ROSEMONT—Billy Garrett Jr. scored 21 points, and DePaul won its second straight, beating St. John’s 77-75 on Tuesday night.The Blue Demons (10-8, 2-3) blew a seven-point lead in the second half but pulled it out in the closing minutes to come away with back-to-back Big East wins for the first time in six years.St. John’s (9-7, 0-4) was leading by three when Garrett scored on a fastbreak layup with three minutes to go. The Red Storm’s Rysheed Jordan lost his dribble, leading to a floater by Cleveland Melvin that put DePaul ahead 76-75 with 2:19 remaining.D’Angelo Harrison missed a 3 at the shot clock buzzer for St. John’s and Orlando Sanchez put up an airball on a 3-pointer with 47 seconds left. The Red Storm had another chance after Young had a layup blocked out of bounds and Melvin missed a jumper from the wing off the inbounds with 11 seconds remaining.But Max Hooper missed a 3 for St. John’s. Brandon Young then hit the second free throw after missing the first for DePaul to make it 77-75 with 1.9 seconds left, and Jordan’s halfcourt heave hit the top of the backboard as time expired, preserving the win for the Blue Demons.Garrett, a freshman, came through with another strong effort after scoring a career-high 22 a week earlier in a double-overtime win over Butler.Young finished with 19 points. Melvin scored all but three of his 16 points in the second half. Tommy Hamilton scored 13, and DePaul came away with consecutive conference wins for the first time since it beat Villanova and Providence to start Big East play in January 2008.The Blue Demons also stopped an eight-game losing streak to St. John’s.Harrison, a game-time decision after suffering a mild concussion in the previous game against Villanova, came through with 24 points.Jordan scored 16, but the Red Storm dropped their fourth straight.Melvin’s dunk about five-and-a-half minutes into the second half broke a 55-55 tie. Young then stole the ball from Sir’Dominic Pointer, who threw him to the court. That resulted in a technical and two free throws by Garrett as the crowd chanted for Pointer’s ejection.Hamilton then buried a 3-pointer to make it 62-55 with 13:37 remaining. But St. John’s chipped away at the lead, tying it at 70 on a jumper by Sanchez with 7:40 left.Harrison then scored on a layup off a no-look pass from Sanchez and buried a pull-up jumper to make it a four-point game with 4:35 left, and it remained tight the rest of the way.

Tyson Barrie and the Avalanche keep finding ways to win as they move up in the Western Conference.The defenseman scored his second goal of the game on a power play at 4:09 of overtime, giving Colorado a 3-2 victory against the Blackhawks on Tuesday night.The Avalanche won their second straight and improved to 6-1-1 in their past eight games despite getting outshot 48-26 and blowing a two-goal lead.With Jonathan Toews off for hooking, Barrie fired the game-winner past Corey Crawford on a one-timer from the left circle after taking a cross-ice pass from Matt Duchene.

“This is huge for us,” Barrie said. “We want to keep climbing in the standings.”

The 22-year-old Barrie was an unlikely star in this one. After his first two-goal game in the NHL, he has five goals this season and seven in his career.

“This is a tough building to get one point in, so we got the one. We were fortunate to get the power play there, and were able to get the two points,” he said.

The Avalanche also avenged a 7-2 drubbing by the Blackhawks on Dec. 27. Colorado is 6-1-2 since that loss.

“We wanted to have a good bounce-back game after that,” Barrie said. “If you can beat the champs, it’s always nice.”

Barrie and Ryan O’Reilly scored 1:02 apart late in the first period to stake Colorado to a 2-0 lead. O’Reilly has three goals in his last two games.But if goalie Semyon Varlamov hadn’t made 46 saves in a solid — and sometimes spectacular — effort, the game wouldn’t have been close.

“He’s been like this since the start of the year,” Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. “He’s been outstanding. We rally around him.That was the type of performance we needed from our goalie to beat the Blackhawks.”

Andrew Shaw scored at 7:27 of the third to tie it. He also assisted on Johnny Oduya’s goal in the second.But that was all Varlamov allowed.

“We just couldn’t find a way to score enough goals to win,” Toews said. “It is a frustrating game, but we’ll stay with it and we know we can build off that effort and start playing better hockey than we have been the last few games.”

