BOSTON—Notre Dame made itself at home in Boston College territory.Taking over Fenway Park for a far-flung home game, the fifth-ranked Fighting Irish spent most of it on the BC side of the field, overcoming five turnovers to beat the Eagles 19-16 on Saturday night.The Irish (10-1, No. 4 College Football Playoff) have won six in a row since a two-point loss to top-ranked Clemson. If not for three turnovers inside the BC 5-yard line, this one wouldn’t have been close.DeShone Kizer completed 20 of 38 passes for 320 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Chris Brown caught six passes for 104 yards, and Amir Carlisle had seven catches for 97 yards. C.J. Prosise ran eight times for 57 yards to reach the 1,000-yard milestone before leaving the game with an injury in the second quarter.BC quarterback Jeff Smith ran for 100 yards, breaking free for an 80-yard run to make it 19-9 with about 10 minutes to play. He also hit Charlie Callinan from 3 yards out to make it 19-16 with 54 seconds left.The Eagles (3-8) attempted an onside kick, but Irish safety Matthias Farley fell on the ball to clinch it and send BC to its seventh straight loss.Although the century-old ballpark is just a few T stops from Boston College’s Chestnut Hill campus, Notre Dame was officially the home team as part of the ”Shamrock Series” – an effort to stay in touch with out-of-town alumni.Previous scores in those games took the place of the AL East standings on Fenway’s Green Monster, and the results of games involving teams in the College Football Playoff hunt were displayed on where the baseball scores usually are.The field was laid out from the third-base line to the right-field bullpens, with the yard markers and end zones decorated in the old-style font of the Red Sox.The evening begin with a moment of silence for the parents of former BC quarterback Doug Flutie, who died of heart attacks within an hour of each other on Wednesday. The Notre Dame band played ”America the Beautiful” and ”The Star-Spangled Banner,” with the American flag draped over the Green Monster.The Irish came out of the Boston dugout, where their iconic ”Play Like a Champion Today” sign was hung. (Receiver Torii Hunter Jr., whose father and namesake played against the Red Sox for the Tigers, Twins and Angels, was given David Ortiz’s locker in the clubhouse.) Kizer was picked off in the BC end zone on Notre Dame’s opening possession. He threw another interception at the Eagles’ 3 and another near midfield. Notre Dame also coughed up the ball at the Eagles’ 3 and at the BC 32.The Irish even fumbled on their only touchdown drive of the first half, but escaped when center Nick Martin fell on the ball. They extended the drive again when Justin Yoon’s 44-yard field goal attempt hit the right upright, but the Eagles were called for roughing the kicker.Two plays later, Kizer hit Carlisle for a 10-yard score to make it 10-0. Notre Dame made it 16-3 in the third quarter when Kizer connected with Brown from 12 yards out on a jump ball in the corner of the end zone, right in front of the visitors’ dugout on what is usually the third-base line.Yoon’s second field goal made it 19-3.Smith, who took over in the third quarter for John Fadule, cut through the line and outran the defense for an 80-yard score. A delay of game penalty put the 2-point conversion attempt at the 8-yard line, and Smith’s pass sailed out of the end zone incomplete.

