LOS ANGELES—Ohio State needed another last-second shot, and Aaron Craft had the ball at the top of the key again.But last week’s hero gave it up to the hottest hand on the floor, and LaQuinton Ross sent the Buckeyes to the brink of their second straight Final Four. Ross hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer with 2 seconds to play, and Ohio State advanced to the West Regional final with a 73-70 victory over Arizona on Thursday night.Ross, Ohio State’s remarkable reserve, scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half for the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-7), who rallied from an early 11-point deficit. With Ross making a series of tough shots capped by that dramatic 3, Ohio State weathered the sixth-seeded Wildcats’ late charge for its 11th consecutive victory since mid-February.

“It feels great, man,” said Ross, a once-ballyhooed recruit who has grown into a bigger role in the past two months. “I think this is what every player grows up looking at on TV, wanting to hit that big shot for an NCAA tournament team. It just feels great right now.”

Deshaun Thomas scored 20 points for Ohio State, and Craft added 13 before ceding Ohio State’s final shot to Ross when the Wildcats didn’t make the proper switch on the Buckeyes’ screen. Ross coolly drilled his second 3-pointer and set off a wild celebration in the Ohio State section of the Arizona-dominated crowd.Craft hit an awfully similar 3-pointer against Iowa State last Sunday to send the Buckeyes forward with a 78-75 victory, but Ross didn’t flinch at his turn under pressure in this increasingly magical Ohio State season.

“LaQuinton has really grown in a lot of areas,” Ohio State coach Thad Matta said. “I think the biggest thing he’s done is he’s engaged himself in all the little things, and that’s made him a better basketball player. We’re proud of him.”

Arizona couldn’t get off a shot on its last-second inbounds heave, and Mark Lyons greeted Ross in the postgame handshakes with a joking “I can’t stand you!” Lyons’ acrobatic three-point play for the Wildcats (27-8) had tied it with 21.8 seconds left, thanks to a foul by Ross. But Ross knew he might be in for a special moment when he was assigned Kobe Bryant’s stall in the Lakers’ locker room at Staples Center — and he nailed a shot that would have made the NBA star proud.

WASHINGTON—It took winning a national title for Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim to get over a late-shot loss to Indiana the last time the schools faced off in the NCAA tournament.This meeting, 26 years later, was never close enough to come down to the final seconds, thanks mostly to Boeheim’s trademark 2-3 zone defense. Now he has the Orange one victory from getting back to the Final Four. Limiting Indiana to its lowest output of the season while forcing 19 turnovers and compiling 10 blocks, fourth-seeded Syracuse used Michael Carter-Williams’ 24 points to upset the No. 1 seed Hoosiers 61-50 Thursday night to reach the East Regional final.After getting past preseason No. 1 Indiana, Syracuse (29-9) will face No. 3 seed Marquette on Saturday night in an all-Big East matchup for a berth in the Final Four. Boeheim and the Orange haven’t been to the national semifinals since Carmelo Anthony led them to the 2003 title.Marquette beat No. 2 seed Miami 71-61 in Thursday’s first game in Washington.Syracuse, which is leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference this summer, lost at Marquette 74-71 during the Big East regular season on Feb. 25.Less than a half-minute into Thursday’s game, as Indiana star Victor Oladipo headed to the free-throw line, the arena’s overhead scoreboard showed a replay of “The Shot,” as it’s come to be known — Keith Smart’s baseline jumper in the final seconds that lifted Bob Knight’s Hoosiers past Boeheim’s Orange in the 1987 national title game.Boeheim said he wasn’t able to put that behind him until 16 years later, when he got his title. Boeheim entered Thursday with 50 wins in the tournament, fourth-most in history, and more than 900 victories overall, and so much of that success has been built thanks to his unusual zone defense, 40 minutes of a puzzle for opponents to try and solve.Indiana, like most teams outside the Big East, isn’t used to seeing that sort of thing, and it showed right from the outset. Didn’t matter that Indiana ranked third in the country this season in scoring, putting up 79.5 points per game — and never fewer than 56 — while making 48.6 percent of its shots.But the Orange held Indiana to 33 percent shooting and frustrated the Hoosiers — from the players down to the coach, Tom Crean. Cody Zeller was held to 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting. Victor Oladipo scored 16 for Indiana, none easily.At one point early on, Crean scanned a sheet of notes, then shoved it into his navy blue suit jacket’s inside pocket.No help there.Then, more than 5 1/2 minutes in and his team still without a field goal, Crean called a timeout while trailing 11-3. By then, the Hoosiers had four turnovers and were in the process of missing their first five shots.Always moving, Crean called over freshman forward Jeremy Hollowell to give him a talking-to and a slap on the backside. Later, Crean got down on a knee and used a white towel to help dry a wet spot on the floor in front of his team’s sideline. Crean barked “Are you sure?!” at an official after one non-call when Indiana let yet another possession go astray.

