is a big-time player but you get frustrated, a lot of different things can happen and he definitely got frustrated,” Butler said.

NOTES—Bucks forward Larry Sanders sat Wednesday night due to illness. Milwaukee coach Jim Boylan said Sanders was ill during Tuesday’s game in Detroit against the Pistons, where he was limited to 16 minutes and scored three points. Samuel Dalembert started a hamstring injury suffered in Tuesday night’s game against Charlotte. Gibson replaced him. … Boylan said he thought Jennings should have been named to replace injured Celtics guard Rajon Rando on the All-Star team. “I thought Brandon deserved to be selected the way he’s been playing recently,” Boylan said. Brooklyn’s Brook Lopez was chosen over Jennings. … Due to an engine issue with the team plane, the Bucks returned to Milwaukee around 11 a.m. Wednesday. The team had expected to fly out of Detroit on Tuesday night. … The Bulls has won six consecutive games at the Bradley Center. The Bulls’ last loss in Milwaukee was 96-93 on Jan. 8, 2010.

ST. PAUL—The unbeaten Blackhawks gave the Minnesota Wild a significant early season test of their upgraded team.They held up quite well, from the early goalie switch to the late-game fatigue.Matt Cullen scored 90 seconds into the game and again in a shootout to lift the Wild to a 3-2 victory on Wednesday, the first loss in seven games for the Blackhawks.

“Games like this are how you build confidence in what you’re doing as a team and start getting that belief that — you know what? — we can be a good team,” said Cullen, who was scoreless in the first six games. “It’s not just talk. It’s not just on paper. It’s getting some results.”

Cullen’s snap shot in the third round slipped between Corey Crawford’s legs, and Patrick Sharp then hit the crossbar. The Blackhawks and San Jose were the only teams to start 6-0 this year.

The Wild improved to 4-1 at home, enjoying significant production from their second and third lines for the second straight night after a slow start by anyone not named Zach Parise, Dany Heatley or Mikko Koivu. The first line scored 10 of their first 13 goals, until Tuesday’s win over Columbus.

“We’re not there yet by any means, but this team has shown that when we’re playing our game we can play with anybody. Scratch that: We can beat anybody,” coach Mike Yeo said. “We spent very little time tonight talking about Chicago. This game was about ourselves.”

Goals by Andrew Shaw and Jonathan Toews early in the first period prompted the Wild to pull goalie Josh Harding for Niklas Backstrom. But Cal Clutterbuck also scored for the Wild, and Backstrom stopped all 28 shots he saw to help his tired teammates get to overtime.

“We’re not a playoff team. We want to be a playoff team,” Backstrom said. “You measure yourself against the best. You see what they do. We know there’s a lot of hard work ahead of us, and for sure it gives us confidence you can play against these guys.”

Crawford, off to a sharp start in his third season as the primary goalie, made 23 saves as the Blackhawks started a season-long six-game road trip. They’ve played five straight one-goal games.

“That’s a great start, but the best thing about that is that we’re doing a great job of putting the last game behind us and just getting ready for the next one,” Toews said. “That’s what we’ve got to keep doing.”

After putting 15 shots on net in the first period, the Wild had six over the remainder of regulation. They had one last prime opportunity when Sharp was penalized for hooking with 2:05 left, but the Blackhawks squelched the Minnesota power play for the fourth time — and headed for overtime after the scoreless third period.The Wild had 83 seconds of a 5-on-3 late in the first period, but Crawford didn’t budge, blocking Bouchard’s attempt at a chip-in from the edge of the crease by diving almost all the way across the goal mouth. Then in the second, they sputtered through a power play so lifelessly the crowd booed as it expired.The Blackhawks came into the game second in the NHL in penalty killing behind Boston. They have given up just one goal in 27 attempts and none in 19 situations on the road.

“I thought we got better as the game went on,” coach Joel Quenneville said. “I think in the first period we might’ve been fortunate to get ahead, but at the same time the second part of the game we were in there a lot more and we didn’t give up much. You go to a shootout, anything can happen.”

Yeo made the bold move of pulling Harding a mere 6 minutes, 45 seconds into the game. He faced only four shots. Harding, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during the lockout, had a 24-save shutout of Dallas on Jan. 20 but gave up five goals at Detroit last Friday.

“It’s not a decision I’m sitting here feeling good about,” Yeo said, adding: “I know that he’s OK. It’s not because of anything bigger. Let’s be fair to him. We haven’t had very much practice time at all.”

