AUBURN HILLS—The Bulls didn’t get a great night from their starters Wednesday. Their backups made sure they didn’t need one.Reserves D.J. Augustin and Taj Gibson combined for 48 points on 18-of-30 shooting as the Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons 105-94 for their fifth victory in six games. The Bulls led by one point going into the fourth, but Augustin and Gibson had 20 of his team’s 34 in the fourth.

“A lot of guys are stepping up on this team right now,” Gibson said. “Everyone is working hard and helping in whatever way we need. The guys are just focused on the team right now.”

Both coaches went with seven-man rotations for most of the game, but Bulls duo completely outmatched Rodney Stuckey and Will Bynum. They finished with 12 points on 5-of-20 shooting, including a 1-for-11 night from Bynum.

“Will played his heart out, just like he always does,” Pistons coach John Loyer said. “He gives us everything he’s got every night, but there are going to be some games where the ball just rolls off the rim. They’ve got two very good players coming off the bench — Gibson has done that all year for them and Augustin has been like that since he got to Chicago.”

Joakim Noah finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists for his sixth career triple-double, including two in the last three games and three in the last month, while Jimmy Butler had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

“Jo’s our leader, and a triple-double is nothing to him,” Butler said. “We are starting to expect that from him. He does so many things well that it makes it easier for the rest of us.”

Greg Monroe led Detroit with 27 points, but the Pistons struggled all night to get anything going from the outside. They took 34 shots from outside the paint, and only hit nine (26.5 percent), including 2-of-11 on 3-pointers. In contrast, the Bulls hit 46.7 percent from outside.Detroit led for most of the second quarter, but appeared to get rattled by an official’s decision. Smith was driving for a layup that would have made it 43-34, but the shot was blocked by Mike Dunleavy. Smith didn’t get back on defense, staying near the basket to argue the call, and Jimmy Butler got an easy alley-oop dunk at the other end.Smith was then called for a technical, and Augustin hit the free throw to make it a four-point game.The Bulls scored the next four points to tie the game, and a technical called on Loyer with 3.7 seconds left in the half helped the Bulls take a 52-47 lead at the intermission.The Pistons narrowed the gap to 71-70 in the third quarter, but Augustin and Gibson kept scoring off the bench to help the Bulls stay in front. Augustin’s three-point play early in the fourth keyed an 11-2 run to start the period, putting the Bulls up by 10.

“We talk about how we want to finish games, and we were real strong coming out for the fourth,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Our defense was strong, and our ball movement was good. Hitting the open guy makes a big difference.”

Augustin wasn’t finished, either. His 3-pointer gave the Bulls a 15-point lead with six minutes to go, and the Pistons never threatened down the stretch.

“They just outplayed us in the fourth quarter,” Andre Drummond said. “They are a very disciplined team that prides itself on defense. We hung with them for three quarters, but they ran their offense in the fourth quarter and outexecuted us.”

NOTES—Noah was wearing a split on his right thumb in the locker room after the game for an undisclosed injury. More information is expected later on Thursday…..Loyer’s technical at the end of the first was called in a highly unusual manner. Loyer was discussing a call with official Olandis Poole, who showed no indication of calling anything, but John Goble rang him up from 30 feet away. … Gibson and Brandon Jennings picked up technicals arguing calls in the second half. Gibson left the game with 3:39 to play after rolling his right ankle, but returned moments later. … IndyCar champion Scott Dixon was honored during the first half as part of a promotion for the Detroit Grand Prix.

Tyson Barrie scored a tiebreaking power-play goal with 7:10 left in the third period, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Blackhawks 4-2 on Tuesday night for their third straight win.The Avalanche reached the 40-victory mark faster than any team in franchise history. They also improved to 3-1 against the Blackhawks this season and moved within one point of the Stanley Cup champions for second in the Central Division.Barrie got open in the left circle and one-timed Erik Johnson’s perfect cross-ice feed high past Corey Crawford on the glove side. It was Barrie’s second game-winner against the Blackhawks this season, following an overtime goal against the Blackhawks on Jan. 14.Paul Stastny completed the scoring with an empty-netter with 32.6 seconds left. Rookie Nathan MacKinnon got an assist on Stastny’s 20th goal, extending his point streak to 12 games, tying Wayne Gretzky’s record for an 18-year-old set in 1979-80.Ryan O’Reilly and Maxime Talbot also scored for the Avalanche, who are 17-6-1 in a 24-game stretch dating to New Year’s Eve. O’Reilly has three goals and three assists in his last four games.Ben Smith and Jonathan Toews scored for the Hawks, who where without veteran forward Marian Hossa. Toews has three goals in his last two games.Hossa left Saturday night’s 5-1 victory over Pittsburgh at Soldier Field with an upper-body injury and is expected to miss two to three weeks. Brandon Saad moved up again to take Hossa’s spot on the right side of the Hawks top line with center Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp.

