EVANSTON—Reggie Hearn scored a career-high 26 points to lead Northwestern to a 75-60 victory over Purdue on Saturday.Jared Swopshire and Dave Sobolewski each added 13 points for the Wildcats (13-10, 4-6 Big Ten), who snapped a four-game losing streak to the Boilermakers.Purdue freshman center A.J. Hammons didn’t start because he was late for the team bus from West Lafayette, Ind., according to a team spokesman. Hammons did lead the Boilermakers (11-11, 4-5) with 19 points and 13 rebounds.Hammons had 30 points, his highest total of the season, in a loss to No. 3 Indiana on Wednesday.Travis Carroll started in Hammons’ place, and Hammons entered with 16:44 to play in the first half. The Boilermakers scored their first points with 15:59 left on a Hammons tip-in to cut the lead to 12-2.The Wildcats shot 11 of 26 from 3-point range and 53 percent from the field.

VANCOUVER—Jordan Schroeder is still looking for his first traditional goal, but he already has a game-winner in the bank.The 22-year-old Schroeder scored in his first shootout to give the Vancouver Canucks a 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks on Friday night.Schroeder, who hasn’t scored a standard goal in the regular season, fired a low, hard shot that squeaked through the pads of goalie Corey Crawford.

“I wanted to go in with some speed and wide,” Schroeder said. “I came back to the middle and changed my pace of speed. I froze him. He opened up the five hole a little bit and it trickled through.”

Defenseman Alex Edler scored in regulation for the Canucks (4-2-2).Patrick Kane had the lone goal for the Blackhawks, who lost their second straight in a shootout after starting the season with six victories.Crawford had stopped Alex Burrows, Zack Kassian and Maxim Lapierre before Vancouver coach Alain Vigneault tapped Schroeder.The rookie wasn’t totally surprised he was picked.

“We have been working on it,” he said. “I knew my name would get called. I was fortunate enough to get one and score.”

Vigneault said the Canucks have been practicing the shootout and getting feedback from the goalies and goalie coach Roland Melanson.

“They have been sharing the information on who they feel is better suited to help us out,” Vigneault said. “We get that information … and make the best decision we can for the team.”

The Hawks controlled overtime, outshooting Vancouver 4-1. They were also awarded a power play with 1:11 left when Vancouver defenseman Jason Garrison was called for high-sticking. The Hawks, who outshot Vancouver 28-22, was 0 for 5 on the power play.

“It’s tough to lose in a shootout,” Kane said. “I thought in the third we played pretty well.

“It seemed like we were all over them, but they are a tough team. They’re always going to be a rival and come out to play hard against us, especially in their building.”

The Canucks had a 40-second, 5-on-3 power play in the third period, but didn’t register a shot on goal.Edler opened the scoring at 15:42 of the first period. The big defenseman took a pass from Kassian and fired a shot past Crawford for his third goal of the season.Kane tied it at 9:42 of the third. He got the puck from Andrew Shaw and lifted a shot over the stick side of goalie Roberto Luongo, who was falling to the ice. It was Kane’s third goal.Vancouver’s Mason Raymond had a great scoring chance late in regulation. His hard shot went through Crawford’s pads and slid across the open net.The Blackhawks used speed and some pretty passing to attack Vancouver. Despite being drawn out of position at times, the Canucks defense forced the Blackhawks to the outside and blocked plenty of shots.

“It was a very tight game, not a lot of room on both sides,” Luongo said. “We played our system extremely well.They were kept to the outside most of the night. I was fighting a little bit to see the puck on some shots but we were tying them up so they weren’t getting any whacks at it.”

Luongo, who stopped 24 shots in a win against the Colorado Avalanche on Wednesday, had another solid night. In the second period he gloved a drive from Brandon Saad and calmly blocked a long shot from Dave Bolland.In the first period, Luongo stopped Marian Hossa on a breakaway and then dragged his leg in front of Brent Seabrook’s drive during a Hawk power play.

“Sometimes you get in a rhythm,” Luongo said. “You are seeing the puck and getting bounces.When you’re in that zone you want to keep it going as long as possible and take advantage of it.”

