STATE COLLEGE—Kendrick Nunn scored 11 of his 19 points in the second half and Illinois halted its eight-game losing streak with a 60-55 victory over Penn State on Sunday.Nunn, averaging 4.1 points per game, was 7 for 13 from the field and made four 3-pointers for Illinois (14-10, 3-8 Big Ten). Malcolm Hill added 11 and Rayvonte Rice nine for the Illini, who grabbed a 53-52 lead at the 5:15 mark and hung on.Penn State (12-12, 3-8), which has lost two straight games after a modest three-game conference win streak, was led by 19 points from D.J. Newbill and 11 from Tim Frazier. The Newbill-Frazier backcourt tandem entered the game ranked fifth in NCAA scoring totals. Frazier also became Penn State’s career leader in assists, passing Freddie Barnes (600) with 601.Illinois’ last victory was a 75-55 decision over Penn State Jan. 4.The pace slowed considerably late in the game as both teams combined for just 12 points in 10 minutes. Illinois built a 49-45 lead at the 12:52 mark but didn’t score again until 6:30 remained.An open Nunn took a feed from Tracy Abrams and drained a 3-pointer from the corner with 22 seconds left, but Newbill’s immediate answer with a baseline drive brought the Lions to within 57-55.Abrams’ two free throws put the Illini up by four and a Rice rebound off a missed Frazier 3-pointer sealed it for Illinois, which drew a fourth foul on Penn State forward Donovon Jack midway through the second half. Jack fouled out at the 2:28 mark with eight points, all in the first half.Baskets by Brandon Taylor and Newbill pushed the Lions up by three points, but back-to-back drives by Nunn sandwiched around Penn State turnovers enabled the Illini to regain the lead at 53-52.The teams played a frenetic first half to a deadlock at 31 as Illinois rallied from a 16-7 deficit and Penn State crawled out of a 31-22 hole.Illinois held Frazier to six first-half points but he scored all six during Penn State’s late 9-0 run.Frazier scored the Lions’ first five points to open the second half but Rice snapped out of his early game slump to score nine points in the first five minutes to maintain the game’s back-and-forth pace.

Christian Thomas and Joe Crisman both scored 17 points to pace Loyola over Illinois State 79-69 on Sunday.Loyola (9-15, 4-8 Missouri Valley) raced out to a 15-5 lead, hitting six of its first seven shots, including four treys – two by Thomas. The Ramblers cruised to a 37-20 halftime lead.A 7-0 run by Illinois State (13-11, 6-6), including a trey by Nick Zeisloft, cut its deficit to nine at the 14-minute mark of the second. But Loyola responded with a 7-0 run of its own and its lead never dipped into single digits again.Loyola shot 55 percent from the floor and made 8 of 16 from beyond the arc. Nick Osborne and Milton Doyle both added 14 points.Paris Lee led Illinois State with 14 points and Daishon Knight added 10.

EVANSTON—Terran Petteway scored 17 points, and Nebraska overcame a slow start to beat Northwestern 53-49 on Saturday.Walter Pitchford added 15 points, nailing three 3-pointers, and the Cornhuskers (12-10, 4-6 Big Ten) picked themselves up after getting blown out by Michigan earlier in the week.They trailed by six after an ugly first half and blew an eight-point lead late in the second but managed to pull this one out.Northwestern (12-12, 5-6) had just scored eight straight to tie it at 44 when Pitchford hit two free throws and a 3 to make it a five-point game with 2:25 left.Then, after two free throws by the Wildcats’ JerShon Cobb, Petteway nailed a 3 with 22 seconds left to make it a six-point game. Northwestern’s Sanjay Lumpkin answered with one of his own, but the Cornhuskers hung on.