CHAMPAIGN—Nik Stauskas scored 24 points and No. 12 Michigan shot 70 percent from the 3-point line to win its first Big Ten title outright since 1986 with an 84-53 victory over Illinois on Tuesday night.The Wolverines (22-7, 14-3 Big Ten) were 16 of 23 from 3-point range, including Stauskas’ career-high seven.Michigan had the game in hand by halftime with a 52-30 lead. The Wolverines hit five straight 3-pointers midway through the half to break the game open. The 15-point run turned widened Michigan’s 20-17 lead to a comfortable 32-17.Caris LeVert added 15 points for Michigan.The Illini (17-13, 6-11) had won three straight and had held four straight opponents to fewer than 50 points. The loss was their worst at home in the 51-year history of the arena now called the State Farm Center.Rayvonte Rice led Illinois with 16 points.

VALPARAISO—UIC’s worst Division 1 season is now history. Alec Peters scored 29 points and No. 4 seed Valparaiso topped the ninth-seeded Flames 73-63 Tuesday in the first round of the Horizon League tournament.Peters scored eight points during an 18-5 run as Valparaiso (18-14) opened a 31-18 lead, en route to a 39-28 halftime advantage.UIC (6-25) cut the deficit to 59-56 with 6:29 remaining. But the Crusaders scored the next four points as Peters made a free throw before LaVonte Dority added three free throws less than a minute later for a 63-56 lead.Valparaiso made 8 of 10 free throws in the final minute to preserve the win. Dority joined Peters in double figures with 12 points.Marc Brown led UIC with 16 points. Jordan Harks added 14 points and nine rebounds while Kelsey Barlow had 11 points and nine rebounds.Valpo will play fifth-seeded Milwaukee in a quarterfinal matchup Friday.

NEW YORK—Jason Collins started walking from the bench to the scorer’s table, fans rising out of their seats all around Barclays Center.He committed a foul five seconds after entering. His only shot barely hit the rim.Collins’ performance may not have been pretty, but everything else was great.Collins played the final minutes of a winning home debut with the Brooklyn Nets, who cooled off the Chicago Bulls with a 96-80 victory Monday night.

”It was cool. It was a lot of fun to go into the game,” Collins said. ”The most important thing was that we got the win. Chicago’s been playing really well as of late and for us to come out and really be — I think we played more physical than they did tonight.”

Finally playing at home more than a week after returning to the NBA as the league’s first openly gay player, Collins checked in to a standing ovation from a sellout crowd of 17,732 that included former NBA Commissioner David Stern with 2:41 remaining. He grabbed a rebound and had one of the Nets’ NBA season high-tying 19 steals in their third straight victory.Deron Williams scored 20 points and Joe Johnson had 19 for the Nets (29-29), who got back to .500 for the first time since they were 2-2 after beating Utah on Nov. 5.D.J. Augustin scored 16 points off the bench for the sloppy Bulls, who turned it over 28 times, leading to 30 Nets points, and had their four-game winning streak snapped.The Bulls had a franchise-low three turnovers in their 109-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday and had won nine of 10.But the Nets were too good in this one, building a series of comfortable leads and making the only intrigue down the stretch whether Collins would get in during his first home appearance for the Nets since Jan. 29, 2008, against Milwaukee in East Rutherford, N.J. A chant of ”Jason Collins! Jason Collins!” broke out while Williams was shooting a free throw with the Nets leading 90-73 with 3:27 remaining. Fans finally got their wish less than a minute later — though not because coach Jason Kidd was listening to them.

”No, the game was out of hand, so I wanted to get those guys some rest,” he said. ”D-Will was shooting free throws. Couldn’t put Twin in at that time, so I told him after the free throws that he would come in.”

Collins’ original 10-day contract will expire Tuesday and the Nets plan to sign him to a second deal on Wednesday. A Nets player from 2001-08, he has appeared in all five games since he signed on Feb. 23.Paul Pierce and Shaun Livingston each scored 14 points for the Nets, who were without starting center Kevin Garnett for a second straight game because of back spasms.