Backstrom didn’t need it, apparently.

“We’ve got to … take pucks to the net. Get some traffic,” Shaw said. “I didn’t think we did a good job of that, and that’s something we’re going to work on.”

NOTES—Wild D Tom Gilbert, who didn’t score and had just five assists in 20 games last season after his trade from Edmonton to Minnesota, has two goals and four assists in the last four games. He leads the Wild with 17 blocked shots….The Blackhawks don’t play at home again until Feb. 12 and will have 10 of their first 12 games on the road.

ANN ARBOR—Trey Burke raised his eyebrows in disbelief when asked about Michigan’s most remarkable stat of the night.

“We only had two turnovers as a team?” Burke said.

The top-ranked Wolverines were nearly flawless at the start Wednesday night, and they went on to an easy 68-46 victory over Northwestern.Burke had 18 points and eight assists in Michigan’s first game since taking over the top spot in the AP poll for the first time since the 1992-93 season. The Wolverines (20-1, 7-1 Big Ten) made 10 of their first 11 shots and went the entire first half without a turnover. They didn’t commit a foul, either, until the final minute of the half. Michigan’s two turnovers for the game equaled a national low for any team this season.

“There’s been times we had two turnovers … in the first minute,” coach John Beilein said. “We’ll take it, and we’ll move on.”

The Wolverines can now prepare for Saturday night’s showdown at No. 3 Indiana. Michigan fans began chanting “Beat the Hoosiers!” toward the end of Wednesday’s game. Michigan played without forward Jordan Morgan, who sprained his right ankle last weekend. Jon Horford started in Morgan’s place and finished with 10 points and seven rebounds. Although NU also shot well at the beginning, the Wolverines were relentless. Some of their points came easily, such as an alley-oop from Burke to Glenn Robinson III in transition. But Michigan was also sharp from the outside. Nik Stauskas made a 3-pointer and Robinson added a layup, causing Wildcats coach Bill Carmody to call the first of two early timeouts. Stauskas added another 3 to give the Wolverines a 15-9 lead, and Michigan led by as many as 16 later in the half. It was 36-21 at halftime. The Wolverines didn’t have any turnovers until 6-foot-10 freshman Mitch McGary tried to start a fast break himself by dribbling up the court and lost the ball with less than 12 minutes left.

NEW YORK—St. John’s is in third place in the Big East Conference. No comments about the teams the Red Storm beat during their current five-game winning streak. Don’t bring up how early in the season it is, either. They are doing some impressive things considering they are one of the youngest teams in the country.The latest win was a 79-74 overtime decision against DePaul on Wednesday night at Carnesecca Arena. It was the sixth Big East victory for the Red Storm (14-7, 6-3), matching last season’s total.

“We have a lot of momentum and, so what teams are doubting us because most of the wins were against the bottom half?” said D’Angelo Harrison, who had 17 points for the Red Storm. “We’re going to come in ready to fight at Georgetown so they better be ready, too.”

The streak started with a win over then-No. 20 Notre Dame. Then came wins over DePaul, Rutgers and Seton Hall before DePaul lost to the Red Storm for a second time.St. John’s plays Georgetown on Saturday and then faces Connecticut at Madison Square Garden followed by road games with No. 6 Syracuse and No. 12 Louisville, the teams ahead of the Red Storm in the standings.

“Third place is big for us after people picked us 12th in the preseason,” freshman JaKarr Sampson said.

Sampson is ready for the next four games.

“I feel like we’re ready. I’m ready,” he said. “This is why I came to St. John’s, to play big-time games like Louisville and Syracuse. We want to compete with those teams.”

St. John’s coach Steve Lavin was asked if the upcoming stretch of games would let everybody know how good his team is.

“After three years in this league as a coach I found you just can’t look for any universal truths out of a stretch of four or five games,” he said. “Just keep coaching and stay on the path of improvement until we see how things finish. You have to wait for the body of work.”

The Red Storm looked to be in trouble late against the Blue Demons, especially since Harrison had fouled out with 3:45 to play in regulation.St. John’s managed to tie it late in regulation and then controlled the overtime behind Sampson, who scored six of his 13 points in the extra 5 minutes.