No last-second shot.No fourth-quarter rally.No record for LeBron James and the Miami Heat, either.The Heat’s bid for NBA history ended Wednesday night when their 27-game winning streak was snapped by the Bulls 101-97, setting off a raucous celebration inside United Center. Miami finished six shy of the 33-game record held by the 1971-72 Los Angeles Lakers.Later, James said there was no shame in falling short.

“It’s one of the best that this league has ever seen,” James said, referring to the streak that began on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 3. “We recognized that and rightfully so.”

James tried to spur yet another comeback in the final minutes, getting mad after a rough foul. But the reigning MVP could never get the defending champions even or, more importantly, ahead.With only two-tenths of a second left, James took the final inbounds pass in his own end, dropped the ball to allow time to expire, turned and walked toward the exit.Luol Deng scored 28 points, Carlos Boozer added 21 points and 17 rebounds, and the Bulls brought the Heat’s stampede to a screeching halt.Miami’s superstar did all he could to keep the run going, scoring 32 points and even collecting a flagrant foul during a physical final few minutes.

“We haven’t had a chance to really have a moment to know what we just did,” James said. “We had a moment, just very fortunate, very humbling and blessed to be part of this team and be part of a streak like that.”

The Heat hadn’t lost since the Pacers beat them in Indianapolis on Feb. 1. But after grinding out some close wins lately, including a rally from 27 down in Cleveland, no one counted them out until the final buzzer.For the better part of two months, they were the NBA’s comeback kings. They erased seven double-digit deficits during the streak. They found themselves trailing in the fourth quarter 11 times, and won them all.Not Wednesday.And when they walked off the floor in the United Center, faces were stoic as the Heat trudged toward the locker room. James turned and glared at one fan who grabbed at his head.
The Bulls, meanwhile, whooped and slapped hands with anyone they could reach.It will go down as the second-longest winning streak in the history of American major pro sports. And some of those Lakers believed their time would pass as Miami’s streak rolled along, with Jerry West among those saying that he believed the reigning champions had a real shot at pulling it off.

“We understand, probably more so later on in our careers, the significance of that. And then that was it,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. “We took that moment to acknowledge it, to acknowledge each other, that experience, but it was never about the streak. We have a bigger goal, but also right now, it’s about `Are we getting better?”‘

The streak began in Toronto, a day when Heat players were mildly annoyed about having to miss football’s title game. When San Francisco and Baltimore were to be playing, the Heat were to be flying home for a game the following night.So team officials team changed course, as a surprise.Miami beat the Raptors that afternoon, then stayed in the city several more hours to watch the Super Bowl together, an event highlighted by Shane Battier giving an unplanned speech about appreciating little moments as a team.For whatever reason, the Heat were unbeatable for nearly the next two months.And they won games in a number of different ways.They blew out good teams like the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder and the Bulls, then inexplicably struggled with lottery-bound Cleveland, Detroit, Sacramento, Charlotte and Orlando. They rallied from 13 points down in the final 8 minutes to beat Boston, from a 27-point, third-quarter hole at Cleveland, and from 11-point deficits against Detroit and Charlotte – all those coming in a seven-day span, no less.

“There are several teams that can do it,” Pistons guard Jose Calderon said, when asked what it would take for someone to beat Miami. “It’s difficult to maintain this concentration every day. It will likely take everyone to have a bad day.”

