ST. PAUL—Last spring, the Blackhawks disposed of the Minnesota Wild in five games of the first-round playoff series on their way to the Stanley Cup championship.With the Blackhawks now a Central Division rival in the realigned NHL, the Wild have their hands full. But they’ve clearly closed the gap.Marco Scandella’s slap shot with 1:48 left, the defenseman’s first goal this season, lifted the Wild to a 4-3 victory against the Blackhawks on Thursday.

“Against a team like Chicago, coming back, it feels good,” Scandella said. “It’s a great feeling in the room right now. We battled all game. We stuck with it, which is the important thing.”

The Wild have won two of three meetings with the Blackhawks this season.

“Anytime you beat a team like that, it’s important. Everybody knows how good they are,” star Zach Parise said. “For us, it’s been a tough stretch for us where some games we haven’t played as well as we need to, but I thought we played a lot better tonight.”

Jonas Brodin scored on a power play with 5:39 remaining to tie the game for the Wild, who raised their home record to 12-3-2 and handed the Blackhawks their first loss in their past seven road games.With Charlie Coyle partially screening Corey Crawford at the edge of the crease, Brodin wound up and sent the puck ricocheting off Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya and past the goalie’s outstretched glove.Crawford made 19 saves.

“He’s got to be better,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said.

After nearly taking a 2-0 lead into the second intermission, the Wild suddenly trailed 3-2 after a forceful Blackhawks comeback. The first two of the Hawks four shots on goal in the third period got past Minnesota goalie Josh Harding, first by Brandon Saad and then by Marian Hossa.The Blackhawks had a season-low 19 shots.

“That’s a hungry team, and they play smart defensively. They’re tough to create offensive chances against,” Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said.

Harding stopped 16 shots and improved to 7-3 in his career against the Blackhawks, who entered the night with an NHL-high 44 points. He’s 12-1 at home this season.The Wild went six consecutive games without a first-period goal until Matt Cooke snapped a shot past Crawford. Parise’s score on a power play, the first by the Wild in seven games, in gave them a 2-0 lead they had until 16.6 seconds were left before the end of the second period.Joakim Nordstrom deflected the puck behind him through the slot, where Jeremy Morin arrived to reach forward and guide the puck in one motion past Harding, who was coming off a 2-0 shutout of Philadelphia on Monday night. Morin and Nordstrom were both recalled on Wednesday from Rockford of the AHL.Then only 43 seconds into the third period, Saad checked Ryan Suter off the puck, took control and snapped a shot into the top right corner of the net to tie the game.Less than 6 minutes later, Hossa got loose down low on a power play and sneaked a wrist shot over Harding’s shoulder for the lead.After their six-game winning streak on the road, the Blackhawks returned home on Tuesday and lost to Dallas 4-3 despite 50 shots on goal.This was quite the contrast in offensive opportunity.

“Six minutes to go with a one-goal lead, generally that’s our bread and butter. Tonight we didn’t get it done,” Quenneville said, adding: “We had the momentum, but it was one of those games where the momentum turned quickly in their favor. We’re still tied. Let’s get it to overtime and see what happens, but they got the break and we got nothing.”

The Blackhawks were lamenting those two penalties they failed to kill.

“Like the last game, we thought we had control and let it slip. It’s frustrating to give up points like we have the last couple games,” Toews said. “It’s pretty simple. We need to be better.”

NOTES—Morin and Nordstrom were brought up for depth at forward. Andrew Shaw missed his first game due to an upper-body injury suffered on Tuesday night, and Michael Handzus missed his second successive game because of an illness.

Thur Night—JACKSONVILLE over Houston

Sun Games
SAN FRANCISCO over Seattle
ARIZONA over St.Louis
DENVER over Tennessee
CINCINNATI over Indianapolis
NEW ENGLAND over Cleveland
NY JETS over Oakland
PITTSBURGH over Miami
SAN DIEGO over NY Giants
TAMPA BAY over Buffalo
Kansas City over WASHINGTON

Sun Night—NEW ORLEANS over Carolina

NFC North Games
BALTIMORE over Minnesota
PHILADELPHIA over Detroit
Atlanta over Green Bay
Dallas over BEARS

Last Week:       Les 7-9          Adam 10-6
Season Totals:  Les 126-65-1  Adam 130-61-1

HOME TEAMS in all CAPS

Following a 73-65 win over UIC on Wednesday night, Southern Methodist University head coach and Hall of Fame member Larry Brown took issue with the NCAA’s new, stringent defensive rules.

”If Allen Iverson played today, he’d average 3,000 points,” Brown said. ”I understand the intent of this rule, but there’s no flow to basketball anymore.”