”Mentally, the Bulls have really had our numbers,” Pierce said. ”To be honest, if I was them I’d feel like when they come play the Nets, they feel like they could beat us every time. I think the guys really had pride tonight to say, `You know we’re tired of getting pushed around by the Bulls.”’

Joakim Noah managed just 10 points, six rebounds and one assist for the Bulls, a day after finishing with 13 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in his fifth career triple-double. The All-Star center rolled his right ankle early in the second half of that game and said it hurt after the game, but he was determined to play Monday in his hometown.The Bulls had dominated the first two meetings and beaten the Nets four straight times, but Brooklyn controlled this one most of the way in improving to 12-2 at home since the Bulls rout here on Christmas Day.

”We smashed them in the mouth twice, it’s never going to be easy to come in to tough-minded team and do it again,” Bulls forward Taj Gibson said.

The Nets scored the first eight points, the last one on Williams’ free throw after Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau screamed his way to a technical foul after calling time. Their lead grew to 15, but the Bulls trimmed it to 27-18 by the end of the first quarter.Brooklyn led 50-42 at halftime, and the Bulls started the second half just as bad as the first. The Nets scored the first seven to take a 57-42 lead when Williams set up Mason Plumlee for a dunk.

”I think we had all intentions to play hard, but like I say, it didn’t show,” Augustin said. ”Being down early, you can’t come start the game down, you can’t start the second half down, so that was our big mistakes, and then the turnovers killed us.”

NOTES—The Nets’ 19 steals were their most since finishing with 20 against Indiana on March 21, 1989. … Brooklyn hadn’t scored more than 23 points in a period against the Bulls this season and surpassed that in both the first (27) and third (26).

The Bulls were open all over the floor, so Joakim Noah kept collecting assists. Jumpers for Jimmy Butler and Kirk Hinrich. A dunk for Taj Gibson, another jumper for Butler, and on and on it went.The All-Star center put on quite a show.Noah had 14 assists in his fifth career triple-double, leading the streaking Bulls to a 109-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Sunday.

“It’s really all my teammates,” he said. “I think we’re getting better every game.”

Noah also had 13 points and 12 rebounds in his second triple-double of the season, but it was his deft passing that really stood out. It was the most assists by an NBA center since at least the 1985-86 season and a franchise record for his position.

“What can you say? He is playing MVP basketball,” Gibson said. “He is doing everything in all facets of the game.”

Chicago had seven players score in double figures and set a franchise record by committing only three turnovers in its ninth win in the past 10 games. The Bulls also reached 100 points for the fourth consecutive game for the first time since Oct. 30-Nov. 5, 2010.D.J. Augustin had 21 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter as the Bulls (33-26) improved to 21-8 since Jan. 1 and a season-high seven games above .500 overall. Butler scored 19 points and Carlos Boozer had 14.

“We’ve hit a stretch where we have guys that are healthy playing that I think they know what to expect from each other,” coach Tom Thibodeau said. “I think they’re playing to their strengths.”

While the Bulls are galloping through the weak Eastern Conference, the Knicks are floundering.Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points and Tyson Chandler had 22 rebounds, but New York dropped its sixth consecutive game. The Knicks (21-39) are just 6-16 since Jan. 14.

“It’s embarrassing,” Anthony said. “It’s frustrating and it’s embarrassing.”

Swingman Iman Shumpert had three points on 1-for-6 shooting in his return to the lineup. He missed five games after he sprained the medial collateral ligament in his left knee during New York’s 98-91 victory over New Orleans on Feb. 19.Noah rolled his right ankle at the beginning of the second half and got it re-taped before coming back in at the start of the fourth quarter. He heard more chants of “M-V-P! M-V-P!” when he went 1 for 2 at the line to make it 89-70 with 9:26 to go.There were more loud cheers when Jimmer Fredette checked in with 3:08 left after joining the Bulls earlier in the day. The sharp-shooting guard drilled a long jumper on his first shot, making it 107-83 with 2:16 remaining.Fredette, the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft, was bought out by Sacramento on Thursday and cleared waivers on Saturday. His contract with the Bulls covers the rest of the season.

“It was great. I mean, these guys did a great job the whole game and got a big lead and I was able to get into the game,” Fredette said.

