NORMAL—Zach Lofton scored 18 points and Illinois State pulled away from Southern Illinois in the second half for a 66-48 win on Sunday.Leading 38-36 early in the second half, Illinois State (8-6, 1-1 Missouri Valley Conference) used a 20-4 run to open a big lead, led by seven points from Bobby Hunter during the stretch.Southern Illinois (4-11, 0-2) scored the first nine points of the game before the Redbirds responded by scoring 15 of the game’s next 19 points to take a 15-13 lead. Illinois State did not surrender the lead from that point forward.Hunter scored 15 points and had four steals for Illinois State.The Redbirds held Southern Illinois to 32 percent shooting from the field, including just 25 percent in the second half. Desmar Jackson was the lone Southern Illinois scorer to reach double figures, leading the Salukis with 19 points.

Devon Turk hit five 3-pointers and scored a career-high 30 points as Loyola got its first ever Missouri Valley Conference win with an 89-57 decision over Missouri State on Sunday.Loyola (6-8, 1-1 Missouri Valley) snapped a three-game losing streak. Turk finished 6 of 9 from the field and 13 of 13 from the line.Milton Doyle scored 13 points with five assists, and Christian Thomas added 10 points to lead Loyola. Thomas has scored in double figures for 30 straight games.Devon Thomas scored a layup to pull Missouri State within 60-48 with 10:26 remaining. Loyola answered with a 14-0 run to stretch its lead to 74-48 with 8:06 to play.Marcus Marshall scored 11 points and Devon Thomas added 10 to lead Missouri State (11-3, 1-1).Loyola joined the Missouri Valley Conference after playing 34 seasons in the Horizon League.

ANN ARBOR—Nik Stauskas scored 18 points and Glenn Robinson III added 12 to lead Michigan to a 74-51 victory over Northwestern on Sunday.The Wolverines (10-4, 2-0) have won six straight over the Wildcats, and this victory wasn’t much different than Michigan’s two routs last season. Northwestern (7-8, 0-2) trailed by only seven at the half but couldn’t keep up. Jordan Morgan had eight points and eight rebounds for the Wolverines, who played without star big man Mitch McGary, who is out with a back problem.Morgan and Jon Horford have been filling in down low, and they provided more than enough muscle against Northwestern. Horford had seven points and eight rebounds.Drew Crawford led the Wildcats with 17 points, but scored only four of them in the second half.Amid a major snowstorm in the Ann Arbor area, Michigan and Northwestern played in front of a quiet crowd with plenty of empty seats. Spike Albrecht provided the game’s first real highlight with a nifty drop pass to Stauskas for a dunk on a fast break. That gave Michigan a 13-10 lead.Caris LeVert’s 3-pointer pushed the lead to seven, and he followed with a nice pass to Morgan for a layup and a 24-15 advantage.It was 31-24 at halftime, and Stauskas started the second half off with a 3-pointer. Robinson then scored from the perimeter to give the Wolverines a 12-point lead.Horford had 14 points and nine rebounds in a win over Minnesota on Thursday, and this time it was Morgan’s turn to make a significant contribution. He had eight points and five rebounds in the first half alone.There was concern about Robinson’s status after he left the Minnesota game with an apparent right leg injury, but he played 31 minutes Sunday and showed his usual leaping ability.An alley-oop dunk from freshman Zak Irvin on a fast break gave Michigan a 49-35 lead, and another dunk by Robinson in transition put the Wolverines up 53-37.Irvin’s 3-pointer from the left corner made it 64-40.Northwestern lost twice to Michigan by a combined 50 points last season. Center Alex Olah scored 12 points Sunday on 4-of-5 shooting, but the Wildcats – especially Crawford – seemed to wear down as the game progressed.Northwestern trailed 39-33 before Michigan went on a 14-4 run to break the game open.

If there has been a bright spot to the Bulls’ injury-filled season, it has been their defense.It came through again Saturday night, helping the Bulls overcome a 40.7 percent shooting night to hold the Atlanta Hawks to nearly 20 points below their season average in a 91-84 victory. Opponents are shooting 43 percent against the Bulls.