Varlamov improved to 9-0-5 in his last 15 games, including 14 starts — the longest streak of his career without a regulation loss. His last defeat in regulation was at Phoenix on Dec. 10, when the Avalanche lost 3-1.Crawford finished with 23 saves. The Blackhawks have dropped their last seven games that have gone past regulation, dating to a 2-1 shootout win in Dallas on Nov. 29.The defending Stanley Cup champions are 4-11 this season in games that go longer than 60 minutes. They are 0-5 in overtime and 4-6 in shootouts.Colorado defenseman Erik Johnson left late in the second period with a lower-body injury. He tried to return for a shift in the third, but didn’t continue.Colorado led 2-0 after the first period despite being outplayed until about 14 minutes in, when the Blackhawks held a 12-3 advantage in shots.But Barrie opened the scoring on a soft screened shot from just inside the right point with 5:02 left in the first. He flipped the puck past several players and it sailed over Crawford’s glove.O’Reilly made it 2-0 with a power-play goal on a crisp passing play 10 seconds after Kris Versteeg was sent off for hooking. O’Reilly slipped the puck past Crawford after a wide-open setup at the edge of the crease.The Blackhawks pushed back and turned up the pressure in the second, outshooting Colorado 10-1 in the first half of the period and 16-6 overall. But thge Hawks only managed to cut Colorado’s lead to 2-1, cashing in on Oduya’s deflection of Brandon Saad’s screened shot from the slot.Shaw tied it on a rebound. He swept in a shot from 10 feet out after Varlamov stopped Saad from point-blank range.Michal Rozsival hit the right post on a shot with about 7:30 left. Crawford made a point-blank stop on a wide-open Cody McLeod with just more than 3 minutes left.Toews tripped Andre Benoit at 3:34 of overtime following a turnover to prevent a possible breakaway, but the ensuing power play led to Barrie’s game-winner.

NOTES—Oduya, a defenseman, had gone 23 games without a goal and 10 without a point. … Colorado C Paul Stastny missed the game with a leg injury sustained Saturday at Minnesota. He is day to day. … Not that the Avs needed him, but G Jean-Sebastien Giguere sat out with back spasms, so Sami Aittokallio was recalled from Lake Erie of the AHL to back up Varlamov. Colorado D Cory Sarich also was scratched.

Marian Hossa had a power-play goal and an assist on his 35th birthday, and the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-3 on Sunday night to end a three-game losing streak.Ben Smith, Andrew Shaw, Jonathan Toews and Brent Seabrook also scored for the Hawks, who had 15 goals against Edmonton in a three-game sweep of the season series.Ales Hemsky and Taylor Hall scored for Edmonton. The Oilers’ Boyd Gordon was credited with a fluke short-handed goal in the second period when Patrick Kane inadvertently bounced a pass off the boards and into an empty net during a delayed penalty call.After a slow start, the Blackhawks dominated the action and outshot Edmonton 41-21.Antti Raanta made 18 saves in just his second start since No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford returned from an injury on Jan. 2.Edmonton’s Devan Dubnyk blocked 36 shots.The Blackhawks grabbed control with a three-goal second that gave them a 4-2 lead. the Hawks outshot Edmonton 19-5 in the period.Shaw struck first, converting a high screened shot from the left circle at 2:36 of the second. Shaw’s 12th goal came moments after a turnover by Edmonton’s Nail Yakupov at center ice.After Gordon’s unusual score tied it at 2, the Blackhawks had a 5-on-3 advantage and Hossa scored on a screened shot from 35 feet away in the slot.Toews completed a 2-on-1 break with Patrick Sharp with 2:28 left in the second to extend the lead to 4-2. After taking Sharp’s feed, Toews tucked a backhander under Dubnyk’s pad.Hall got one back for Edmonton when he one-timed a pass from Schultz past Raanta at 5:17 of the third, but Seabrook restored the two-goal advantage with 5:41 left.Hemsky opened the scoring at 6:08 of the first. He got past Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith on the right wing, cut alone across the top of the crease and slipped a low backhand shot past Raanta.The Blackhawks tied it at 1 on Smith’s deflection with 5:34 left in the period. It was the Hawks first first-period goal since Dec. 30, a span of six games.The NHL’s most potent offense helped make up for an unlucky break in the second.The Blackhawks already were on a 5-on-4 power play and buzzing in the Oilers’ zone when Dubnyk hacked Shaw and was assessed a delayed penalty for slashing. Raanta vacated his net and headed to the bench as the Hawks sent out an extra attacker.From the right corner, Kane bounced a pass off the boards toward the right point. But no Blackhawk was there and the puck slid the length of the ice and into the net.