Even when those bad days happened, the Heat found ways to win.A layup by James with 3.2 seconds left against Orlando. Double-overtime against Sacramento. Huge comebacks. Whatever it took.

“To do something like this, everyone needs to step up,” said Battier, who was part of a 32-game winning streak at Duke, a 22-gamer with the Houston Rockets and now played a role in this epic Heat run.

There were times when even the Heat themselves didn’t know how long the streak was. Because it was interrupted by the All-Star break, Spoelstra was surprised when a staff member said something about Miami having won nine in a row. When it was at 24 games, Dwyane Wade made a reference to “23, 24, whatever it is.” They insisted they did not care about it, whatever the number was.Heat President Pat Riley played for the Lakers team that won 33 in a row, and remained silent throughout Miami’s streak, mainly because he rarely gives interviews these days but more so because the official team stance was that it simply did not matter. This season is championship-or-bust for Miami, one where nothing else other than raising yet another Larry O’Brien Trophy will satisfy.Still, the streak will go down as the story of the regular season.When it started, Miami was 5 1/2 games behind San Antonio for the overall NBA lead, only a half-game ahead of New York in the Eastern Conference race, held just a four-game edge over Atlanta in the Southeast Division and were the league’s ninth-best road team in terms of winning percentage.Funny what two months or so without losing can do.The Heat now sit atop the overall NBA standings, gained 12 games over New York in the East entering Wednesday, put away the Hawks for good several weeks ago and are now, by far, the league’s best road team. And with the streak over, all that’s left now is getting ready for the postseason.They trailed by as much as 13 in the first half, took the lead while outscoring the Bulls 22-14 in the third quarter and were within two early in the fourth after a basket by Wade.That’s when Deng answered with a 3-pointer from the wing and Kirk Hinrich brought the crowd to its feet with a floater. Then, after a layup by James, Deng nailed a 3 to make it 83-75 with just over six minutes left.It got testy after that. James did all he could to keep the streak going, taking enough hard hits that even his headband was dislodged, and finished with seven rebounds. Chris Bosh scored 21. Wade added 18 points after a sore right knee sidelined him for victories over Charlotte and Orlando, but the Heat fell to a team that continues to give them fits even though Derrick Rose has been sidelined all year.Deng came up big, burying four 3-pointers. He also had seven rebounds and five assists.Boozer was a force inside. Jimmy Butler provided a spark with 17 points and the Bulls stopped Miami even though they were missing Joakim Noah (right foot), Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain) and Richard Hamilton (lower back).For the Heat, luck simply ran out after recent wins in which they rallied trailed Boston by 17, Cleveland by 27 and Detroit and Charlotte by 11 each. They were also tied with Orlando late in the third quarter before pulling away, and when Battier nailed a 3 with 4:30 left in the third, it looked like they just might pull this one out, too.They were leading 59-58 after that shot, and they were up by two before Boozer converted a three-point play off a neat bounce pass from Taj Gibson in the closing seconds to send the Bulls into the fourth quarter with a 69-68 lead.But they came up short down the stretch, fans chanting “End of streak! End of streak!” in the closing minute.

“We were much more competitive in the second half. It became make or miss in the fourth quarter, and we couldn’t get the necessary stops we needed to,” Spoelstra said. “In the last handful of games, those shots were going down and maybe that masked a few things going down the stretch.”

There was a rumor that Rose would make his long-awaited return from a knee injury after rapper Waka Flocka Flame posted on Twitter, “Word is D.Rose back.” The two are fans of each other, but the superstar point guard squashed it at the morning shootaround, with two words – “Not tonight.”

Rose actually sounded more like someone who will sit out the entire season, saying his recovery is “in God’s hands.” He hasn’t played since he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in last year’s playoff opener against Philadelphia, sending the top-seeded Bulls to a first-round exit, and his comeback has been an ongoing soap opera.The Bulls were the biggest threat to Miami in the Eastern Conference the past two years, but without their superstar, they’re just part of the pack.Even so, no one has given the Heat more trouble since James and Bosh united with Wade in 2010. They had split 14 games leading up to this one, with the Bulls winning at Miami in early January and the Heat returning the favor at the United Center last month.