“We have a defensive system and we work on it a lot,” Joakim Noah said. “It’s crazy how much we work on it. We work on defense every day.”

The Hawks, who were averaging 103.2 points, shot 37.2 percent and were 8 of 28 from 3-point range.

“We have a core of guys that understand it and are really good at it,” Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau said about the defense. We know if we defend and rebound and keep our turnovers down, we’re going to be in a position to win. Right now, when you’re short-handed, that’s really what you have to do. It’s also what you have to do in every game, even when you’re completely healthy.”

Mike Dunleavy scored 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, and Luol Deng added 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, hitting two free throws with 8.8 seconds left to seal the win. The Bulls led most of the way in winning for the fifth time in seven games.Paul Millsap and Jeff Teague scored 16 points apiece for the Hawks. A 3-point attempt by Kyle Korver that would have cut the Bulls’ lead to 84-82 with 4:18 left was overturned and ruled a shot clock violation upon review. Soon after, DeMarre Carroll was called for an offensive foul when the Hawks trailed 86-79.

“That was a big swing, a big change in the game,” Atlanta coach Mike Budenholzer said.

Korver extended his NBA record of games with at least one 3-pointer made to 103 straight when he hit the first of his two 3-pointers with 9:59 left in the first quarter.Korver finished with eight points on 3-of-9 shooting.

“I just have so much respect for those guys over there, how they continue to play hard every day and just grind and win games like tonight,” Korver said. “They just find ways. It’s not the prettiest basketball at times, but you have a lot of respect for them.”

The Hawks tied the game 67-all with 11:12 left on Mike Scott’s free throw. It was the first time the Bulls hadn’t led since there was 6:19 left in the first quarter. But Dunleavy answered with a 3-pointer, Noah scored on a putback and Jimmy Butler made a layup to put the Bulls ahead 74-69 with 8:41 remaining. Atlanta pulled to within one on Teague’s layup with 5:38 left, but Dunleavy responded with a jumper and Taj Gibson scored on a dunk for an 84-79 lead. Carlos Boozer missed his first Bulls game of the season due to a sore right knee. MRI results on the knee were negative and the Bulls are hoping the injury isn’t serious. Gibson started in his place.

“The big thing is getting everyone back and healthy,” Thibodeau said. “Hopefully, Carlos will be short term, which I believe he will be. This is the first time we’ve had the group relatively whole.”

Butler and D.J. Augustin each had 11 points, and Gibson and Noah had 10 points and 12 rebounds apiece. Scott scored 12 and Carroll had 10 for Atlanta.The Hawks pulled within one twice late in the third quarter but were unable to pull ahead. The Bulls led 67-64 after three quarters.Deng made a half-court shot at the second-quarter buzzer to give the Bulls a 50-45 lead at the break. Korver had made a 3-pointer with 2.9 seconds left to cut the Bulls’ lead to 47-45 after they were ahead by as many as 10.The Bulls led 26-18 after the first quarter. Atlanta had scored at least 100 points in 10 of 11 games. The Hawks were playing the second game of a back-to-back.

NOTES—Hawks guard John Jenkins (low back pain) missed his sixth straight game. He is expected to also miss the Hawks’ game Monday against Brooklyn.. Center Pero Antic remained in the Hawks’ lineup after he scored 16 points in his first career start on Friday against Golden State.. This was the first meeting of the season between the teams. The Bulls went 2-1 against Atlanta last season.

SOUTH BEND—Notre Dame sent quite the message in its Atlantic Coast Conference debut. Eric Atkins scored 19 points, Pat Connaughton had 16 and the Fighting Irish upset No. 7 Duke 79-77 on Saturday.The victory comes in the wake of leading scorer Jerian Grant’s dismissal from school two weeks ago for an academic violation and provides a much-needed confidence boost as the Irish begin play in their new league.