Led by Noah, the Bulls jumped all over the Knicks right at the start. He capped the Bulls opening 16-1 run with a driving layup and rebound tip-in.It just kept getting worse for New York, which shot 32 percent from the field in the first quarter. Butler scored 10 points and also found Gibson for a big dunk as the Bulls jumped to a 37-16 lead, setting a season high for points for the opening period.

“They came out with more energy than we did, took advantage of us,” Chandler said. “On the defensive end, backdoor cuts that pretty much changed the game.”

The lead grew to 25 early in the second before Anthony and Amare Stoudemire started to heat up. Anthony made a nice pass to Stoudemire for a reverse layup that got New York within nine with 3:33 to go.Anthony drove the baseline for a smooth jam, but Noah found Butler for a jumper that lifted the Bulls to a 59-48 halftime lead. Noah had 11 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds at the break.

“You can’t come on the road and start like that and expect to win,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said.

Notes—Anthony has said he plans to become a free agent this summer, and there was at least one sign calling on him to come to Chicago. “I can’t see next year,” Anthony said. “I can’t even see tomorrow at this point.”…Stoudemire and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 14 points apiece for New York…..The Bulls improved to 14-2 this season when they score 100 or more points….The Bulls and Knicks have one more scheduled meeting, on April 13 in New York.

The swirling snow and frigid conditions made it even more fun for Jonathan Toews and the  Blackhawks.Toews had two goals and an assist at a picturesque Soldier Field, and the Blackhawks beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-1 on Saturday night in the finale of the NHL Stadium Series.Patrick Sharp scored in the first period and Patrick Kane set up Kris Versteeg’s 100th career goal in the second, helping the Hawks to tgheir first win since Feb. 5 at Anaheim. The reigning Stanley Cup champions dropped their final game before the Olympic break, and then lost 2-1 at the New York Rangers on Thursday night.James Neal was credited with Pittsburgh’s only goal when Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook sent the puck into his own net at 6:21 of the third. Marc-Andre Fleury had 35 saves in the Penguins’ third straight loss, matching a season high.The crowd of 62,921, dressed from head to toe in several layers, usually topped by their favorite jersey, roared when the Penguins and Blackhawks emerged from separate tunnels before the game. The players were greeted by rows of fireworks and shooting flames that sent clouds of smoke into the falling snow.The flakes came down in waves for most of the first period, floating in circles in front of the upper deck before eventually descending. The small ice crew tried its best to keep up, but it was fighting an impossible battle, and inches of snow piled up on the surface between breaks in the action.Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith tried to play the puck forward at one point in the first, but only got part of it and it sledded to a stop a few feet away.The winter wonderland made life difficult on the star-studded teams, full of Olympians and other All-Stars. It also provided a prime-time showcase for considerable skills of Toews, who teamed with Pittsburgh center Sidney Crosby to lead Canada to the gold medal in the Sochi Games last weekend.Toews and Crosby had never played against each other in an NHL regular-season game.First, Toews found Sharp for a slap shot that went over Fleury’s right shoulder and off the left post at 15:35 of the first, giving the Hawks a 1-0 lead. Then, Toews made an outstanding move on Pittsburgh defenseman Brooks Orpik before sliding a backhander between Fleury’s legs for his 20th goal at 10:47 of the second.Toews celebrated the goal by skating over to the Blackhawks bench and jumping into his delirious teammates.Kane added his own flashy play, making a perfect pass to Versteeg for a goalmouth tip-in that made it 3-0 at 16:43. Versteeg ended an 11-game scoring drought by scoring at a third Chicago sports venue, joining Wrigley Field in the 2009 Winter Classic and the United Center.Neal cut the lead to 3-1 in the third, but Bryan Bickell added his ninth goal at 13:57 before Toews finished the scoring with 2:08 to go.Corey Crawford had 31 stops for the Blackhawks, who lost forward Marian Hossa to an  injury in the first period.It was unclear when exactly Hossa was injured. He took a hard hit from Penguins forward Craig Adams during the Hawks second power play of the first period.

NOTES—The temperature was 17 degrees at puck drop. … Blackhawks general manager Stan Bowman indicated before the game that his team likely would stand pat ahead of Wednesday’s NHL trade deadline. “We’ve got a great group here,” he said. “Lot of chemistry with our guys.” … Penguins C Brandon Sutter was hit in the face by the puck midway through the second, but returned to the game. … Blackhawks D Michal Rozsival was shaken up after he was punched in the upper chest by Penguins F Chris Kunitz in the second, but he also came back after a short break. … It’s the Penguins’ third three-game losing streak of the season. … The NHL’s last outdoor game of the season is Sunday in Vancouver, when the Canucks play the Ottawa Senators in the Heritage Classic at B.C. Place Stadium.