NOTES—Coach Tom Thibodeau said Noah was improving but wasn’t ready to return. “It’s better, but he’s not quite there,” Thibodeau said. “I just want to be smart about it.”….Tom Boerwinkle, the former Bulls center who had a franchise-record 37 rebounds in a 1970 game against the Phoenix Suns, has died. He was 67.

With TOM BOERWINKLE(r)and JERRY SLOAN at the United Center in 2010.

Its with great sadness that we have learned that former Bull TOM BOERWINKLE has passed away. ‘Big Tom’ as we knew him as, was the best passing Center I ever saw. Also one of the nicest people I ever met and had the privilege of covering. A teammate of Bob Love,Chet Walker,Jerry Sloan(also pictured with me here a couple of years ago at the U.C)and our late Friend Norm Van Lier. Oh to just see Tom with his high post,blind over the shoulder pass to a wide open Bobby Weis for a backdoor layup at least one more time!
Tom, you are already missed, and please say hi to Stormin Norm. RIP

LES

Ray Emery made 16 saves for his first shutout in more than three years, defensemen Nick Leddy and Brent Seabrook scored, and the Blackhawks snapped a two-game losing streak with a 2-0 win over the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.Emery improved to 12-0 in recording his 12th career shutout, and first since Feb. 1, 2010, when he blanked the Flames while with Philadelphia.Emery was tested several times, but the Blackhawks outshot the Flames 35-16 in sending them to their 10th straight road loss (0-9-1).Calgary hasn’t won in the United Center in five years, going 0-8-1 in Chicago since beating the Blackhawks 4-2 on March 16, 2008.Leddy and Seabrook’s goals both deflected off Calgary goalie Miikka Kiprusoff, who stopped 33 shots. Patrick Kane assisted on both scores.With the win, the Bulls improved to 25-4-3 and remained in first place overall in the NHL with 53 points.The Blackhawks ended its second two-game losing streak of the season following an NHL-record start of 24 games without a regulation loss.The Blackhawks played again without two top forwards, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp. Hossa missed his third game with an upper-body injury and Sharp sat out his eighth with a shoulder injury.Leddy scored the only goal of the first period at 7:09, beating Kiprusoff with a shot that hit his left pad and then bounded in between his legs.Leddy’s chance resulted from a broken play. Kane had tried to center from the right corner to Dave Bolland in the slot, but Calgary’s Curtis Glencross accidentally deflected the puck to Leddy, who had pinched down to the left circle.Although the Bulls dominated early, the Flames kept the Blackhawks penned in their zone at times late in the first.Emery had to be sharp, including on a close-in chance by Jarome Iginla with 1:39 left.Emery made a quick, point-blank pad save on Lee Stempniak 2:50 into the second following a turnover in the high slot to keep the Blackhawks ahead.The Hawks failed to cash in on a four-minute power play early in the second after Calgary’s Jiri Hudler was given a double-minor for high-sticking Bolland in the face.Michael Frolik had an open net, but shot a rebound wide from only a few feet out on the Blackhawks’ best chance during the advantage.The Blackhawks outshot Calgary 16-3 in the second, and Seabrook made it 2-0 with 2:12 left in the period.Seabrook’s shot from the right circle ticked off Iginla’s stick, then fluttered in off Kiprusoff’s glove as he reached awkwardly in an attempt to grab the puck.Kiprusoff made a sprawling save on Andrew Shaw 3:15 into the third to keep it close, then added several point-blank stops late in the period.Emery stopped Stempniak again from the doorstep in the final minute to preserve the shutout.

NOTES—Before the game, Joel Quenneville said both Hossa and Sharp “are progressing,” and Hossa skated on Tuesday. However, it’s doubtful whether either will be able to play on Friday when the Blackhawks host Anaheim in a meeting of the top two teams in the Western Conference. … The previous time the Flames and Blackhawks met, on Feb. 2 in Calgary, Emery made a career-high 45 saves to pace the Hawks to a 3-2 shootout win. In that game, Calgary outshot the Hawks 47-19. … Calgary D Cory Sarich played in his 900th NHL game.