”It’s really important for our group given the two weeks we’ve had to feel like, `Hey, we may still have a shot at this thing.’ Because nobody else thought we had a shot,” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said.

Atkins scored seven points during a decisive 20-4 run as Notre Dame rallied from a 10-point deficit and held on to win two weeks after squandering an eight-point lead in the final 50 seconds against No. 3 Ohio State at Madison Square Garden. The Irish (10-4, 1-0) improved to 13-6 against top-10 teams at home under Brey. It was the first loss in an ACC opener for the Blue Devils (11-3, 0-1) in seven seasons.Rodney Hood, who led the Blue Devils with 27 points, said Duke played like an immature team, allowing the Irish to hold the ball for long periods and then score as the shot clock ticked down.

”When we needed a stop, we didn’t get a stop,” Hood said. ”We had some balls go in and out, but I can name at least 10 plays where it was a breaking point and we didn’t pull it off.”

Duke used a 9-0 run to open a 49-40 lead early in the second half and stretched the lead to 60-50 when Andre Dawkins made a 3 from the top of the key with about 11 minutes left.But when Notre Dame went to a small lineup to try to guard the Blue Devils better from behind the arc, Demetrius Jackson hit a 3 to spark the 20-4 run.

”I thought that was the biggest shot of the game,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. ”If we get a stop, we could have gone up by 12. That was a huge shot.”

Atkins tied the game on a layup, and then followed with another basket inside on a pass from Connaughton. Steve Vasturia, who wasn’t getting much playing time before Grant was dismissed, hit a 3-pointer to give the Irish a 68-64 lead after Duke freshman Jabari Parker, who struggled all game, badly missed a 3.

”That was a huge shot to really make us believe,” Brey said.

The Blue Devils closed within one point twice in the final two minutes, but the Irish didn’t wilt under the pressure. Atkins made a layup after Duke cut it to 72-71, and then Garrick Sherman hit a free throw with 16 seconds left after missing the first. Duke still had a chance to tie the game, but Hood dribbled too deep and had a pass stolen by Jackson. Each team finished with six turnovers. Krzyzewski blamed the loss on Duke’s defense.

”We just stopped playing the defense that we were playing,” he said.

Sherman had 14 points as the Irish outscored Duke 44-16 in the paint.Quinn Cook had 22 points for Duke, which was 12 of 28 from beyond the arc, one shy of its season high. Parker, who grew up 90 miles away in Chicago, failed to score in double figures for the first time this season. He missed his first four shots, including a 12-foot baseline air ball, and had a jumper blocked by Austin Burgett. Cook looked frustrated at the end of the first half when it appeared Parker ran the wrong play.Parker had seven points on 2-for-10 shooting and wasn’t in the game at the end.

”He just wasn’t having a good game,” Krzyzewski said.

Brey said good team defense played a role in Parker’s off day.

”I think there was a great team awareness of him. I wish we could have used some of that on Hood,” he said.

Brey improved to 1-1 against his former boss.

”It’s a historic day for us, our first ACC game,” Brey said. ”To beat a program like Duke’s will always be a great memory for us starting off in Atlantic Coast Conference play.”

CHAMPAIGN—Rayvonte Rice scored 15 points to lead four Illinois players in double figures as the Illini defeated Penn State 75-55 on Saturday.Illinois (13-2, 2-0) remained in a first-place tie in the Big Ten following a pair of home wins. Penn State (9-6, 0-2) has dropped five of eight after a 6-1 start.Penn State’s D.J. Newbill was ejected with 8:38 to play after a retaliatory push to the back of Illinois freshman Kendrick Nunn’s head. Newbill, in a virtual dead-heat with Illinois’ Rice for the Big Ten scoring lead entering the game, scored just seven on 2-of-8 shooting.Penn State’s John Johnson led all scorers with 18. The junior was appearing in just his third game for the Nittany Lions after transferring from Pittsburgh.Joseph Bertrand and John Ekey, fifth-year seniors, each scored 11 for Illinois. Tracy Abrams had 12 points, six rebounds and five assists despite a scoreless first half, which closed with Illinois ahead 28-26.Illinois scored three points on four of its first six second-half possessions to build a 40-28 lead. Penn State got within seven on three occasions, the last just before Newbill’s ejection. Illinois scored 9 of the next 12 following the technical and was not threatened.Both teams return to action on Wednesday. Penn State is host to Minnesota and Illinois is at No. 4 Wisconsin.