Nic Moore scored 20 points and dished out seven assists to lead SMU over UIC in the first-ever meeting between the programs.Markus Kennedy added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Mustangs.SMU (8-2), playing for the fourth time in six days, won its third straight game behind balanced scoring. Ten Mustangs scored in the first half and 11 reached the scoring column for the game. SMU shot 54.2 percent from the floor.The teams combined for 39 personal fouls and 44 free throw attempts.Kelsey Barlow scored a game-high 31 for UIC (3-5). The senior poured in a career-high 38 last Wednesday in a 94-78 victory.Barlow was 12 for 15 from the free-throw line. He went 17 for 19 in his 38-point performance.SMU jumped to a 12-0 lead, taking advantage of a rusty UIC team that hadn’t played in a week.The Flames battled back to tie the game three separate times in the second half, but SMU found an answer each time UIC tried to seize momentum.More often than not, Moore was that answer.Four of Moore’s six second-half field goals came with SMU leading by at least two points. Two were 3-pointers.The undersized Flames also struggled to find an answer for 6-foot-11 Yanick Moreira, who scored the Mustangs’ first six points, cleaning up on the offensive glass. Moreira finished with nine points and seven rebounds.Barlow, coming off a career-high 38 points a week ago in a 94-78 drubbing of Wagner, continued draining shots with ease, but his teammates struggled to follow suit, going 8 for 28 from 3-point range for the game, and their coach let them hear ii.
The Flames shot 35.7 percent from the floor overall.

RALEIGH—T.J. Warren scored 22 points to help North Carolina State beat Northwestern 69-48 on Wednesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.Ralston Turner added 13 points for the Wolfpack (5-2), who led nearly all night and by as many as 23 points after halftime. N.C. State shot 46 percent to win its third straight overall, while the win against Northwestern (4-5) stopped a five-game losing streak in the annual interconference matchup.Warren had 16 points by the break and flirted with his third straight 30-point outing before cooling off after halftime. But he got plenty of help, led by freshman Lennard Freeman posting season-highs with 10 points and 10 rebounds.Drew Crawford scored 17 to lead the Wildcats and first-year coach Chris Collins, who was making a return to the region after spending the past 13 years as an assistant to Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski in nearby Durham.NC State’s last Challenge win came against Michigan in November 2006 under Sidney Lowe. The Wolfpack lost to Northwestern here in the Challenge in 2009, with four of the five straight Challenge losses coming by at least 11 points.This time, the Wolfpack stayed in control all night to give Collins a frustrating return to the state.His team shot poorly from the start and finished at 25 percent (13 for 52), including 6 for 22 from 3-point range.In addition, referee Roger Ayers whistled Collins for a technical foul early in the second half after Crawford drove into the paint but didn’t get a whistle as Jordan Vandenberg blocked his shot.Vandenberg followed Warren’s free throws on Collins’ technical with a hook shot to make it 39-22 with 17:34 left.Northwestern got as close as 15 before the Wolfpack answered with six straight points, with Freeman scoring on a stickback and then on a transition dunk off a feed from fellow rookie Anthony ”Cat” Barber to push the margin to 50-29 with 10:09 left.Vandenberg, the 7-foot-1 fifth-year senior who made his season debut last week after a preseason ankle injury, turned in his second straight double-figure scoring performance with 12 points to go with five blocks.Turner matched his season-high in scoring and hit three 3-pointers, while N.C. State dominated inside to take a 38-10 edge in points in the paint.

NORMAL—Daishon Knight scored 15 points Wednesday night and Illinois State rallied in the second half to roll over Chicago State 75-56.Reggie Lynch scored 14 points for Illinois State (4-4), Bobby Hunter added 12, including a perfect 4 for 4 from the free-throw line, and the Redbirds outshot Chicago State (3-5) 47.2 percent from the field to 30.9 percent.Quinton Pippen scored a game-high 16 points and three 3-pointers for the Cougars, Nate Duhon scored 13 and grabbed nine rebounds, and Matt Ross added 11 and hauled down a game-high 10 rebounds.The lead traded hands four times in the first half, but Pippen sank two free throws to give Chicago State a 30-28 halftime lead and kicked off the second half with a quick 3-pointer. Illinois State took a 40-39 lead on a layup by Lynch at 15:18, then steadily pulled away, scoring 21 more points than the Cougars.

PEORIA—Ian Chiles and Khufu Najee combined to score 39 points as Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis held off a late rally from Bradley to score a 72-66 win Wednesday night.The Jaguars (2-7) held a 13-point lead at intermission, but saw it all-but evaporate in the second half. Bradley cut the lead to a field goal, 58-56 after Tyshon Pickett’s layup with 2:42 left.Najee converted a pair of free throws, then fed Justus Stanback for a dunk to extend the lead to six, 62-56. Chiles’ three-point play with :42 left made it a 10-point lead.Chiles finished with 20 points while Najee added 19. Donovan Gibbs added 13 points off the bench.Omari Grier led the Braves (5-3) with 17 points while Walt Lemon, Jr. added 13 and Auston Barnes 11. Bradley converted just 21 of 67 field goal attempts in the game.

