CHAMPAIGN—Malcolm Hill scored a career-high 34 points and had 11 rebounds, and Illinois never trailed in a 91-79 victory over South Dakota on Saturday.Hill was 10 of 16 from the floor with four 3-pointers and had five assists. Jalen Coleman-Lands added 17 points with four 3s for Illinois (7-5), which has won four straight. ”Our offense was about as good as it’s been all year,” Illinois coach John Groce said. ”We were really hitting on all cylinders.” The Illini opened on a 14-0 run behind eight-straight defensive stops, and led 55-36 at the break. Illinois really came out of the gates hot,” South Dakota coach Craig Smith said. ”We just dug too big of a hole in the first half.” Tre Burnette had a career-best 27 points on 10-of-17 shooting to lead South Dakota (7-5).Burnette made three 3-pointers and Trey Norris made a jumper during an 11-4 spurt to pull the Coyotes to 84-78 with two minutes left. Michael Finke answered with a 3-pointer, and Hill and Coleman-Lands each made a pair of free throws to seal it. Illinois shot 47 percent on 14-of-30 shooting from beyond the arc. ”These points don’t really mean anything to me,” Hill said. ”I was actually pretty upset at the end of the game just because we made it a closer game than it needed to be.” Malcolm Hill was 10 of 11 from the line and has scored in double figures in each game this season. His career-high against South Dakota surpasses his previous career-best 28 points he scored against Maryland in Jan. 2015. … Michael Finke finished with 13 points and Kendrick Nunn added 10 points as the Illini had four players in double figures. … The Illini beat South Dakota in their previous meeting, 96-56 during the 1971-72 season.South Dakota: Guard Tre Burnette was 5-for-9 from beyond the arc, also a career-best. … The Coyotes have lost two of their last three games since snapping a five-game winning streak.Illinois forward Michael Finke hit a game-sealing 3-pointer with a minute to go, finally putting the game out of reach at 87-78. A minute prior, Coyote guard Tre Burnette made it an 84-78 game with a 3-pointer, but missed one on the next possession that would have made it a three-point game.Illinois started on a 14-0 run, and shot 60 percent from 3-point range, taking a 55-36 lead into the half. ”When you allow a team to shoot 60 percent in a half, you’re not going to win many games,” South Dakota coach Craig Smith said. Illinois shot 59.4 percent from the field in the first half, and never trailed.Malcolm Hill has led Illinois through a difficult nonconference run, putting up double digits in all 12 games this season. The Illini have been without starters Tracy Abrams, Mike Thorne Jr. and Leron Black due to injuries. Starting guard Kendrick Nunn also missed the first two weeks of the season with a dislocated thumb.Illinois plays Missouri in the annual Bragging Rights Game on Wednesday at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.