MILWAUKEE—Davante Gardner scored 21 of his career-high 28 points in the second half, leading Marquette to a 66-56 victory over DePaul on Saturday.Golden Eagles coach Buzz Williams leveled a mild criticism of Gardner during the week for being lackadaisical at practice, but started the senior forward for the first time since Jan. 28, 2012 at Villanova, in place of junior guard Derrick Wilson.Williams started Gardner over Wilson to get all four of his seniors in the lineup. The Golden Eagles (9-6, 1-1 Big East Conference) were ranked 17th in the Associated Press preseason poll and were picked to win the Big East in the preseason coaches’ poll, but have stumbled to open the season.Gardner acknowledged that he was not working hard enough at practice, but was told Friday he would be starting anyway.

”I have been slacking a little bit in practice,” Gardner said. ”Since we came back from Christmas break I’ve been out of it, but I think I’m back in rhythm,” he said.

He sure looked in rhythm against DePaul. With Gardner leading the way by making 10 of 11 free throws, the Golden Eagles made 23 of 31 free throws to DePaul’s two of four.The disparity in free throw shooting had Blue Demons coach Oliver Purnell upset.

”I’m a little miffed we didn’t go to the line a little more,” Purnell said. ”I thought we were driving the ball in there pretty hard and just weren’t coming up with anything. But that’s the way it is on the road in the Big East.”

Cleveland Melvin snapped a three-game slump by scoring 22 points for the Blue Demons (8-7, 0-2). Brandon Young, DePaul’s second-leading scorer at 14.4 points, missed all nine of his shots and was held scoreless.The Golden Eagles used a 14-2 run late in the second half to take control of the game, with Gardner scoring the final seven points of the streak.Jamil Wilson had 14 points and Todd Mayo added 10 for Marquette.Billy Garrett was the only other DePaul player in double figures, scoring 10 points.Gardner’s previous high at Marquette was 26 points in a 74-71 win over Syracuse on Feb. 25, 2013.After the game, he said he had no preference whether he started or came off the bench.

”It really don’t matter to me, as long as I come in the game and contribute,” he said.

Melvin averaged 17.6 points in DePaul’s first 11 games this season, but had struggled in the team’s past three contests, averaging only seven points on nine of 32 shooting.Melvin scored 15 points and DePaul led, 30-26, at halftime.

”(The Golden Eagles) were just trying to find a way to stop me, because I was hot,” Melvin said of scoring only seven points in the second half. ”Obviously they did a good job of that. But still I was trying to compete out there and win the game.”

Freshman center Tommy Hamilton IV, who had started the team’s first 14 games and was averaging 9.2 points, did not play the first half. Hamilton was held scoreless with no rebounds and accumulated four fouls in just six minutes.Purnell said he benched Hamilton to send him a message that he had to work harder and needed to be ready to start at the beginning of games. He also said junior forward Jamee Crockett, averaging 3.8 points, had been suspended for the Marquette game for ”conduct unbecoming” of a player.

NEWARK—Patrick Sharp is on one of those streaks. It seems almost every time he shoots, the puck ends up in the net.Sharp had his second hat trick in five games and the Blackhawks avoided a rare second straight loss with a 5-3 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Friday night. The 32-year-old Sharp has 14 goals and seven assists in his last 13 games. He has 25 goals in 44 games this season, tied for the team lead with Patrick Kane.