GLENDALE—Mike Smith stopped 30 shots and the Phoenix Coyotes became the first team to shut out the Blackhawks this season with a 2-0 victory Friday night.Coming off a disappointing loss to Dallas, the Coyotes charged at the Blackhawks following a pregame ceremony honoring the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team.Keith Yandle scored 69 seconds in and had an assist on Radim Vrbata’s goal late in the second period. Smith made it stand up with some tough saves late in the third period, closing out his second shutout of the season after rocker Alice Cooper played a three-song set during intermission.Antoine Vermette extended his career-high point streak to nine games on Yandle’s goal in front of a raucous, sold-out crowd.The Hawks had impressive victories in sweeping the two Southern California teams this week, but struggled offensively without leading scorer Patrick Kane, who left to attend his grandfather’s funeral.The Blackhawks allowed two power-play goals after killing off 32 of 33 penalties the previous 10 games. They couldn’t solve Smith and now head into the Olympic break off their first shutout since Game 3 of the Stanley Cup finals against Boston last June.The Coyotes have been agonizingly inconsistent, playing well against good teams and struggling against teams further down the standings.Phoenix beat rival Los Angeles 3-0 in one of its best games of the season and followed that with a loss to Buffalo, which has the league’s worst record. The Coyotes bounced back to beat Pittsburgh, then lost on Tuesday to Dallas, a team they are jostling with for a playoff spot.They got off to a fast start against the Blackhawks, which came to the desert with 84 points, second-most in the NHL.Yandle triggered it.He was fired up by the 1980 U.S. Olympic team’s appearance, fist-bumping every player as they went by the bench. Yandle, left off the current U.S. Olympic team, used that energy to score a power-play goal 69 seconds into the game on a hard slap shot from near the blue line.After one shot in the opening 14 minutes, the Blackhawks turned up the pressure late in the first period and early in the second.Smith stood his ground during Blackhawk flurries and had stellar sequence late in the second period, when he slid over to stop a redirected shot by Jonathan Toews, then stopped a point-blank shot by Patrick Sharp, who stood in disbelief for a few seconds before looking back at the Coyotes’ goalie.A few minutes later, Smith ended up on his backside in the net with his mask lying in front of him after being run over by Brandon Saad. Defenseman Michal Rozsival was called for an unsportsmanlike after the play to give Phoenix a 5-on-3 and Vrbata capitalized quickly, beating Corey Crawford with a wrister from the slot.Cooper kept the vibe going during the second intermission with ”I’m 18,” ”No More Mr. Nice Guy” and ”School’s Out,” and Smith made the shutout stand with some tough stops, including a nifty glove save on Saad after the Hawks pulled Crawford for an extra attacker.

NOTES—Ten members of the Miracle on Ice team were present for the pregame ceremony and current Olympians on the Coyotes and Blackhawks also were recognized. … Coyotes C Martin Hanzal missed the game due to an illness. … Hawks D Johnny Oduya missed his second straight game with a lower-body injury. … Vermette has eight goals and four assists during his point streak.

OMAHA—Doug McDermott’s shooting struggles didn’t stop his Creighton teammates from getting him the ball with the game on the line.McDermott scored 32 points — 11 during a 14-2 run after DePaul pulled within a point in the second half — and the No. 12 Bluejays beat the Blue Demons 78-66 on Friday night.McDermott was 9 of 21 from the field and made 13 of 14 free throws, including 9 of 10 in the last 7 minutes as the Bluejays pulled away.The Bluejays (19-3, 9-1 Big East) have won 14 of their last 15 games. DePaul (10-14, 2-9) has lost six in a row.

“Our guys fought hard, but we cannot be satisfied to fight hard and not come up with the victory,” DePaul coach Oliver Purnell said.