Anze Kopitar scored, then Jarrett Stoll got a short-handed goal. There was another score in the final second of the second period.Once the Los Angeles Kings got going, the Blackhawks just couldn’t stop them. Dustin Brown converted his own rebound with 1:27 remaining and the Kings scored all their goals in the final two periods of a 5-4 victory over the Blackhawks on Monday night.

“It was just a team effort,” Kopitar said. “Going into the game we knew we had to get 20 guys on board with a team effort was the intention we had. We just stuck with it.”

It was Los Angeles’ highest-scoring game since a 5-2 victory over San Jose on March 16 and came on the heels of consecutive shutout losses to Dallas and Vancouver. The scoreless stretch reached 150 minutes, 35 seconds before Kopitar picked up his 10th goal of the season at 4:21 in the second.

“We got good games out of our third and fourth lines, and Brownie scored a big goal at the end,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “They’re probably not happy with the way they played, and if we’d have lost, we wouldn’t have been happy with the way we played.”

Brown’s first attempt went off the back of Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya, but it bounced right back to the captain, who sent it past Corey Crawford for his 12th of the season. Kopitar set up the score by winning a faceoff in Hawks end.

“We didn’t respond to the challenge that was there tonight and I was disappointed with how we played and what we gave them,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

Michael Frolik had two goals and an assist for the Blackhawks, who have lost two in a row. Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews also scored, and Duncan Keith finished with three assists.The Blackhawks were without right wing Marian Hossa for the second straight game due to an upper-body injury. Hossa isn’t expected to play Tuesday night against Calgary, but could return this weekend.Toews gave the Hawks the lead when he beat Jonathan Quick with a backhander early in the third period, but Tyler Toffoli responded with a tying snap shot with 11:54 remaining.Dwight King also scored for Los Angeles, which will be honored at the White House on Tuesday for winning the Stanley Cup last season.

“We kept battling,” Toffoli said. “Pucks started going in. We’d lost two at home, so we wanted to get the road trip going well. Now it’s important to carry it into the next game.”

Kopitar picked up a loose puck, skated in and sent a beautiful shot over a sliding Oduya and into the upper right corner of the goal to tie it at 1 in the second. It was the first goal for Los Angeles since Stoll scored a power-play goal in the third period of a 3-2 victory over Phoenix last Tuesday.After Stoll and Frolik exchanged scores in the middle of the period, Kane gave the Blackhawks the lead when he waited until the perfect moment to slide the puck past a prone Quick on the left side of the net for his team-best 17th of the season. Los Angeles needed just 40 seconds to respond, getting the tying goal at 19:59 of the period. Drew Doughty made a strong push that was denied by Crawford, but the rebound went off King’s skate and in for his fourth on the year.And just like that, the Kings had equaled their output from the previous three games in just one period.

“For them to tie it up I think gave them the momentum,” Kane said. “But we came back and took the lead and obviously didn’t play very well with the lead. Tough loss for sure.”
The Blackhawks used a quick burst of precision passing to jump in front 5:55 into the game. Toews won a faceoff in the Kings’ end back to Keith, who quickly sent it forward to Brandon Saad. The rookie forward then passed it to the middle to Frolik, who whipped it past Quick for his first goal since the Hawks 5-2 victory at Los Angeles in the season opener on Jan. 19.The Hawks had a chance to add to the lead, but was unable to score during a four-minute power play in the first. Los Angeles hasn’t allowed a power-play goal since the second period of a 4-3 loss to San Jose on March 14, killing off the past 17 chances it has faced.

“We worked hard,” Brown said. “We didn’t get discouraged. We battled against different things each period. The four-minute kill was huge in the first. It gave us a chance to battle back.”

NOTES—Brandon Bollig and Kings C Jordan Nolan dropped their gloves and ditched their helmets for a fight in the second period. Bollig patted Nolan on the back of the head after it was broken up by the officials, then skated over to the penalty box and pounded the glass as the door closed…..The Kings have never been shut out in three consecutive games…..Daniel Carcillo and Sheldon Brookbank also were scratched for the Blackhawks.

AUSTIN—There was no question about Shane Larkin’s go-ahead 3-pointer for Miami.The ball that appeared to ricochet off the hands of Miami’s Kenny Kadji seconds later but went to the Hurricanes — well, look at the replay.Regardless, there is no overturning the fact that the Hurricanes are going to the NCAA round of 16 for only the second time in school history.