“I don’t know numbers-wise,” Sharp said when asked if he has ever had a run like this. “I think I’ve felt like this a few times in my career. It’s the result of the good players I’m out there with making good plays, and all the hard work you put in as an individual. It’s a good run for our team, it’s a good run for me, and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Sharp helped the Hawks build a 4-1 lead, combining with Kane and Marian Hossa to score in a span of 4:04 early in the third period to give the Blackhawks a 4-1 lead. When the Devils narrowed the margin to a goal with 6:23 to play, Sharp iced the game, breaking in on Martin Brodeur with 1:28 to play and easily beating the NHL’s winningest goaltender for his fourth career hat trick.

“It’s fun to play against a guy like Marty Brodeur, arguably the best goaltender of all-time,” said Sharp, who only had six goals in last year’s lockout-shortened season that ended with tha Blackhawks winning the Stanley Cup. “You see guys like that on the ice, Jaromir Jagr as well, it’s crazy to line up against those guys.”

Duncan Keith had three assists and fellow defenseman Brent Seabrook two in the four-goal third period against Brodeur, who faced 24 shots.

“They have three lines that can get you and their fourth line doesn’t hurt them ever, either,” Brodeur said. “We played them well, we were right there, and then they kind of took over. They’re a good team and they showed it. That’s what good teams do.”

Marek Zidlicky scored twice and fellow defenseman Andy Greene once for New Jersey, which lost in regulation for only the second time in nine games (5-2-2). Both defeats have come against the Blackhawks, who lost in overtime to the Islanders on Thursday.

“We played well for the first 40, then we hit the pause button,” Devils forward Ryan Carter said. “Against a team like that, you cannot do that. They can score at any time, and they pretty much did.”

Antti Raanta made 24 saves for the Hawks, who are 11-1-3 against Eastern Conference opponents. Kane broke a 1-all tie with a great effort and some luck 90 seconds into the third period. Skating down the right boards after taking a pass from Seabrook, Kane centered a pass toward Brandon Saad in front of the net. The puck deflected off Zidlicky’s stake and past Brodeur for his 24th goal. Sharp, who opened the scoring, connected 74 seconds later with a great shot from low in the left circle that beat Brodeur over the shoulder. Seabrook set it up with a cross-ice pass from the right point.

“He has that eye of the tiger,” Raanta said of Sharp. “You can see it in the practice. He is trying to score every chance he has. When you do that in the practice it usually happens when you get the chances in the game.”

Hossa capped the outburst with a shot from between the circles over Brodeur’s shoulder after taking a pass from Jonathan Toews, who also had two assists. That gave the Blackhawks a 4-1 lead, but the Devils didn’t quit. Zidlicky made the game close again by scoring twice in a little more than 6 minutes, with the second coming on a power play with just over 6 minutes to play. In their Dec. 23 meeting, the Blackhawks outshot the Devils 37-12 in a 5-2 win. It was a totally different game this time. It was competitive for two periods, and the best players on the ice were Brodeur and Raanta, who both stopped several good chances in close. After a scoreless opening period, Sharp gave the Blackhawks the lead. Toews set it up, taking the puck off Mark Fayne’s stick and finding Sharp between the circles at 1:34. It came seconds after Brodeur had stopped him in close.New Jersey needed 43 seconds to tie the game. Steve Bernier started a counterattack in the Devils’ zone with a pass to Stephen Gionta. He carried the puck into the Hawk end and lifted a pass to Greene, who slid the puck between Raanta’s pads.

Saturday:
INDIANAPOLIS over Kansas City
PHILADELPHIA over New Orleans

Sunday:
CINCINNATI over San Diego
San Francisco over GREEN BAY

Last week: Les 13-3, Ada, 12-4
Through the Regular Season:
Les 169-86-1    Adam 170-85-1

Home Teams in ALL CAPS

UNIONDALE—One day after Kyle Okposo was left off the U.S. Olympic team, the New York Islanders forward added another clip to his highlight reel.Okposo scored 58 seconds into overtime to lift the Islanders to a 3-2 victory over the Blackhawks on Thursday night after they blew a two-goal lead to the Stanley Cup champions.Barring injuries to others, Okposo will likely be home during the Sochi Olympics. Yet he didn’t hang his head after being passed over.