MINNEAPOLIS—Minnesota’s injury-ravaged roster has forced several true freshmen into earlier-than-expected contributing roles.Shannon Brooks and his fellow rookies have been a big help this season, let alone the foundation they’ve given the Gophers.Brooks rushed for 174 yards and three touchdowns, including a 75-yard romp into the end zone with 1:25 remaining for Minnesota to seal a 32-23 victory over Illinois on Saturday.Mitch Leidner threw a third-and-goal touchdown pass to Rashad Still with 5 seconds left before halftime, helping the Golden Gophers (5-6, 2-5 Big Ten) stop a four-game losing streak and stay in contention for a postseason game.Malik Turner caught 11 passes for 126 yards and a touchdown from Wes Lunt for the Fighting Illini (5-6, 2-5), who outgained the Gophers 432-343 in total yardage and had the ball for more than two-thirds of the second half. ”They’re a good football team. We’ve just got to keep fighting,” Lunt said. The Gophers have won 11 of the last 15 games in this series, including five of the last seven. They gave coach Tracy Claeys his first victory in four games since he took over following Jerry Kill’s sudden retirement.Both teams, now, will need to beat their biggest rivals next week to become bowl eligible. Illinois plays Northwestern at Soldier Field, which is officially a home game for the Illini, and Minnesota hosts Wisconsin. Only seven Big Ten teams have reached the six-win mark yet. ”Everybody’s really upset,” interim coach Bill Cubit said. ”But I told them you’ve got one more shot.” Taylor Zalewski’s third field goal of the game brought the Illini within one point with 6:56 remaining, and the Gophers were forced to punt for a third time in the second half. The Illini took over with a one-point deficit and less than five minutes left at the 16, and an 11-yard sack by Julian Huff pushed them back.After a screen pass that gained 2 yards on third-and-21 and then a punt by the Illini, the Gophers got the ball back. Brooks took care of the rest. Leidner ran in for the 2-point conversion to put the game out of reach.That group includes Brooks, Huff, center Tyler Moore and cornerback KiAnte Hardin, who had knocked down a pass in the end zone on third down and returned a kickoff 60 yards that set up Ryan Santoso’s 46-yard field goal in the third quarter. ”This will pay off big time in the future years,” Claeys said. The kickoff temperature of 22 degrees was the third-lowest in seven seasons for the Gophers at TCF Bank Stadium. The record was Nov. 15, 2014, a 15-degree kickoff against Ohio State.Josh Ferguson had 105 yards on 20 carries to move into eighth place on the all-time rushing list for Illinois, passing Pierre Thomas, Rashard Mendenhall and Howard Griffith.Lunt, who leads the conference in completions despite a rash of drops by his receivers, found Turner open on third down for a 13-yard touchdown pass for the lead in the first quarter. Lunt’s short touchdown pass to Andrew Davis cut the lead to 21-20 in the third quarter.The Gophers capped a crisp first half with a 15-play, 74-yard drive that ended with Leidner’s pivot right on third down for a perfect 1-yard fade pass to Still at the edge of the end zone to give them a 21-13 lead. That was the offense’s 10th touchdown in a seven-quarter span.Turning a first-and-goal at the 1 into a touchdown was a relief for the Gophers and their fans, who gave away a golden chance to beat Michigan in similar albeit more dramatic fashion here on Oct. 31.

OAKLAND—Until a couple of games ago, Stephen Curry really hadn’t thought much about making more NBA history.Now, Curry and the Golden State Warriors are right on the cusp of adding another accomplishment in an incredible year.Curry scored 27 points and the defending champions moved within one victory of matching the best start in NBA history, holding off the Bulls 106-94 on Friday night to improve to 14-0.The league’s last undefeated team ran its franchise-record home winning streak to 26 games by beating a Bulls team that is the last to win at Oracle Arena during the regular season, way back in late January. Golden State did so with its third tough game in four nights, too. ”It’s a goal that’s right here and now and it’s something that we want to experience,” Curry said. ”It’d be a huge accomplishment because doing something that hasn’t been done in the history of the league is special. You never know if this opportunity will come back again. There are so many variables that go into winning this many in a row, especially the start of the season.” Golden State equaled the 1957-58 Celtics as the only defending champions to win their initial 14 games. The Warriors are one of five teams in NBA history to begin 14-0, and will travel to Denver looking to keep it going Sunday.Harrison Barnes added 20 points and nine rebounds for the Warriors in a game featuring 18 lead changes and 17 ties.Jimmy Butler had 