DePaul trailed by 14 in the first half, but closed to 59-58 after dominating the boards. They had four shots on their first possession after halftime and grabbed nine of the first 10 rebounds of the second half.Durrell McDonald’s layup got DePaul to 59-58 with 7:35 to play. The Blue Demons made one more field goal before Edwind McGhee’s meaningless layup with 18 seconds to play.The Bluejays, playing for the first time in 10 days, made 13 of their first 20 shots but finished 26 of 56 (46.4 percent).Austin Chatman added 11 points for the Bluejays. McDermott grabbed nine rebounds to go over 1,000 for his career.Brandon Young had 16 points and Forrest Robinson added 11 for the Blue Demons, who held a 41-31 advantage on the boards but shot just 39.7 percent. R.J. Currington was held to two points after scoring in double figures in three straight games.The game marked the return of Creighton guard Grant Gibbs, who dislocated his right kneecap in the first meeting with DePaul on Jan. 7 and missed six games. He entered to a standing ovation three minutes after the opening tip.The first two times Gibbs touched the ball he assisted on baskets by McDermott. Gibbs sat out 4 minutes, then came back and threw a lob from the 3-point arc to set up McDermott’s dunk that gave the Bluejays a double-digit lead.Creighton played without backup guard Devin Brooks, who was ill. Greg McDermott said Brooks is questionable for the Bluejays’ game against St. John’s on Sunday in New York.The Blue Demons played a fourth straight game without scoring leader Cleveland Melvin, who is suspended indefinitely.Creighton won its 16th straight at home, tying the program’s longest streak since it moved into the CenturyLink Center in 2003.

OAKLAND—Stephen Curry finished with 34 points and nine assists, Klay Thompson scored 22 points and the undermanned Golden State Warriors rallied to beat the Bulls 102-87 on Thursday night. That figures,since the Bulls always play poorly in Oracle Arena.With big men Andrew Bogut and David Lee sidelined with injuries, Golden State’s streaky backcourt tandem found its shooting stroke after the Warriors fell behind 34-18 in the second quarter.Curry finished 13 of 19 from the floor and Thompson was 8 of 16 to give the Warriors’ raucous fans a reason to cheer after losing five of their previous seven at home.Taj Gibson had 26 points and 13 rebounds filling in as a starter after Carlos Boozer strained his left calf during warm-ups, and Kirk Hinrich scored 15 points as the Bulls dropped to 2-3 on their road trip, which ends Sunday at the Los Angeles Lakers.The Warriors shot 48.2 percent, including 50 percent from 3-point range, and got 11 points apiece from reserves Harrison Barnes and Jordan Crawford.Golden State went ahead 91-77 with 4:54 remaining, but the Bulls still gave Golden State a brief scare late.Tony Snell and Jimmy Butler each hit a 3, and Butler followed with a pair of free throws that brought the Bulls to 91-85. Then Crawford rattled in a 3-pointer, and Butler and Curry traded baskets to keep the Warriors in control.Joakim Noah finished with a career-high 11 assists to go with 10 rebounds and seven points, and Butler scored 14 for the Bulls, who outrebounded Golden State 45 to 39 but committed 17 turnovers. The Bulls (24-25) shot 41.6 percent.

Walt Lemon Jr. scored 21 points, including 18 in the second half, as Bradley topped Loyola 63-54 Thursday for its first road victory of the year and 1,600th win in program history.Auston Barnes’ basket with 4:09 left in the game gave Bradley (10-14, 5-6 Missouri Valley) a 51-48 lead, and Tyshon Pickett hit a big 3-pointer with 3:04 remaining to extend the lead to 54-48.The Braves closed the game on a 9-4 run, hitting 7 of 10 free throws over the final 1:43 to pull away from Loyola (8-15, 3-8).Bradley trailed 28-26 at half before Lemon scored the first four points after the break and recorded 10 second-half points less than 5 minutes into the period.Pickett had 13 points and nine rebounds while Omari Grier added 11.Milton Doyle had 16 points and eight rebounds to lead the Ramblers. Devon Turk added 13 points.