The Hurricanes got Larkin’s big shot and the close call, holding on for a 63-59 victory over Illinois on Sunday night in the East Regional. “I mean, I don’t know. It was so many hands, you know. I don’t know who touched it last,” Kadji said while seemingly trying to suppress a smile. “Everybody was getting out there and there was a couple of hands. So I really don’t know.”

After Larkin’s first field goal in about 9½ minutes, D.J. Richardson missed a 3-pointer. In the fight for the rebound was the ball that looked like it hit Kadji’s extended hand. But the Hurricanes kept the ball, and Durand Scott made two free throws after that.

“You saw the same video I did,” first-year Illinois coach John Groce said. He added, “hard game to officiate … 50-50 calls are hard sometimes.”

In postgame news conference, Groce cut off any questions about the play to his players.Miami (29-6), the No. 2 seed, advanced to play Marquette (25-8) in Washington D.C. on Thursday night.Larkin, the only non-senior starter for Miami and the ACC player of the year, finished with 17 points.On the late 3, Larkin had other ideas against a suffocating Illinois defense. He was cut off when he tried to drive to the basket.

“I just stepped back and shot the 3, and it went in,” Larkin said.

Rion Brown had 21 with five 3s for the Hurricanes. Kadji added 10 points and eight rebounds.Brandon Paul had 18 points for No. 7 seed Illinois (23-13). Nnanna Egwu and Tyler Griffin had 12 points each, the later on four 3s.Second-year Miami coach Jim Larranaga had said he planned to have more fun than any other coach in the NCAA tournament, and wanted his team to do the same.They are, but they had to fight to the end — and get what looked like a huge break – to finish off the Illini.

“After the game was over, I was still kind of stunned,” said Larranaga, who danced it up in the locker room when it was over, a video sure to go viral among `Canes fanes. “When I shook hands with John Groce, I was speechless.”

Brown and Larkin both had two free throws in the final 16 seconds, between a tip-in by Egwu.Before Larkin’s go-ahead 3, he hadn’t scored since 10:29 was left in the game. He put Miami up 38-37 when he drove to the basket, cradled the ball to his side with his arm while getting fouled and then made the shot. He missed the free throw, but the Hurricanes got the rebound and Scott drove for a one-handed dunk.Less than two minutes later, the lead was 46-39 after Brown’s 3 from the right corner in front of the Miami bench that sent his teammates and the Hurricanes fans nearby in a frenzy.Just before that Miami spurt, the Illini had grabbed their first lead since midway through the first half when Tracy Abrams drove for a one-handed slam after a wild sequence that started when he missed a 3-pointer.After the long-range miss that led to a long rebound, D.J. Richardson couldn’t get the ball while several Miami players chased it as well. But one of the Hurricanes swiped the ball right to Richardson, who got the ball to Abrams, who drove through an open gap for the emphatic basket that put Illinois up 35-34 with 12½ minutes left.The Illini missed six 3s in a row in the second half. But, as usual, they kept shooting them and Paul got them out of that slump with consecutive long-range makes.His 3 from the right wing with 6½ minutes left got the Illinois within 48-45, then after Kadji’s short hook for Miami, Paul made another 3-pointer.They went ahead when Paul drove for a dunk that broke a 52-all tie with 3:23 left. Scott made a layup with just under two minutes for Miami, before Abrams made the first of two free throw attempts for a 55-54 lead that was gone on Larkin’s step-back 3.

“We battled. I asked them to play with courage. They played with a high level of courage,” Groce said. “Their poise was tremendous. They were resilient.”

Larranaga, who took mid-major George Mason to the 2006 NCAA Final Four, won 20 games in his first season at Miami. That wasn’t enough to get the Hurricanes in the NCAA tournament.They left no doubt this year after winning the ACC regular-season and tournament championships. And they already have five wins more than ever before.When the latest one was over, Miami was the third team from the state of Florida going to the round of 16. Florida won on the same floor earlier Sunday, and No. 15 seed Florida Gulf Coast — which beat the Hurricanes earlier this season — won over San Diego State in another South Regional game to advance.