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for the Bulls in the second game of a four-game road trip. ”We understand how hard you have to play in order to win in this league, and everybody has bought into that,” Butler said. Kirk Hinrich hit a tying 3-pointer with 5:44 to go only to see Curry knock one down moments later to put his team back up 92-89.A day after rallying from a 23-point deficit to beat the rival Clippers in Los Angeles 124-117 – the biggest comeback in the NBA this season – Golden State overcame another slow start.The Bulls led by 10 in the first before the Warriors roared back and got the sellout crowd at Oracle Arena rocking on Curry’s over-the-head lob pass to Andre Iguodala for a dunk.The Bulls’ 113-111 overtime win on Jan. 27 snapped Golden State’s then-franchise record 19-game home winning streak. It was one of only two regular-season home losses last season.Interim coach Luke Walton reminded his players of that loss before the game.If Golden State gets by Denver to move to 15-0, it will have a chance to break the record Tuesday night back home against the Lakers.The Washington Capitols in 1948-49 and Houston Rockets in `93-94 are the other teams to start 15-0. NOTES—Golden State stressed during the preseason starting fast and shutting down on defense early to set the tone.Yet the Warriors were allowing 34 points in the first quarter their previous three games, including 41 to the Clippers on Thursday night….Traffic to get into Oracle Arena was unusually busy more than 2 1/2 hours before tipoff as fans rushed to get in line for the replica NBA championship trophy giveaway….Included in the crowd: The San Francisco 49ers defensive line before the team travels Saturday to Seattle….Aaron Brooks missed the game with a left hamstring injury coach Fred Hoiberg said ”may hold him out for a little bit of an extended time,” and ”at least the next couple games.” … Warriors GM Bob Myers was Hoiberg’s agent during the former guard’s playing days. They had a ”very brief discussion” about Hoiberg coaching Golden State before Steve Kerr got the job, Hoiberg said…..Golden State is 19-4 in the second game of back-to-backs dating to last season (4-0 this season). … Leandro Barbosa returned from the flu a night earlier and Livingston played for the first time in three games after being sidelined with a strained left hip flexor….The Bulls visit Portland on Tuesday.

CALGARY—Johnny Gaudreau had a highlight-reel goal 1:38 into overtime and the Calgary Flames beat the Blackhawks 2-1 on Friday night to remain perfect in overtime games.Calgary has won five times in six games that went to extra time, with the lone loss coming in its only shootout.The Flames dominated the overtime and finally solved goalie Scott Darling with their sixth shot of the period. Gaudreau chased down his own rebound and then went backhand-to-forehand to beat Darling from in tight.Sean Monahan also scored and Karri Ramo made 18 saves to help Calgary win consecutive games for just the second time this season. The Flames have won four straight at the Saddledome. They open a three-game Pacific trip Tuesday night in Arizona.Artem Anisimov scored his eighth and Darling made 35 stops, but the Blackhawks had their three-game win streak halted.Patrick Kane‘s points streak ended at 14 games.The two teams were playing for the second time in less than a week. The Hawks won 4-1 at the United Center last Sunday.Tied 1-1 after 40 minutes, Calgary was the better team in the third, piling up 10 shots on goal before the Hawks got their first one 11:30 into the period.However, despite a 14-4 edge on the period and 31-19 advantage at the end of regulation, the game remained tied. Calgary opened the scoring on Monahan’s seventh goal with 4:55 left when he backhanded a shot past Darling, who got his stick tangled up in Mason Raymond‘s equipment.Joel Quenneville challenged the call for goaltender interference, but it was upheld.The Blackhawks answered back less than 2 minutes later on another goal that would be challenged for the same reason but also was upheld.Brent Seabrook‘s shot was stopped by Ramo, but Anisimov, directly in front of Ramo, spun and fired in the rebound.Ramo had the best save of the game in the first period. With the Hawks buzzing around the Flames net, Marcus Kruger sent a backhand toward the empty net when Ramo, while lying on his stomach, threw up his blocker arm and knocked it out of the air.Making his 10th start in a row, Ramo improved 6-7-0. Notes—Flames defenseman Kris Russell (upper body) exited the game in the first period. … Jiri Hudler (ill) did not play for Calgary. That meant Raymond got a chance to play for the first time in six games. … The Hawks were without Marko Dano (ill) and Teuvo Teravainen (upper body). … Calgary has now scored first 13 times, tied for the league lead. … At 1-0-1 after two stops, the Hawks six-game trip continues Saturday night in Vancouver.