NOTES—The Blackhawks’ three-game losing streak matched their season-longest slide. … The Oilers started a four-game road trip and now move on to Dallas, Minnesota and Winnipeg. …The Hawks have won four straight against Edmonton, dating to last season. … Kane had two assists, but following a career-high 14-game point streak (eight goals, 17 assists), the Blackhawks’ leading scorer has just three assists in his last seven.

EVANSTON—Tre Demps scored 11 points and made three late 3-pointers to lead Northwestern to a 49-43 upset of in-state rival No. 23 Illinois on Sunday night.Drew Crawford added 14 points and JerShon Cobb had 11 for Northwestern (8-9, 1-3 Big Ten), which gave coach Chris Collins his first conference victory.Northwestern had lost four straight overall and three in a row in conference play, but snapped both streaks thanks to its defense. Following a one-point loss to DePaul on Dec. 27 to end nonconference play, the Wildcats lost by 27 against Wisconsin, 23 to Michigan, and 26 to Iowa before beating Illinois and holding them to 28.1 percent from the floor.Tracy Abrams had 13 and Rayvonte Rice had eight for the Fighting Illini (13-4, 2-2), who have lost two straight after four consecutive wins.Rice, who entered as the conference’s leading scorer at 18.8 points per game, didn’t get his first basket until there was 8:39 left in the second half. The redshirt junior guard was 2 of 11 from the floor and missed all five of his first-half shots. He had scored 19 points on 7-of-21 shooting in a 95-70 loss to No. 4 Wisconsin in Madison on Wednesday.After leading by as many as eight in the second half, Northwestern allowed Illinois to tie the game at 27 on Kendrick Nunn’s layup with 11:31 left. Demps, though, hit three 3-pointers in three minutes, the last giving Northwestern a 43-36 lead with 3:28 to go. Cobb’s layup with 1:53 left gave the Wildcats a 45-36 lead.Illinois thought it cut the lead to 45-42 with 55.9 left, but Joseph Bertrand was called for charging, wiping out his basket. The Illini got to within 45-43 when Rice hit a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left. Crawford hit two free throws with 14.3 seconds left, and Northwestern finished the upset.Northwestern held Illinois to a season low in points without junior guard Dave Sobolewski, who missed the game due to a concussion he sustained in practice.During Illinois’ loss to the Badgers — its most lopsided defeat of the season – the Fighting Illini shot just 31.6 percent from the floor and had just Rice and Bertrand score in double figures. That didn’t improve much Sunday, when Illinois made 18 of 64 shots.Ranked for the first time since the week of Jan. 14-20, 2013, Illinois got off to a slow start in the lone meeting between the in-state rivals this season.The Illini shot 6 of 31 from the floor (19.4 percent) and missed all eight of their 3-pointers in the first half and trailed 22-15 at halftime. The 15 points were the Illini’s fewest in a half this season and the second-fewest Northwestern has allowed over 20 minutes.NU couldn’t pull away in the first half, shooting 33.3 percent.

DAYTON—A.J. Pacher scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Reggie Arceneaux hit a pair of free throws with 14 seconds left, as Wright State topped UIC 58-53 Sunday night.Wright State (11-8, 3-1 Horizon League) trailed 53-49 with 4:43 to play after Kelsey Barlow, who paced UIC with 19 points, hit a pair of free throws. Arceneaux answered with a 3-pointer which sparked a 9-0 run to close the game for the Raiders.Wright State, which came into the game ranked 27th nationally in points allowed per game at 61.5, held UIC (5-12, 0-3) nearly 18 points below its season average of 70.8 points.The Raiders connected on 22 of 25 free throws while the Flames made just 14 of 22.Jerran Young scored 13 points for Wright State and Arceneaux finished with 10.Marc Brown scored 14 points in the loss while Jordan Harks pulled down 11 rebounds.