“People gave us grief for that [loss to Gulf Coast]. But now it’s just showing that they’re a great team,” Larkin said. “It just proves that Florida has great basketball teams just like everybody else in the country.”

MINNEAPOLIS—The Bulls played without Joakim Noah for a second straight game, and Derrick Rose has been out all season.What they’ve never lost is their take-it-to-you identity, and that’s something the Minnesota Timberwolves have been searching for all year long. Nate Robinson had 22 points and 10 assists and Carlos Boozer added 19 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulls to a 104-97 victory over the Timberwolves on Sunday night.Luol Deng scored 17 points and Taj Gibson had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who remained a half-game back of Atlanta for fifth in the East. With Noah sidelined again by plantar fasciitis, The Bulls still outrebounded Minnesota 52-32, including 20 offensive rebounds.

“[Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau] is constantly telling us that we have enough to win on any given night,” said guard Jimmy Butler, who had 20 points and nine rebounds. “As long as we go out and play hard, guard, and play for one another, we can win no matter how many men we’re down.”

Derrick Williams scored 28 points and Ricky Rubio had 15 points and eight assists for the Timberwolves.Minnesota got as close as five points in the fourth quarter, but the Bulls overpowered the Wolves down the stretch to win back-to-back road games for the first time since Jan. 16-18.

“They could complain about how many guys they’ve got hurt and they don’t do that,” Rubio said. “They just play aggressive. We have to learn from that. If they can do it, we can do it, too.”

Dante Cunningham’s jumper with five minutes to play trimmed a 16-point deficit to 90-85, but Deng grabbed another offensive rebound on the next trip down the floor, then hit Robinson for an open 3-pointer at the top of the arc. The ball swished through, and Robinson pumped his fist as thousands of Bulls fans roared.

“We have to learn to do it first,” Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. “You can’t let them dominate the game from the start and get a feel for how the game is going to go.”

The Bulls also played without Richard Hamilton (lower back), Marco Belinelli (abdominal strain) and, of course, Rose, who is recovering from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee.Even without Noah prowling the paint, the Bulls were still the aggressors. Veteran Nazr Mohammed made his second straight start and helped neutralize Nikola Pekovic on the block. Gibson pounded the Wolves on the glass and Robinson, was his typical tenacious self at the point of attack.

“Nate got ejected yesterday, so he was rested,” Deng quipped. “He had a lot of energy for us tonight. That was great.”

One night after he was kicked out for taking down Pacers guard Lance Stephenson, Robinson gave the Bulls a needed jolt of energy after a sluggish start on a back-to-back. He had 11 points and six assists in the second quarter and fed Gibson for a soaring alley-oop and a 16-point lead just before the half.

“I’m an energy guy off the bench, just get guys fired up and I think I do a pretty good job of that,” Robinson said.

Rubio tried to rally the Wolves in the third quarter, throwing bounce passes between Bulls legs for open layups and barreling to the basket with little regard for the left ACL that he tore last March. He returned in December and, even though there’s an occasional limp in his gait when he peels himself up from the court after crashing into a defender, his game has been back to where it was before the injury for about the last month.The Bulls can find some solace in that while their own star point guard works his way back. Rose has been out longer than Rubio was, but he relies so much more on athleticism and explosion than does Rubio.There is still no target date for Rose’s return, leading to some speculation that he may not return this season at all.

DAYTON—Victor Oladipo hit a key 3-pointer with 13 seconds remaining and Indiana, minutes away from being the second No. 1 seed to be swept from the NCAA tournament, held off Temple 58-52 on Sunday in the East Regional. The Hoosiers (29-6) trailed by four with 2:56 left, but closed with a big run to advance to the round of 16 for the second straight year. Indiana will play No. 4 seed Syracuse in the regional semifinals on Thursday in Washington. Temple’s Khalif Wyatt scored 31 points to lead the Owls (24-10), who gave one of the Big Ten’s big boys all they could handle before collapsing when it mattered most.Oladipo, who spent the afternoon trying to slow down Wyatt, scored 16 and Cody Zeller added 15 for the Hoosiers.