Luongo also got help when a couple of Blackhawks drives struck goal posts.Luongo, the goalie the Canucks have been trying to trade since June, made his third consecutive start. Cory Schneider, who was expected to be Vancouver’s No. 1 goalie this season, watched from the bench.It was also the first meeting between the teams since March 21 when Duncan Keith delivered an elbow to Daniel Sedin’s head.Sedin sustained a concussion and missed the rest of the regular season plus the first three games of the playoffs. Keith was given a five-game suspension.The crowd booed Keith every time he touched the puck. There was a cheer in the second period when Henrik Sedin bounced Keith into the boards.

NOTES—The Canucks wore the Vancouver Millionaires “V” patch on their sweaters to celebrate the team that won the Stanley Cup in 1915 against the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey Association….Wes Rypien, brother of former Canucks player Rick Rypien who committed suicide, participated in a ceremonial opening faceoff…..Henrik Sedin played his 900th game with the Canucks.

BROOKLYN—Brook Lopez scored 20 points through three quarters, then the Brooklyn Nets turned to their bench to beat the very short-handed Bulls 93-89 on Friday night.Andray Blatche scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and MarShon Brooks had nine of his 13 as the reserves scored the Nets’ first 20 points. A starter didn’t score until Joe Johnson’s 3-pointer gave Brooklyn an 86-80 lead with 2 minutes to play.Johnson finished with 13 points for the Nets, who bounced back from a loss to Miami on Wednesday by beating another top Eastern Conference team.Luol Deng scored 18 points and Taj Gibson had 16 points and nine rebounds for the Bulls, who played without starters Joakim Noah, Carlos Boozer and Kirk Hinrich while losing for just the third time in 11 games.Nate Robinson had 12 points and 11 assists but shot just 4 of 16 in place of Hinrich, who returned to Chicago to get his right elbow examined. Marco Belinelli scored 18 points and Jimmy Butler had 12 off the Bulls bench.Noah had an undisclosed foot injury and Boozer was bothered by a sore right hamstring.But the Bulls have been without Derrick Rose all season and are as good as anyone at playing without a full deck. They had a lead into the early fourth quarter before perhaps running out of gas as the deeper Nets surged by them.Brooks’ jumper gave the Nets the lead for good at 74-73 with 7:39 left and former Bulls backup CJ Watson hit a 3-pointer before Blatche’s basket made it 79-73 with 6:09 to go. Brooklyn stayed ahead from there, though Chicago got within two with 15 seconds left before Watson closed it out with two free throws.Even with Bulls injuries, Nets interim coach P.J. Carlesimo said going from the Heat on Wednesday to the Bulls on Friday was like “going for a root canal a couple of times in a week” because of how tough both teams make it to run an offense.Notoriously cautious Tom Thibodeau termed Noah’s ailment a “lower-body injury.” Pressed further, Thibodeau simply said Noah was “nicked up.” Perhaps he thinks he’s in the NHL now.

The Bulls almost got by without the All-Star while playing with just eight players but had their two-game winning streak snapped.The Nets jumped out to a 12-point lead in the first quarter, but the Bulls battled back to take a 42-39 lead on Deng’s 3-pointer with 51 seconds left in the first half, and the Bulls led by one at the break.Deron Williams had 11 points for the Nets. He limped off with an apparent ankle injury late in the half, but was back to start the third quarter.

NOTES—The Nets honored the 1 millionth guest to attend Barclays Center during a first-half timeout. Joined on the court by Nets owner Mikhail Prokhorov and Barclays Center majority owner and developer Bruce Ratner, Allison Barlow of Brooklyn was awarded two free tickets for all Barclays events for a year. The $1 billion arena has been open 126 days, and Friday’s game was its 86th ticketed event. They also celebrated the birthday of Mr. Whammy, the elderly fan who sits in the front row behind the basket and heckles opposing free-throw shooters. He couldn’t do much to faze the Bulls, who went 20 of 22 (91 percent) at the line.

EAST LANSING—Keith Appling bounced back from a poor performance when No. 13 Michigan State needed him most.Appling led a pivotal run early in the second half and finished with 24 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help the short-handed Spartans beat Illinois 80-75 on Thursday night.Michigan State (18-4, 7-2 Big Ten) started the game without senior center Derrick Nix, finished it without sophomore guard Travis Trice and played much of the second half without freshman guard Gary Harris.