EVANSTON—Northwestern survived a pretty difficult challenge on Friday night.They’re getting an even tougher test Monday.Bryant McIntosh scored a career-high 32 points, and Northwestern rallied to beat the Columbia Lions 83-80 in overtime on Friday night. Tre Demps’ 3-pointer with 59 seconds left in overtime gave the Wildcats a 4-point lead after they had trailed by 12 during the second half.Friday was Northwestern’s third straight home game against teams outside the power conferences, but the Wildcats figure to get a much steeper challenge on Monday when they travel to Kansas City, Missouri to face top-ranked North Carolina in the CBE Hall of Fame Classic. After that, they’ll face either Missouri or Kansas State.Coach Chris Collins, who previously worked as an assistant at North Carolina’s arch-rival Duke, chuckled while saying Monday’s game is ”going to be pretty challenging.” ”They’re one of the best. They have been forever,” Collins said. ”They have a great team, they have a veteran team.” At least the Wildcats can go into that matchup with some momentum after beating Columbia.Grant Mullins made two free throws for the Lions with 47 seconds left in overtime, and then McIntosh restored the Wildcats’ 4-point lead with a long 2-pointer with 24 seconds to go. Mullins made two more free throws and Northwestern’s Aaron Falzon split two, allowing Columbia a chance to send the game to double overtime, but the Lions couldn’t get a final shot off.Columbia (1-2) didn’t make a basket during overtime.The Wildcats pulled to within 74-72 with 1:33 left in regulation on Gavin Skelly’s dunk before McIntosh’s jumper tied the game at 74. Columbia’s Alex Rosenberg then missed a jumper with 11 seconds left, but Demps’ potentially game-winning jumper was off to force overtime.Demps chipped in with 22 for the Wildcats (3-0).McIntosh compared the upcoming game to a Big Ten matchup. ”They play a lot like Michigan State in the fact that they push the ball so much,” McIntosh said. ”It’ll give us great preparation for being in the league, and our younger guys can get a look at what it’s like in that game.” Columbia (1-2) dropped its second straight against a power conference team. After beating Kean 107-62 to open the season, the Lions lost 81-71 on Monday at Kansas State and couldn’t recover Friday despite leading for most of the night.Mullins led the Lions with 22 and Rosenberg added 17. Columbia had four players score in double-figures but couldn’t finish what would have been an important early win.Columbia: The Lions fell to 30-34 all-time against teams currently in the Big Ten.. Rosenberg’s brother, Drew, is on the Northwestern soccer team.Northwestern: The Wildcats are 3-0 for the second straight season and fifth time in last six years. . Northwestern took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series with Columbia.Columbia hasn’t beaten a team currently in the Big Ten since winning 85-75 at Rutgers on Dec. 2, 1976.Northwestern’s Alex Olah was called for a dead-ball technical foul with 8:25 left in the game. Mullins made both free throws to give Columbia a 7-point lead, and the Lions gained possession of the ball after the technical.Northwestern plays No. 1 North Carolina on Monday in Kansas City, Missouri.

ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands—For the third time in as many games this season, South Carolina found itself in a precarious second-half position.And for the third time in as many games, the Gamecocks found a way to survive.Mindaugas Kacinas scored a career-high 23 points and South Carolina survived a shaky stretch after halftime on the way to topping DePaul 76-61 in the Paradise Jam on Friday.The Gamecocks (3-0) saw what was a 16-point lead after halftime trimmed to five with 8:20 left, but PJ Dozier scored five points in what became a 10-1 run that put South Carolina in control for good.South Carolina will play Hofstra – a surprise winner over Florida State earlier Friday – in Sunday’s semifinals. Duane Notice scored 11 points and Sindarius Thornwell finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Gamecocks.Darrick Wood scored 14 points for DePaul (1-2), which lost for the 36th time in its last 43 road and neutral-site games. Wood had five points in what was a 14-3 run over a 2 1/2 minute spurt after halftime that got the Blue Demons within 56-51, but DePaul managed only one field goal in the next four-plus minutes and couldn’t recover.Billy Garrett added 11 for DePaul, which next faces Florida State on Saturday in the consolation round.The Blue Demons needed only a 58-second span of the first half to rip off seven unanswered points and tie the game at 16, but the Gamecocks closed the half on a 21-12 run to take control. Notice hit a 3-pointer on the final South Carolina possession before intermission, giving his team a 37-28 lead at the break.After DePaul managed to score just 2 points in a 5 1/2 minute stretch early in the second half, the Gamecocks pushed the lead to 16.But just as was the case in South Carolina’s first two games against Norfolk State and Oral Roberts, there was yet another second-half moment of angst for the Gamecocks.They seem to thrive in that situation.Against Norfolk State, a 13-3 spurt gave the Gamecocks all the breathing room they needed. Against Oral Roberts, a 19-4 run put the game away. And against DePaul, a 15-4 run over a late four-minute stretch was the deciding flurry.It was the first meeting between the schools since 1999.DePaul: The Blue Demons are off to a 1-2 start for the first time since the 2010-11 season. … DePaul has only seven made 3-pointers in the season’s first three games, and is shooting 17.5 percent from long range to start the year. No team in Division I wound up shooting worse than 25 percent from beyond the arc last season.South Carolina: The Gamecocks have been remarkably consistent to start the year. Their field-goal percentages, in order: 39 percent, 40 percent, then 40 percent. And their free-throw percentages, also in order: 69 percent, 70 percent, 70 percent. … South Carolina is 5-2 in its last seven games against Big East opponents.

AFC GAMES: NY Jets over HOU, K.City over SD

NFC GAMES: CAR over Wash, PHIL over T.Bay, SEAT over S.Fran INT CONF GAMES: ATL over Indy, BALT over St,Louis MIA over Dal

PRIME TIME GAMES: Thur Night: Tenn over Jax Sun Night: ARIZ over Cin Mon Night: N.ENG over Buff

NFC NORTH GAMES: DET over Oak, MINN over GB, BEARS over Den Last Week: Les 4-10(yuck), Producers 6-8 Season Total:Les 88-59, Producers 87-60 Teams with ALL CAPS are Home Teams.

EDMONTON—Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin kept up their points onslaught, and the Blackhawks kept on rolling.Marian Hossa scored 1:08 into overtime and Panarin had a goal and two assists to lift Blackhawks over the Edmonton Oilers 4-3 on Wednesday night for their third consecutive victory.Patrick Kane had two assists and extended his point streak to 14 games but had his goal streak ended at seven. He leads the NHL with 13 goals and 30 points.Panarin, a 24-year-old rookie, has points in six straight games, amassing five goals and five assists in that time while on a line with Kane and Artem Anisimov. Kane and Panarin came into the game having accounted for more than 37 percent of team scoring this season.Hossa turned a long pass from Brent Seabrook into a breakaway and beat Anders Nilsson with a slap shot from in close. The winner came after Corey Crawford made a huge save on Taylor Hall‘s blast 30 seconds into overtime. Crawford finished with 34 saves, none bigger than that one. ”That obviously kept us in the game, that was an unbelievable save, a highlight save,” Hossa said. ”That’s why we won the game. Even though the game was almost over with a few minutes left, that kind of save gives a boost to the bench and