EAST LANSING—Tracy Abrams scored 12 points, leading Illinois to a 53-46 win over No. 18 Michigan State on Saturday.The Fighting Illini (17-12, 6-10 Big Ten) have three straight victories for the first time since winning four in a row from Dec. 21 to Jan. 4. That successful stretch included a win over then-No. 23 Missouri.The Spartans (22-7, 11-5) have dropped two straight and six of their last 10 games. They were full strength for the first time in nearly two months, but simply weren’t good enough to beat a streaking team that seemed more inspired.Branden Dawson returned from a broken hand and played for the first time since Jan. 21, when he helped Michigan State beat Indiana to improve to 18-1 overall and 7-0 in conference.Michigan State’s Gary Harris had 19 points, and didn’t get much help from his teammates.The Spartans scored a season-low 46 points — five fewer than they had two weeks ago in a nine-point loss to Nebraska. They made 39 percent of their shots and had only one player with more than seven points.Adreian Payne, who averages 16-plus points, had just four points. Freshman forward Gavin Schilling matched his career high with seven points.Illinois, meanwhile, had a trio of double-digit scorers and made nearly 48 percent of its shots. Malcom Hill and Rayvonte Rice each had 10 points.The Illini took advantage of a call that went their way and enraged Michigan State coach Tom Izzo — and appeared to rattle his players.Harris had a steal and a layup waved off because the officials decided a shot-clock violation happened before the turnover.Instead of the basket pulling the Spartans within a point, its deficit stayed at three and quickly grew to six points.The Illini won at Michigan State for the first time since March 3, 2006, and beat a ranked Big Ten team for the first time since Feb. 10, 2013, when they knocked off No. 18 Minnesota.

LINCOLN—Shavon Shields had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead Nebraska, which took a 10-point lead with 7 minutes left and held on to defeat Northwestern 54-47 Saturday.With the win, Nebraska (17-11, 9-7 Big Ten) is guaranteed a top-six finish and .500 conference record, both Big Ten firsts for the Huskers, now in their third season in the conference. Nebraska won nine conference games for the first time since 1998-99 and only the 10th time since World War II.Northwestern (12-17, 5-11) has now lost six straight games, a streak that began with a 53-49 loss to Nebraska on Feb. 8.Nebraska took the lead 3 1/2 minutes into the game and never trailed thereafter. Northwestern cut the lead to 31-30 on Drew Crawford’s 3-pointer with 11:46 remaining.A three-point play by Shields triggered a 13-4 Nebraska run that he capped with a pair of free throws to make the score 44-34 with 7 minutes left.Nebraska’s largest lead came on another Shields three-point play that put the Huskers up 49-38 with 3:49 left.Northwestern’s Alex Olah, who finished with 20 points, then scored six straight to pull the Wildcats to within five. After a Nebraska basket, Crawford’s 3-pointer cut the Nebraska lead to four at 51-47.Nebraska’s Benny Parker took a charge from Northwestern’s Sanjay Lumpkin to get the ball back for the Huskers with 30 seconds remaining. Shields made 1 of 2 free throws, then closed the scoring with a breakaway dunk with 5 seconds left.Neither team shot the ball well. Nebraska finished at 37 percent from the floor, NU at 33 percent.Joining Shields in double figures for Nebraska were Terran Petteway and Walter Pitchford with 10 points each.Crawford finished with 11 for Northwestern and Tre Demps added 10.

AJ Pacher scored 16 points to lead Wright State to a 68-61 win over UIC on Saturday.Matt Vest added 11 points for the Raiders (18-13, 10-6 Horizon League), who shot 50 percent and had assists on 17 of their 23 field goals.Kelsey Barlow had 16 points for the Flames (6-24, 1-15), who ended a 17-game losing their in the last outing. Jordan Harks contributed 13 points and Pat Birt had 12 off the bench.UIC was up 52-49 with 7:45 to play when the Raiders scored eight straight, four after turnovers. The Flames were within three with 30 seconds left but missed two 3’s after a Wright State turnover. Mark Howell and Reggie Arceneaux each made two free throws to ice it.The Flames did not score a field goal after the 8:30 mark, scoring their last 11 points from the fine line to finish 25 of 29.The Flames will be the 9th(and bottom)seed for the Horizon League Post Season Tournament.