“We just had to pick it up and grind the game out without Gary and Travis,” Appling said.

The junior point guard was coming off a three-point, no-assist, five-foul performance Sunday in a five-point loss at No. 3 Indiana. Appling helped the Spartans score the first 14 points of the second half to take their first lead against Illinois.

“He was the best player on the floor,” Illinois coach John Groce said. “He did a great job of making his teammates better.He has a swagger about him that ultimately gives them swagger and confidence.”

Nix didn’t start because Izzo said the captain missed one class and one meeting with a tutor. He entered the game midway through the first half and finished with eight points.

“Did that hurt my team? It did,” Izzo said. “It was a distraction.”

Trice, a key guard off the bench, was limited to 11 minutes in the first half because of a blow he took to the head on a shot attempt. Trice missed five games after breaking his nose and getting a concussion in the season-opening loss to Connecticut and Izzo said early reports on his latest head injury were not encouraging.Harris, a starter, went to the locker room midway through the second half with back spasms and returned to the bench, but not the game.

“He couldn’t even walk so we couldn’t put him back in,” Izzo said. “That hurt us, we’re just not deep enough.”

Harris, who said he was OK, had 14 points and fellow freshman Denzel Valentine scored a career-high 14, Braden Dawson had 12 points and nine rebounds and Adreian Payne added eight points, including a dunk off an alley-oop pass with 1:45 left to put the Spartans up 72-67.Appling’s spinning, scooping layup put them ahead by six points with 45 seconds remaining to essentially seal the victory that kept Michigan State undefeated at home this season.The Fighting Illini (15-7, 2-6), who were ranked as high as No. 10, lost for the fifth time in six games. They had a chance to be the first team with four wins over currently ranked teams, but put themselves in a tough position for postseason play.

“Absolutely, our backs are against the wall,” Groce said. “Nobody is going to give you anything.”

Illinois started strong and responded to rallies with shots and stops in the first half. Michigan State played with a lot of energy in the second half. Appling alternated making shots and setting up teammates to score in helping turn a 10-point deficit into a 41-37 lead.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth and I didn’t like our response,” Groce said.

Tracy Abrams scored 16 points for Illinois, D.J. Richardson had 14, Brandon Paul 13 and reserve Myke Henry 11.The Spartans led by eight points midway through the second half, but couldn’t put away a team that has been talented enough to beat some of the top teams in college basketball.Illinois has beaten No. 7 Gonzaga by 11 points, No. 9 Butler by 17 and No. 11 Ohio State by 19 points. Since beating the Buckeyes on Jan. 5, the Illini lost lopsided games to Minnesota, Wisconsin, Northwestern and Michigan with their only win during the slump coming against 11th-place Nebraska.Making five 3-pointers and having only one turnover helped the Illini lead 37-27 at halftime.After struggling to keep possession of the ball early in the second half against aggressive defense, Abrams made some 3-pointers to keep Illinois within a possession of tying the game, including one with 5:39 left that made the score 63-60.Early in the game, the Spartans looked rusty playing after a three-day break and Illinois seemed fired up to play.Michigan State got off to an awful start with four turnovers on its first four possessions, leading to the Illini taking an 8-0 lead.The second half was much different thanks in large part to Appling who had five points and one assist in the first half.

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Josh Crittle scored the last six points of the game and UIC defeated Wisconsin-Green Bay 60-57 Thursday night.Hayden Humes finished with 18 points to lead UIC, and Crittle scored 15. Both had nine rebounds. Gary Talton added 10 points.The Flames (14-8, 5-4 Horizon) are 9-1 at home this season and have won three in a row in conference play for the first time in four seasons.Keifer Sykes had 18 points to lead the Phoenix (11-11, 5-4), who had won five of their last six. Alec Brown’s 3-pointer with 1:41 left gave UWGB a 57-54 lead, but Crittle scored with 1:07 to play to get UIC within a point, then made four free throws in the final 16 seconds.Brennan Cougill scored 11 points for Green Bay.