MACOMB—Adam Link scored 12 points as Western Illinois beat Eastern Illinois 60-32 on Wednesday night, holding the Panthers to their lowest point total since 1948.Eastern Illinois went 7-1/2 minutes without scoring a point in the first half. The Leathernecks (3-4) went on a 13-0 run during the drought, extending their lead to 25-9 with less than 5 minutes remaining in the half.Western Illinois held the Panthers (3-5) to just 12-of-50 shooting from the field and 2 of 16 on 3-pointers. Michael Ochereobia had a career-high five blocks for the Leathernecks, who finished with 10 blocks.Trailing 52-31, Eastern Illinois scored just one point in the final 7:48. The Panthers’ leading scorer was Josh Piper with five points.

No 11-round shootout this time. Just a series of big stops for Kari Lehtonen, who had a season-high 47 saves, Antoine Roussel converted a penalty shot in the third period and the Dallas Stars snapped the Blackhawks’ six-game winning streak with a 4-3 victory on Tuesday night

“It’s fun if it goes well, but if things don’t go well it can get kind of ugly,” Lehtonen said. “I had no problem getting all those shots today. I was feeling good.”

It sure looked that way.Valeri Nichushkin had a goal and an assist for the Stars, who had dropped four of five, including consecutive shootout losses at home in their previous two games. Alex Chiasson and Erik Cole also scored.Patrick Sharp scored his 200th goal with Chicago in the Blackhawks’ first home game since a 5-1 victory against San Jose on Nov. 17. Patrick Kane had two assists, giving him 21 points in his past 15 games.The defending Stanley Cup champions hit the road while the circus took over the United Center and responded with an impressive 6-1-0 trip, including an epic tiebreaker during a 2-1 victory in Dallas on Friday night that matched the record for longest shootout for each franchise.

“It’s nice to be home from that long road trip, but sometimes there’s a letdown, and you can’t let that happen,” defenseman Duncan Keith said. “We were guilty of that tonight.”

Second-period goals by Nick Leddy and Johnny Oduya helped the Blackhawks erase a 3-0 deficit, but they went 1 for 5 on the power play in their second regulation home loss of the season.The Stars appeared to be headed for disappointment before Roussel skated in on Corey Crawford and was awarded a penalty shot after Niklas Hjalmarsson hacked away at him with his stick.Roussel then beat Crawford with a backhander into the upper right corner at 3:01, and Lehtonen stepped up with a series of solid saves to help the Stars hold on for their seventh victory in their past eight road games.

“I felt like we played defense the whole game,” Roussel said. “We didn’t have much energy. Our goaltender played unbelievable and kept us in the game.”

Dallas was once again without forward Tyler Seguin, who missed his second successive game with concussion-like symptoms. He leads the team with 12 goals.The Stars jumped on an ill-timed line change by the Blackhawks to grab a 1-0 lead at 13:47 of the first. Nichushkin got a pass from Cody Eakin and sent a low wrister past Crawford for his third goal of the season.Chiasson then tipped home a long slap shot by Alex Goligoski for a power-play score with 1:10 to go in the period, and Nichushkin found Cole in front of the goal to make it 3-0 early in the second.

“Very generous on the first three goals against us,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “We had one of those starts where we were trying to get ourselves into the game mentally. I don’t think we were sharp on the plays and the goals against.”

That sure changed in a hurry.Sharp’s long slap shot got by Lehtonen at 9:39 for his third goal in four games, prompting the Blackhawks to turn up the pressure. Leddy converted a one-timer and Oduya’s slap shot from the boards went off Chiasson’s stick on the way to the net for his third goal.The goals by the defensemen only 65 seconds apart tied it at 3 with 2:46 left in the period and led to a standing ovation from the crowd.The Blackhawks continued to generate quality opportunities in the third, but Lehtonen was there each time. He had a solid stop on Brandon Saad before Roussel’s penalty shot, and then made a great save on Sharp to keep the Stars in front midway through the period.

“In the third they were coming hard and we were playing smart,” Lehtonen said. “There were a couple of breakdowns, but nothing crazy. It wasn’t a pretty win, but we’ll take it.”

NOTES—Crawford had 14 stops. .. Stars C Ryan Garbutt was helped from the ice after he took a slap shot to his right leg in the first period, but returned to the game. … Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival played in his 800th NHL game. … Blackhawks C Michal Handzus was scratched due to an illness. … In addition to Seguin, the Stars also scratched D Jamie Oleksiak and C Travis Morin.