“You feel helpless,” Harrison, the Big East’s second-leading scorer at 19.8 points per game, said of sitting on the bench for the game’s last 8:45. “I have faith in my teammates and they have faith in me. It was a grind-it-out game and we grinded.”

Brandon Young had 21 points for the Blue Demons (10-10, 1-6), who have lost five straight and seven of eight overall. They have lost eight in a row to St. John’s.

“We’ve won a lot of games in the last 6 minutes. And we lost this one in the last 6 minutes,” DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said. “We had two 6-minute periods of time where there was 6 minutes left in the game and the score was tied, and there was a 5-minute overtime and the score is tied. Clearly, we did one of the three things we needed to do to win a 6-minute game very well and that was shoot free throws (18 of 20). We didn’t take care of the ball a couple times and we didn’t rebound defensively a couple times when we really needed to.”

Sampson’s rebound basket with 1:49 left in overtime gave the Red Storm the lead for good at 75-74. Young missed a foul line jumper and, as Sir’Dominic Pointer went in for a layup, Young fouled him hard and a flagrant 1 was called. Pointer made both free throws – the Red Storm went 4 for 10 from the line in overtime – and even though St. John’s didn’t score on the ensuing possession, Sampson went 2 for 4 from the line to seal the win.

“I thought it was (a flagrant foul) right away but I think it looked worse than it was,” Pointer said. “They made the call.”

Jamal Branch made two free throws for St. John’s with 1:18 left in regulation to tie it at 69. DePaul was called for offensive goaltending on its next possession. Sampson missed a jumper for the Red Storm and Young missed a 3-point attempt with 15 seconds left.After a scramble near midcourt fouling the inbounds, Sampson missed a shot from down low at the buzzer. A foul was called against DePaul but the officials went to the monitor and ruled the foul came after the buzzer.Phil Greene had 13 points for St. John’s and Pointer had 11 points and 12 rebounds.Cleveland Melvin had 10 points and 13 rebounds for DePaul, which finished with a 52-39 advantage on the boards.DePaul finished the first half with a 28-15 edge on the boards – 12-4 on the offensive end – although St. John’s led 38-31, the largest lead for either team to that point.St. John’s freshman Chris Obekpa, who leads the nation in blocked shots at 4.6 per game, had five to give him 96 for the season.

NOTES—DePaul is now 6-73 in Big East games since 2008-09….The Blue Demons host Notre Dame at 1pm at Allstate Arena Saturday.

SOUTH BEND—Cameron Biedscheid scored a season-high 18 points, 15 in the second half, and Jack Cooley added 17 points and 16 rebounds to lead Notre Dame to a 65-60 win over Villanova on Wednesday night.After going 1 of 2 from 3-point range in the first half, Biedscheid was 4 of 5 in the second. Overall, the Fighting Irish (17-4, 5-3 Big East) were 9 of 21 from 3-point range and survived going more than 13 minutes without scoring a 2-point basket. Villanova (13-8, 4-4), coming off back-to-back victories last week against then-Top 5 teams Syracuse and Louisville, was just 3 of 11 from 3-point range.Mouphtaou Yarou led Villanova with 20 points, Darrun Hilliard scored 14 and JayVaughn Pinkston had 11.Biedscheid, a freshman, scored in double figures in a Big East game for the first time to spark the Irish, who had lost two of three at home.

DEKALB—Abdel Nader’s go-ahead jumper with 2.2 seconds left sealed the deal for Northern Illinois which held off Kent State 67-65 on Wednesday night,and this after NIU’s embarressing loss at Eastern Michigan last weekend in which they scored just 25 points-4 in the first half..Northern Illinois (5-14, 3-4 MAC) led 63-54 with 2:28 remaining in the game but the Golden Flashes used an 11-2 run capped off by Devareaux Manley’s 3-pointer to tie it at 65 with 31 seconds left.After Nader’s jumper, Kent State’s Randal Holt got a look from beyond the arc to win it but just missed as the clock expired.The Golden Flashes never led in the contest.Nader scored 26 points including four 3-pointers and was 8 for 11 from the free-throw line. He led the Huskies with 11 rebounds.Darren Goodson scored 18 points and pulled 10 rebounds for Kent State (11-10, 2-5). Kris Brewer had 14 points and was a perfect 10 for 10 from the line.