when you are up on the next shift, that definitely gives you an extra boost.” Duncan Keith and Andrew Shaw also scored for the Blackhawks, who began a six-game trip. ”It was good to get a win starting this trip,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ”But give them credit, they were all over us in the first period, and we got it going a little bit in the second, but that might have been the only stretch where we liked how we were playing.” Benoit Pouliot, Jordan Eberle and Leon Draisaitl scored, Teddy Purcell had two assists and Edmonton lost its third straight.Draisaitl tied it with 2:46 remaining off a feed from Taylor Hall. The play was set up by Purcell winning a loose-puck battle in the corner and passing to Hall. It was Draisaitl’s sixth goal and 14th point in nine games this season. ”For me, and if I say this it’s probably going to come out (wrong), it felt like a win, because we were able to come back and finally get it to overtime,” Oilers coach Todd McLellan said. ”And, in overtime, the way it goes, 3-on-3, anything can happen. We got our chance, they got their one and it went in the net for them.” Edmonton had 11 shots on Crawford in the first period but had its best chance early in the second when defenseman Darnell Nurse hit a post.Keith opened the scoring with a power-play goal in the second by redirecting Kane’s feed past Nilsson.The Hawks made it 2-0 with 5 minutes left in the second after a bouncing puck ended up on Panarin’s stick. The rookie was undefended while scoring his seventh goal this season.Edmonton clawed back shortly after. Brandon Davidson sprang Eberle on a breakaway, and Eberle beat Crawford high to the glove side.Nurse danced through traffic and passed to Pouliot in front for the goal, and the Oilers tied it 4 minutes into the third.The Hawks regained the lead with 8 minutes left. Shaw fanned on his initial shot but was able to convert his second whack at it to make it 3-2. NOTES—Teuvo Teravainen left the game with an upper-body injury. … Remaining out for the Oilers were Connor McDavid (collarbone), Justin Schultz (back), Rob Klinkhammer (leg) and Luke Gazdic (illness). … Both teams return to action on Friday night. The Blackhawks play in Calgary, and the Oilers host the New Jersey Devils.

PHOENIX—The fourth quarter was Jimmy Butler‘s time Wednesday night.Butler scored 14 of his season-high 32 points in the final period, leading the Bulls over the Phoenix Suns 103-97 for their fourth straight victory.Pau Gasol added 17 points and eight rebounds, Kirk Hinrich scored 14 and former Phoenix guard Aaron Brooks had 12 points as the Bulls ended the Suns’ three-game winning streak.Butler’s 3-pointer with 1:08 to play gave the Bulls a 99-92 lead, and he followed it up with a dunk with 9.2 seconds left. The fifth-year guard took on a bigger offensive load with Derrick Rose sidelined by an ankle injury. ”I just made a couple of shots. But it felt good to see the ball going in,” Butler said. ”My teammates just kept giving me the ball, to tell you the truth, whether I wanted it or not. Telling me to make plays.” Brandon Knight paced Phoenix with 23 points and P.J. Tucker added 20 points and seven rebounds. High-scoring guard Eric Bledsoe had his second-worst shooting night of the season, finishing 7 of 22 while scoring 21 points.The Suns led 88-87 with 4:47 left on a pair of free throws by Bledsoe but couldn’t hold off the Bulls, who scored the next seven points. Butler played the entire fourth quarter.He said he spoke with Rose before the game and was told to be more aggressive on the offensive end. ”It helps to have a superstar like him in my corner, coaching me up. Obviously we want him out there on the floor with us,” Butler said. The Bulls made 13 of 18 shots and equaled a season high for points in the first quarter with 31, including 10 from Butler. ”For a guy that played 43 minutes, he didn’t look like he was tired at all,” Suns coach Jeff Hornacek said. The Bulls went ahead 42-25 on a turnaround by Gasol with 7 minutes left in the second. But the Suns outscored the Bulls 22-11 until halftime, cutting the deficit to 51-47 on a 3-pointer from Bledsoe with 46 seconds left.Hinrich started in place of Rose, held out with a sprained left ankle. ”He does such a great job of getting us into our offense and getting our defense organized,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said about Hinrich, who had season highs in points and assists (six). Brooks left midway through the third after grabbing his left leg. He went back to the locker room