MONTREAL—Andrei Markov scored two goals, including at 1:28 of overtime, to lead the Montreal Canadiens to a 2-1 victory over the Blackhawks on Saturday night.Markov took a deflected pass from Max Pacioretty and found the roof of the net.Carey Price finished with 19 saves for Montreal.Marian Hossa scored for the Blackhawks. Corey Crawford made 36 saves.The Hawks have lost three games in a row, including two in overtime, for only the second time this season.The Canadiens couldn’t capitalize on back-to-back tripping penalties by the Blackhawks midway through the first period as Crawford made two quality saves to preserve the scoreless draw.After a few close calls by the Blackhawks to start the second period, including Patrick Sharp missing an open net high and wide, and Patrick Kane hitting the crossbar, Markov broke the deadlock at 12:54 for his fourth of the season.With 6-foot-5 Habs enforcer George Parros screening him, Crawford couldn’t react quickly enough when Markov’s wrist shot flew past his blocker.Then came Crawford’s shining moment. With P.K. Subban in the penalty box for delay of game, a sprawled-out, stickless Crawford robbed Lars Eller from close range with the blade of his skate. Montreal had a shooting edge of 3-1 on the Blackhawks’ only power play.The Hawks tied it at 9:22 of the third when Hossa deflected a Jonathan Toews pass over Price’s outstretched pads. Sharp also got an assist on the goal.Bryan Bickell hit the post to Price’s left with just over a minute to play in the third period.The Canadiens have won six in a row against the Blackhawks as the host team. The Hawks last win in Montreal was on Dec. 3, 2001.

NOTES—The Blackhawks had a 10-game point streak snapped after a 3-2 loss to the New York Rangers on Wednesday. … Parros returned to the lineup and defenseman Francis Bouillon was a healthy scratch. … The teams face off again on April 9 in the United Center.

D.J. Augustin had 20 points and 12 assists and Joakim Noah added 19 points and 14 rebounds, helping the streaking Bulls beat the Charlotte Bobcats 103-97 on Saturday night.The Bulls had seven players score in double figures in its fifth consecutive victory. The Bulls (17-18) also improved to 3-0 since they traded All-Star Luol Deng to Cleveland late Monday night.Mike Dunleavy scored 17 points for the Bulls, who recovered after blowing a 15-point lead in the second half. Carlos Boozer had 12 points and 10 rebounds.The Bobcats (15-23) have dropped three straight. Gerald Henderson had 30 points, and Kemba Walker scored 29.Charlotte scored 22 of the last 29 points of the third to tie it at 70 heading to the final period. Walker had 13 points in the run, including a layup with 0.7 seconds to go.Josh McRoberts’ dunk gave the Bobcats a 73-72 lead in the fourth, but the Bulls then scored 11 straight points. Noah got the run started with a dunk and scored seven points in the surge.The key fourth-quarter run put the Bulls ahead to stay. Walker’s layup got Charlotte within four with 11.8 seconds to go, but Kirk Hinrich hit two foul shots to help the Bulls hold on.The Bulls played without guard Jimmy Butler, who injured his left quad during Friday night’s victory in Milwaukee. Butler has missed 13 games this season due to injury.

NORMAL—Reggie Lynch scored 11 points, grabbed five rebounds and sparked the second half breakaway run that gave Illinois State a 59-50 win over Loyola on Saturday night.After battling to a 27-27 tie at the break, Illinois State (9-7, 2-2 Missouri Valley Conference) opened the second half with a 15-2 run sparked by a Lynch jumper to take control of the game. The Redbirds protected the advantage, outscoring Loyola 32-23 in the final period.Nick Zeisloft contributed 12 points, while Bobby Hunter and John Jones added 10 apiece for ISU, which remains undefeated against in-state teams this season.Both teams struggled offensively. The Redbirds hit just 22 of 56 (39 percent) from the field and 5 of 20 from beyond the arc. The Ramblers (6-10, 1-3 MVC) fared worse, hitting only 17 of 50 from the field.Milton Doyle led Loyola with 15 points and eight rebounds.

MILWAUKEE—Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 13 rebounds in his first game back from a right knee injury, Mike Dunleavy Jr. added 18 points and the Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks 81-72 on Friday night, their 7th straight win in the Bradley Center. The road team has now won the last 8 in this series. Taj Gibson added 12 points at the Bradley Center, where a healthy sprinkling of Bulls fans wearing red celebrated the team’s fourth straight win overall. They almost watched the Bulls waste a 15-point lead. The Bucks opened the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run to get to within three. A long jumper from Ersan Ilyasova (14 points) got the Bucks to 71-70 with 5:42 left.But the Bulls hung on, even after Boozer missed two foul shots with 3:42 left with his team up by three-one of which was an airball. The Bucks missed their final 11 shots. The Bulls host Charlotte Saturday night while the Bucks head to Oklahoma City. This was a battle of the two lowest scoring teams in the NBA.

Saturday:
SEATTLE over New Orleans
NEW ENGLAND over Indianapolis

Sunday:
CAROLINA over San Francisco
San Diego over DENVER

Home Teams in ALL CAPS.

Last week: LES 2-2  ADAM 1-3

TOTAL: Les and Adam tied at 171-88-1