BUFFALO—The boos from the fans had ended and the arena was nearly empty when Patrick Kane appeared at an entrance leading back to the ice, where he was greeted warmly by a group of about 75 family members and friends.With a wave of one hand and his hockey stick in the other, Kane finally drew a cheer. He then headed into the stands to hug his mother, Donna, who was wearing a white Blackhawks No. 88 jersey with ”Kane” printed on the back.Kane was back home in Buffalo for the first time since a three-month investigation into a rape allegation in August failed to produce enough evidence for charges to be filed against him. He was booed at the start and at the finish, when he tied the game with 34 seconds left and then scored the only shootout goal that gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 win over the Sabres on Saturday. ”Definitely a special ending,” Kane said. From the first time he carried the puck, he was jeered. The boos grew louder when he converted Artemi Panarin‘s pass through the crease to tie the game while the Hawks enjoyed a 6-on-3 advantage – two Sabres in the penalty box and goalie Corey Crawford pulled for an extra attacker.And when Kane’s shootout chance came around, the booing reached a crescendo. Kane sped toward goalie Chad Johnson, came to a near full stop in the slot, faked a forehand shot and then flipped a backhander into the right side. Crawford sealed the win by stopping Zemgus Girgensons on the Sabres third and final shootout attempt. ”I didn’t really have any expectations,” he said. ”Some of the guys were laughing on the bench saying I was getting booed. And some guys said I was getting cheered. You try to block that stuff out.” Kane’s clutch performance – and the reception – was nothing new to Crawford. ”He gets that in some buildings,” Crawford said. ”You don’t want to see it for a guy who is from here and has done so much for the game of hockey, especially U.S. hockey. But whatever. Fans can do whatever to try to get him off his game. But it was good to see him score the tying goal.” Dennis Rasmussen also scored for the Hawks, who improved to 6-2 in their past eight.Ryan O’Reilly and Cody Franson scored for Buffalo, which is 0-7-1 in its past eight games against the Hawks.Sabres coach Dan Bylsma questioned the two penalties with 2:33 remaining, when defenseman Josh Gorges was called for holding and Rasmus Ristolainen called for high sticking. ”We got right to the bitter end and they scored to tie it,” Bylsma said. ”Not going to lie, it hurts.” Kane’s goal was his 20th of the season and gave him points in two straight after he had a franchise-record 26-game point streak end in a 3-0 loss to Colorado on Tuesday.Kane has been the focus of attention on and off the ice for much of the past 4 1/2 months.It began in early August when a woman in her 20s alleged she was raped by Kane at the player’s offseason home in suburban Buffalo. The three-month investigation took several unusual twists before Erie County District Attorney Frank Sedita elected to not file charges against Kane because of a lack of credible evidence in a case ”rife with reasonable doubt.” ”What he was going through, it’s very remarkable,” coach Joel Quenneville said before the game, referring to Kane’s focus. ”I commend him on how he’s handled the whole situation coming into the season. ”His mind was in the right place, focused, game in, game out.” Scott Stedman, wearing a Kane jersey, was surprised to hear booing. ”I was expecting more cheers,” said Stedman, who is from nearby Rochester. ”He’s a hometown hero, USA star.” NOTES—Blackhawks C Phillip Danault made his season debut a day after being called up from AHL Rockford. He replaces Marcus Kruger, who is expected to miss four months after dislocating his left wrist in a 4-0 win over Edmonton on Thursday. … After playing their ninth game in 16 days, the Sabres enter an extended break. They’re off until traveling to play Boston on Saturday. … Sabres C Tyler Ennis returned after missing 15 games with a lower-body injury. Cal O’Reilly was demoted to AHL Rochester. … The Sabres haven’t defeated the Blackhawks since a 2-1 win at Buffalo on Dec. 11, 2009.

Led by Teuvo Teravainen, the Hawks top line was its top line again. And it was just more of the same for Corey Crawford.Teravainen had two goals and an assist, Crawford made 33 saves in his NHL-best fifth shutout and the Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0 on Thursday night.The top line – currently Teravainen, captain Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa – had been overshadowed so far this season by the second group, especially during Patrick Kane‘s 26-game point streak. But Toews had a goal and two assists and Hossa finished with three assists in the Blackhawks’ third win in four games.For one night at least, Toews and company had most of the splashy plays. ”Usually we’ve been watching (Kane’s line) scoring from the bench,” Teravainen said. ”They’re scoring all the time. It’s pretty fun to watch, but it’s good to go there ourself too.” It was Crawford’s third shutout in his last four starts and No. 17 for his career. The Stanley Cup champions kept him clean for most of the night, but he got over to make a nice right pad stop on Mark Letestu with about 3 minutes left in the second period. ”It’s not easy to get a shutout in this league. It’s a team effort for sure,” Crawford said. ”We shut them down pretty well in the third period.” Cam Talbot also had 33 stops for Edmonton, which has lost two in a row after a six-game win streak. Talbot was coming off a 47-save performance in a 3-2 overtime win at Boston in his previous start on Monday night. ”We’ve fought our way back into the fight here and we’ve got to stick with it,” Oilers defenseman Eric Gryba said. ”We can’t afford to lose back-to-back games like this.” The Blackhawks had a 2-0 lead before they put the game away with a pair of goals in a span of 1:53 in the third. Teravainen stuffed home a rebound of Hossa’s shot at 16:42, and rookie Artemi Panarin got a stretch pass from Brent Seabrook before beating Talbot for his 10th of the season.The Blackhawks got a scare in the first period when defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson was helped off after taking a shot off the inside of his left knee. While the durable Hjalmarsson quickly returned to the game, the Hawks lost center Marcus Kruger for the night with an upper-body injury with about 15 minutes left in the second.Coach Joel Quenneville said the team will know more about Kruger’s injury on Friday. Asked if it appeared serious, Quenneville responded, ”We’ll see.” Toews, who had just one goal and one assist over the previous 10 games, put the Blackhawks in front when he one-timed a nice pass from Hossa past Talbot on the glove side with 6 minutes left in the first. It was Toews’ 10th goal of the season.Talbot stopped Kane’s spinning backhand shot with 1:35 left in the first, but Teravainen made it 2-0 with his seventh goal at 12:29 of the second. Teravainen beat Talbot off a perfect pass from Toews before the young winger was mistakenly checked to the ice by Hossa. ”Tonight it was the Toews line,” Edmonton coach Todd McLellan said. ”When you’re a deep good team like that, other lines pick you up.” Kane got a secondary assist on Panarin’s goal after his franchise-record point streak ended in Tuesday night’s 3-0 loss to Colorado. Kane leads the Hawks with 19 goals and 28 assists. NOTES—Speaking through a translator recently hired by the team, Panarin said he was ”really upset” after the Blackhawks waived Viktor Tikhonov this month, but he is excited for his fellow Russian forward getting more playing time with Arizona. Asked about his favorite thing about living in Chicago, Panarin said his couch and Sony PlayStation.