“You’re giving me chills right now,” Okposo said during an on-ice interview as the Nassau Coliseum crowd chanted “U-S-A! U-S-A!”
“Sometimes you get tough bounces in life,” Okposo added. “You don’t always achieve your goals. Tonight I thought I left everything out there.”

Casey Cizikas scored in his 100th NHL game, and Thomas Vanek added a goal for the Islanders. Defenseman Andrew MacDonald had two assists, and Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves.Okposo ended it with his 16th goal.

“He was probably a little disappointed,” Islanders coach Jack Capuano said of the Olympic snub. “He is just excited that we won the game.”

The Islanders have won three straight, building off a pair of comeback road victories against Minnesota and Boston — the Hawk’s opponent in last year’s Cup finals.

“Right now, we’re competing and we’re winning some battles we weren’t winning earlier this season,” Capuano said. “With Boston and Chicago, you can see the skill level. We had to be on our toes, we had to be sharp, we had to execute.”

Brent Seabrook scored in the second period, and Ben Smith early in the third scored to help the Blackhawks rally for a standings point. Patrick Kane was held without a point for the second consecutive game after recording at least one in a career-best 14 straight.Crawford returned from a 10-game injury absence and improved as the game went on, shining after his club got even. He finished with 31 saves and was superb in the third.

“They attacked,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. “They have some quickness and speed and they make plays. It was nice to get it to overtime, but it didn’t last very long.”

The Islanders have a four-game winning streak on the road, but haven’t had recent success at home. Since their last regulation win at Nassau Coliseum on Nov. 12 against Nashville, the Islanders are just 2-5-4 there.

“I definitely hope something is brewing,” Nabokov said. “We have to stick with the moment and our game plan. The defense did a great job clearing rebounds. That was the key.We have put three together,” Nabokov said. “Now we have to for the fourth one.”

The Hawks are is 8-1-3 in its last 12 games.Several inches of snow piled up in the parking lot and on cars during the game. The Islanders offered all ticket-holders, whether they came to the game or not, the opportunity to exchange tickets for any weekday home game this season. Also, hot dogs and sodas were discounted to $2.Though the crowd thinned after the second period, many seats were filled despite the ominous forecast that called for upward of 10 inches of snow by Friday.
Many of the 13,618 in attendance were decked out in Blackhawks red, but when cheers of “Let’s Go Hawks!” went up, they were met with boos and counter calls of “Let’s Go Islanders!”
Smith’s tying goal 1:50 into the third elicited a loud celebratory cheer that wasn’t answered by home team supporters.After a turnover in the Islanders’ end, Patrick Sharp brought the puck from behind the net and tried to jam it in. A scramble in the crease ensued, and Smith poked in his fifth of the season.Cizikas made a quick impact in the first period when he knocked the puck free from Blackhawks forward Bryan Bickell and then beat Bickell to the loose puck at the blue line. Cizikas corralled the puck, skated in alone on Crawford and scored his fifth of the season with 4:36 left in the period after shifting from backhand to forehand.Outside of that, the Blackhawks had the better of the play in the opening frame, holding a 12-5 edge in shots.The Islanders doubled their lead 8:09 into the second when Vanek netted his 14th goal with a backhander in front off a rebound of MacDonald’s shot.New York took the first penalty of the game when Matt Carkner was sent off for tripping with 2:34 remaining in the second, and the Hawks potent power play took advantage.Kris Versteeg sent a crisp, cross-zone pass to the left circle to Seabrook, who ripped a one-timer as he crouched to a knee past Nabokov for his fifth of the season with 1:24 left in the period.Sharp took the Blackhawks’ first penalty, cross-checking with 24.5 seconds to go in the second. The Islanders started the third with 1:36 left on the advantage but couldn’t convert.

NOTES—The Blackhawks entered with the NHL’s third-best power play and the top road unit. New York has the worst penalty-killing unit at home. …Michael Kostka played his sixth game. Fellow defenseman Sheldon Brookbank and Michal Rozsival were out.