Ben Averkamp scored 22 points and Jordan Hicks had a season-high 21, leading Loyola to a 76-65 victory over UW-Milwaukee on Wednesday night.Averkamp also had 12 rebounds and four assists for the Ramblers (13-8, 3-5 Horizon), who shot 53 percent from the field and outrebounded UWM 35-25. Christian Thomas added 16 points.Jordan Aaron and Austin Arians each had 17 points for the Panthers (5-17, 1-7), who have lost four in a row and seven of their last eight games. Milwaukee is 0-12 on the road this season.Loyola pulled away with 20 straight points midway through the second half, turning a 44-42 deficit into a 62-44 lead with 6:52 remaining. Cully Payne and Devon Turk hit back-to-back 3-pointers during the run and Averkamp had eight points. The Panthers went scoreless for 8:27 during that stretch.

PEORIA—Walt Lemon Jr. scored a career-high 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting Tuesday night, helping Bradley snap its losing streak against intrastate 74 rival Illinois State with an 83-77 win.Lemon added five rebounds and five steals. Tyshon Pickett and Dyricus Simms-Edwards chipped in 15 points apiece for the Braves (13-9, 5-5 Missouri Valley), who had lost their last seven games against Illinois State. Simms-Edwards, whose average of 3.00 steals per game was fourth in Division I entering the game, had four steals Tuesday.John Wilkins and Jackie Carmichael scored 16 points each for the Redbirds (12-10, 3-7), who led by as many as 16 in the first half before Bradley rallied. Tyler Brown added 13 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Jon Ekey scored 11 off the bench.Bradley dominated inside, outscoring Illinois State 46-14 in the paint, and scored 27 points off the Redbirds’ 23 turnovers.

Luol Deng return couldn’t slow down the latest offensive outburst from Jimmy Butler.Butler scored a career-high 19 points and Nate Robinson added 15 as the Bulls beat the Charlotte Bobcats 93-85 on Monday night. Deng returned to the Bulls’ lineup after missing five games with a hamstring injury, and scored 12 points in 31 minutes. The Bulls won three of five without Deng as his absence was eased by the strong play of Butler, who returned to a reserve role.After Deng injured his hamstring he sent a message that Butler embraced.

“I think it hit home the most when Luol came up to me and said, `You can do this. This is your time, step in and keep playing the way you have been playing.’ When you hear that from an All-Star, from Derrick [Rose] and Jo [Joakim Noah] that’s big. I have been here for almost two years now — I think that’s what I need to hear,” Butler said. “The confidence comes from my teammates, if I have an off night then they’re still going to be there supporting me … It’s not going to be like this every night but I have the best teammates, it makes it easy.”

It was third time in the past six games that Butler set or tied his career-high in points and his defense has also taken notice after slowing down Kobe Bryant in a win against the Lakers on Jan. 21.

“Jimmy is playing great for us right now. We need that. He just has to keep growing and get better. He plays so hard. He’s been patient and he’s been working hard on his game,” Deng said. “I’m just so happy for him that because it takes time to understand the NBA game. There are still a lot of areas he can get better at but what he’s shown so far is just his hard work and he’s going to keep getting better.”

Noah finished with 13 points, 18 rebounds and seven assists to help the Central Division-leading Bulls win for the seventh time in its last nine games.

Kemba Walker and Ben Gordon led the Bobcats with 18 points apiece. Charlotte has lost nine of its last 11 games.The Bulls pulled away late in the third quarter behind Robinson. After Walker’s jumper erased a 14-point deficit and tied the score at 55, the Bulls scored 13 straight points. Robinson sparked the run with a pair of 3-pointers then had a steal to set up a dunk by Butler to put the Bulls up 68-55.

“When things weren’t going their way on the other end [offense], they did a solid job of defending throughout the entire game,” said Gordon.

Robinson wasn’t done. He made a pull-up 3, then had a steal and layup to give the Bulls a 75-61 lead.Charlotte got it within six late in the fourth quarter, but Carlos Boozer put the game away with a dunk over Bismack Biyombo with 1:25 left.

“We got ourselves back in it. A two possession game when the money was on the line and a couple of unfortunate turnovers cost us the game,” said Bobcats head coach Mike Dunlap.