ATLANTA—Georgia Tech closed the game with a 19-4 run to rally from a 12-point deficit and beat Illinois 67-64 on Tuesday night in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, giving the Illini their first loss.Illinois (7-1) led 60-48 before Georgia Tech (6-3) began its comeback. Marcus Georges-Hunt’s drive with 1:48 remaining tied the game at 60-all. Daniel Miller’s layup with 21 seconds remaining gave Georgia Tech a 65-64 lead.Illinois forward Joseph Bertrand, who had 10 points, missed a jumper and Georgia Tech’s Robert Carter Jr. sank two free throws with three seconds remaining.Carter led Georgia Tech with 21 points and nine rebounds. Georges-Hunt had 20 points.Rayvonte Rice scored 24 points, including 13 in the second half, to lead Illinois.Georgia Tech became the first team to score more than 63 points against the Illini this season.The Yellow Jackets led 36-33 at halftime after trailing by nine points in the first half.Rice scored eight unanswered points early in the second half as the Illini reclaimed the lead. He started the run with a free throw before hitting a 3-pointer, and then scoring off his steal.The Illini stretched the lead to double figures at 60-48 with a 9-0 run midway through the second half.Georgia Tech avenged a loss at Illinois in last year’s Big Ten/ACC Challenge.Rice, a junior transfer from Drake, is the first player to score in double figures in his first eight games at Illinois since Kiwane Garris opened his career with 10 straight games of 10 or more points in the 1993-94 season.The Illini made 5 of their first 10 3-pointers and led 26-17 before Georges-Hunt led the Yellow Jackets to a 9-0 run to tie the game. Georgia Tech missed its first five 3-points before making its final three long-distance attempts.Solomon Poole’s 3-pointer gave the Yellow Jackets their first lead at 31-28, and Carter added a 3 and a dunk for the halftime lead.

IOWA CITY—Iowa tried to wear down Notre Dame with its superior depth — but the Fighting Irish wouldn’t back down.So the Hawkeyes instead leaned on their three stars; Aaron White, Devyn Marble and emerging standout Jarrod Uthoff, to hold off the feisty Irish.White scored 20 points, Marble and Uthoff added 17 each and No. 23 Iowa beat Notre Dame 98-93 on Tuesday night.Marble had 13 straight points in the second half to lead the Hawkeyes (8-1), who bounced back from an overtime loss to No. 14 Villanova with just their third win in 13 Big Ten/ACC Challenge games.

Marble’s “run was the difference in the game,” Iowa coach Fran McCaffery said. “This is a very experienced, very well-coached team. You just didn’t want it to be that quickly. … They kept scoring, so (Marble) put us on his back in that stretch.”

Uthoff made two free throws and threw down an open dunk in the final 37 seconds to help seal the win for Iowa, which scored more than 90 points for the third time this season.Garrick Sherman had a career-high 29 points and Eric Atkins added 23 for Notre Dame (5-2), which lost despite shooting 51.5 percent from the field.Iowa was even better from the field, shooting 56.9 percent.Still, the Hawkeyes couldn’t put away the Fighting Irish until the final second.

“Neither one of us could guard each other,” Irish coach Mike Brey said. “I’m really impressed with Iowa, but I love my team. In a tough atmosphere with some new faces, new roles, we answered just about every charge. We just didn’t have much at the end.”

White answered a 3-pointer by Atkins by drawing contact with Sherman and converting from the free throw line to put the Hawkeyes ahead 90-83 with 1:50 left. That seemed to seal it for Iowa, but Uthoff blew an easy layup and didn’t get a loose ball that Atkins put home to pull Notre Dame within 91-88.Uthoff soon made up for those mistakes, but the Fighting Irish were still alive until White’s free throw with 0.8 seconds left.Jerian Grant had 13 points and 10 assists for Notre Dame.The Hawkeyes had no answer for Sherman in the first half. He had 18 points, repeatedly beating Iowa’s interior defense for easy baskets, and finished with nine rebounds.But the way the Hawkeyes were scoring, it didn’t matter all that much.Iowa shot 19 of 33 from the field — including an 18-foot turnaround jumper from Uthoff to beat the shot clock — and took a 52-43 halftime lead.But the Hawkeyes were playing their fourth game in six days, and it showed at points in the second half. Sherman helped Notre Dame quickly tie it at 55-all, reaching his career high in points with 16:53 left.But Marble kept Iowa afloat with those 13 straight points, which proved to be crucial.Hosting the Fighting Irish made for a special night for McCaffery, who owes much of his coaching career and personal life to Notre Dame.McCaffery spent 11 seasons as an assistant with the Fighting Irish under Digger Phelps and John MacLeod, and he met his wife, Margaret, in South Bend. She scored 1,312 points for the Irish before serving as an assistant coach for Muffet McGraw.The Hawkeyes made McCaffery a winner in his first game against the Irish while at Iowa — though Notre Dame proved to be a tougher challenge than many thought it would be.