immediately but returned before the quarter was over, only to leave the game again with 4:15 to play due to a hamstring injury. ”It’s pretty bad,” Brooks said. ”Nothing I’ve ever been through before. I didn’t feel a tear or pop. Wake up and see how it feels.” Suns forward Markieff Morris was back in starting lineup after missing the previous two games with a left knee sprain. He scored six points in 28 minutes.Bulls: Rose is day to day, Hoiberg said before the game. Rose’s ankle is still sore and he’s not expected to do much in practice on Thursday beyond testing out the ankle with running and making cuts. … The Bulls have won 11 of the past 14 meetings. … Joakim Noah grabbed 11 rebounds without scoring a point, the first time a Bulls player had double digits in rebounds without scoring since March 11, 2011, when Noah had 11 boards against Atlanta.Suns: G Ronnie Price also returned to action, playing 11 minutes. Price missed the previous two games with a concussion. … The Suns were without key reserve T.J. Warren, out due to flu-like symptoms. … Hornacek was issued a technical foul for arguing in the third quarter.Late in the fourth quarter, the large contingent of Bulls fans at Talking Stick Resort Arena chanted ”Let’s Go Bulls!” As is the norm in Phoenix, Chicago sports fans were out in full force to support one of the city’s teams….Brooks bounced a pass between Noah’s legs and right to Butler, who hit a 19-foot jumper with 1:04 left in the first quarter. Noah reached down to grab the ball but it moved too fast, and Butler was in the right spot to collect and shoot.

EVANSTON—The glimmer of space Bryant McIntosh spotted certainly wasn’t much, but he figured it would do.McIntosh scored 20 points, three of which came on an acrobatic driving layup and free throw with 52 seconds remaining and Northwestern beat Fairfield 79-72 in a CBE Hall of Fame Classic game on Wednesday night.McIntosh’s aggressive drive into the lane pushed Northwestern’s lead to eight points after Fairfield had pulled within three after trailing by double digits earlier in the second half. ”The way they called the game, I was just trying to create contact and get to the foul line, and I got all the way to the rim,” McIntosh said, who finished with five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Aaron Falzon scored 13 points and Alex Olah added 11 to round out Northwestern’s (2-0) balanced scoring attack.Marcus Gilbert led Fairfield (0-3) with 18 points and 11 rebounds. Curtis Cobb had 13 points for the Stags.Trailing 68-65, Fairfield had a chance to tie the game with 1:41 remaining but Tyler Nelson’s 3-point attempt rimmed out. NU pulled away from there, using late free throws to close out the victory.Northwestern built a 16-point lead before Wildcats fouls allowed the Stags to get into the bonus and begin to chip away at the deficit. Fairfield kept pushing, getting to within single digits, testing Northwestern to protect its lead. ”All of a sudden 16 points goes to 14 to eight, and they started smelling that they’re in the game,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. ”There’s an enormous amount of game pressure when a team is a so-called underdog and all of a sudden they’ve got a lot of momentum and they’ve got nothing to lose.” Fairfield pulled to 3 points, but the Stags finished with 14 turnovers – including 10 in the first half – and ran out of responses as Northwestern responded to close out the victory. ”We talk about how we have to fight,” McIntosh said. ”Teams are going to make runs. This is a game of runs and we just have to fight.” Northwestern led 39-29 at halftime. The Wildcats, spurred by three early 3-point field goals by Falzon, led by as many as 13 points before Fairfield pulled to 29-24 with 3:29 left in the first half. But Northwestern center Joey van Zegeren scored six straight points to help push the lead back to double figures by the end of the half. NOTES—Northwestern: Aaron Falzon, the freshman forward from Newton, Massachusetts, reached double figures for the second time in as many games. … Falzon’s 20 points last week against UMass-Lowell was the most points scored by a first-year player in his college debut. … Following Friday’s game against Columbia, the Wildcats head to top-ranked North Carolina on Monday….The Northwestern bench was whistled for a technical foul with two seconds remaining. Collins said the explanation he was given was that his bench was standing up. After the explanation drew a few laughs, Collins replied, ”That’s the truth.”…Northwestern hosts Columbia on Friday.