Jeff Adrien had 14 points and 10 rebounds in his first NBA start. Gordon scored 15 points in the second half.Leading 23-20 early in the second quarter, the Bulls extended its lead with a 17-6 run. Butler had six points in the span and Deng made a 3 to make it 40-26.Kirk Hinrich’s 3-pointer as time expired in the second quarter gave the Bulls a 49-40 halftime lead. Butler led the Bulls with 10 points in the opening two quarters, and Boozer had nine. Walker led the Bobcats with 11.Charlotte was able to erase the Bulls 14-point lead as Gordon’s jumper got the Bobcats to 54-53 and Walker’s jumper tied the score at 55 with 3:36 left in the third quarter. The Bulls have won five of their last seven games against teams with winning records, including two victories at Eastern Conference leaders Miami and New York. However, they have struggled to beat teams with sub-.500 records. Their latest poor showing came in a loss to the Wizards on Saturday night.Charlotte pulled out a 10-point win against the Bulls to snap their 18-game losing streak on New Year’s Eve.Adrien, called up from the D-League in December, replaced Hakim Warrick in Charlotte’s starting lineup.Deng said his hamstring felt fine after the game.

“Honestly, I was a little worried. I haven’t gone full speed like that. With the game I was worried about the change in speed so I am happy I didn’t have any setbacks,” said Deng.

NOTES—Before the game, Thibodeau wouldn’t comment if Derrick Rose is ready to return to full practices. “He’s coming along, he still has a ways to go,” said Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau, who has been discreet on the timetable of Rose’s return….Boozer finished with 13 points.

Nick Leddy scored 2:45 into overtime and the Blackhawks improved to 6-0 – the best start in franchise history – with a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday night.After taking a cross-ice pass from Viktor Stalberg, Leddy fired from the left circle and beat Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard with a shot that slipped just under his glove.Detroit’s Johan Franzen connected early in the third to tie the game at 1 and set up overtime.Duncan Keith scored a power-play goal in the first period for the Hawks, and Corey Crawford finished with 29 saves in his fifth start in six games.Howard, who has started all five of Detroit’s games, made 25 saves.The Blackhawks started 5-0 in 1971-72 – Hall of Famer Bobby Hull’s final season with the team – and matched it on Saturday night with a 3-2 win in Columbus.The Blackhawks killed all six of Detroit’s power plays, improving to 22 of 23 this season. Injury-depleted Detroit has gone just 2 for 26 with the man advantage so far.The Hawks have won four straight against Detroit, dating to Feb. 21, 2012. The Blackhawks and Red Wings met for the 722th time, the most of any two NHL opponents. Sunday’s game was only the Blackhawks’ second at home, and they begin a six-game road trip Wednesday in Minnesota. The Blackhawks don’t skate at home again until Feb. 12 as they play 10 of their first 12 games away from the United Center.Keith scored the only goal of the first period, during a power play 2:24 in.Crawford had to be sharp to preserve the lead in second. Early in the period, he made close-in saves on Todd Bertuzzi and Henrik Zetterberg. And the Blackhawks needed Crawford as they ran into penalty trouble in the second. Detroit was unable to convert any of four straight power plays beginning midway through the second, including a 43-second 5-on-3 advantage.The Blackhawks started the third on their heels, and Franzen finally tied it at 1 with an even-strength goal at 4:30 of the period. After Zetterberg’s shot was blocked, Franzen picked up the loose puck and closed in from the right circle. He got by Keith and beat Crawford with a shot between the legs.Crawford made a point-blank stop on Cory Emmerton midway through the third to preserve the tie.Howard then made sprawling saves on Brent Seabrook and Jonathan Toews during a Chicago power play with just under 5 minutes left in the third. Keith’s shot a minute-and-a-half later hit the post.Crawford stopped Franzen’s prime chance 1:30 into overtime.

NOTES—Red Wings D Jonathan Ericsson returned after missing three games with an injured hip. … Detroit C Darren Helm (back) and D Jakub Kindl (healthy scratch) sat out after playing on Friday against Minnesota. Both have missed four of five games so far. … Red Wings D Ian White (leg), D Carlo Colaiacovo (shoulder) and LW Jan Mursak (shoulder) and G Jonas Gustavsson (groin) remain sidelined. … Out for the Hawks were LW Daniel Carcillo (knee) and D Steve Montador (concussion, from last season.) … The Blackhawks 1971-72 team won nine of its first 11 games en route to a 46-17-15 record and first place in the NHL’s old Western Division.They swept Pittsburgh in the first round of the Playoffs, but got swept themselves by the Rangers. Those were B.Hull’s last four game with the Hawks before jumping to Winnipeg in the first season of the WHA.