ANAHEIM—Corey Crawford made 29 saves in his first shutout of the season, and the Blackhawks pulled within one point of Anaheim for the overall NHL lead with a 2-0 victory over the Ducks on Wednesday night.Marian Hossa scored in the second period and captain Jonathan Toews added a late goal for the defending Stanley Cup champion Blackhawks, who improved to 3-0-2 on their six-game trip before the Olympic break.Jonas Hiller stopped 23 shots for the Ducks, who have lost four of five. Anaheim also has lost four of its last seven home games after starting the season 20-0-2 at Honda Center.The two teams had 15 combined Olympians on the Honda Center ice, including five key members of the Canadian team headed to Sochi. In addition, Johnny Oduya, of ther Swedish Olympic tyeam was scratched.The Hawks followed up its victory in Los Angeles two days ago with another solid effort against the Ducks, suggesting the defending champs are hitting their stride right before Sochi.The Blackhawks also took two of three from Anaheim to wrap up the Western Conference powers’ season series. The Hawks (35-10-14, 84 points) is right behind Anaheim (40-14-5, 85 points) with one game left before the break.The Blackhawks mostly did it with defense, a minor surprise in a meeting between two of the NHL’s highest-scoring teams. Crawford turned away every chance generated by the Ducks, who hadn’t been shut out in their first 56 games this season before getting blanked twice in their last three games by the Hawks and Dallas.Toews wrapped it up with 2:31 to play with a slippery move off the wall. After Hossa grabbed a turnover by Cam Fowler, Toews went to the middle and put a shot underneath Hiller’s left arm for his 19th goal.Anaheim improved its effort from recent games, yet struggled mightily to get clean scoring chances. The Ducks had a 15-3 shots edge early on, but couldn’t score during 40 seconds of 5-on-3 play in the scoreless first period.Just 39 seconds into the second period, Hossa sneaked into Anaheim’s defense and beat Hiller for his 24th goal. The Slovak Olympian also had two goals in the Hawks win over the Ducks last month.The Blackhawks matched the Ducks’ effort after the midway point of the game. Anaheim’s Daniel Winnik had an outstanding short-handed chance in the slot in the third period, but couldn’t settle a bouncing puck in time.

NOTES—Oduya missed his first game of the season with a lower-body injury. The Blackhawks didn’t immediately elaborate on the seriousness of his injury. … Hossa has scored in five consecutive games.

GREEN BAY—Keifer Sykes scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds as Wisconsin-Green Bay defeated UIC 81-70 Wednesday night in a matchup of the Horizon League’s first- and last-place teams.Sykes scored 15 points in the second half as UWGB struggled to pull away from the Flames after leading by three at halftime. The Flames were down eight with 2:28 left but the Phoenix used five free throws and baskets by Sykes and Carrington Love to prevail.Alec Brown led the Phoenix (19-4, 9-1) with 20 points while Love added 13. The Phoenix shot 41 free throws, making 26. UWGB shot 51 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Flames 41-32 and blocked 11 shots.Jordan Harks led the Flames (5-19, 0-10) with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Pat Birt added 16 points and Marc Brown 11.The Phoenix defeated the Flames in the Pavilion 69-64 on Jan. 19. UIC has now lost 13 straight.

NORMAL—Bobby Hunter scored 17 points and grabbed three rebounds as Illinois State defeated Northern Iowa 76-65 on Wednesday night.Daishon Knight had 15 points and four rebounds for the Redbirds (13-10, 6-5 Missouri Valley Conference). Zach Lofton came off the bench to score 14 with five rebounds and three assists and Jamaal Samuel added 10 points.ISU had a 34-31 advantage at halftime but Northern Iowa mounted a 17-2 run – capped by a Knight 3-pointer – early in the second period to go up 50-41 with 12:09 remaining. The Panthers came back to within four with 5:35 left but the Redbirds responded with an 18-11 run to finish the game.Matt Bohannon had 19 points and four rebounds for the Panthers (11-12, 5-6). Seth Tuttle added 15 points and 10 rebounds.