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Derrick Rose attacked from the start. Jimmy Butler was right there with him, and the Bulls got just the lift they needed from their star guards.Butler finished with 24 points, Rose scored 19 and the Bulls beat the Memphis Grizzlies 98-85 on Wednesday night.Butler and Rose shook off recent illnesses, and the Bulls used a big third quarter to tie a season high with their fourth straight win.

”It just adds another dimension to our team when those guys are vocal and pushing guys,” Joakim Noah said. ”Today was definitely the best I’ve seen.”

It’s something the Bulls would love to see more often, particularly from Rose. Whether it’s a decline brought on by injuries or simply a mental hurdle, the former MVP has rarely shown the sort of aggression that was on display in this game.Rose once again said he is simply going to take what defenses give him, coach Fred Hoiberg continued to make it clear he wants more of this.

”I think the big thing is just to continue to stress it,” Hoiberg said. ”We’ve been working on it a lot in practice. It certainly carried over tonight.”

With Rose and Butler setting the tone and drawing defenders, Doug McDermott was able to get open and into a rhythm.He scored 17 – one shy of his career high – and hit four 3-pointers. Pau Gasol added 10 points and 14 rebounds in his 21st game against younger brother Marc.Courtney Lee tied a season high with 18 points for Memphis, but the Grizzlies lost for the third time in four games because they couldn’t connect from long range or at the line.They were 5 of 19 on 3-pointers and not much better at the foul line. The Grizzlies hit 16 of 28 – a stunning showing for a team that came in leading the league in free-throw accuracy.Mike Conley (eight points) missed seven of eight 3s. Marc Gasol also had a quiet night with eight points and seven rebounds.

”Tough night for them,” coach David Joerger said. ”Trying to get them going, trying to put the ball in their hands. Neither guy is a guy that you feature and they believe that it’s to score, score, score. They’re pure-hearted. They’re going to make the right play. Both of them had a tough night offensively.”

The Bulls outscored Memphis 24-13 in the third quarter to turn a three-point halftime deficit into a 74-66 lead.Butler and Rose each scored six in the quarter and chipped in during a 17-4 run that gave the Bulls a 69-60 lead.Rose banked in a jumper and hit back-to-back layups during that stretch. He also fed Pau Gasol for a three-point play.Butler finished the run with a breakaway layup after he stole the ball from Marc Gasol with just over four minutes left in the period.Marc Gasol on playing his brother: ”It’s always cool. We have so much respect, not only for each other, but for the game. We expect our team to win. When we don’t accomplish it, it’s a little bit more frustrating because you just lost the game, and you lost the game against your brother.”

The Gasols granted a cancer-stricken teen from Madrid a wish after the game.They met with 14-year-old fan Diego Ruiz along with his younger brother and parents. The meet-and-greet was arranged through the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

NOTES—Hoiberg said Rose and Butler were still ill but feeling ”a lot better” than they did against Philadelphia on Monday. Hoiberg also said Rose’s vision is improving, although he still has trouble when he looks down. Rose is recovering from surgery to repair a fractured left orbital…..The Bulls host Detroit on Friday.

UIC let a second-half lead slip through its hands for the second consecutive game as Illinois State rallied from behind to post a 72-60 victory at the UIC Pavilion Wednesday night. The Flames displayed a tenacious defensive effort throughout the first half, as they limited the Redbirds to 32.4 percent shooting from the floor, while forcing five turnovers. The first 20 minutes alone featured 10 lead changes and six tie scores. After taking a three-point cushion into the locker room at the half, the Flames expanded their advantage to eight points when Paris Burns connected on a 3-point attempt with 15:20 remaining in the ballgame. ISU’s Griffin Roland scored on the other end, but UIC’s Dominique Matthews quickly restored the advantage to eight with a pair of free throws, two six he would sink on the night. Following Matthews’ freebies, Illinois State ratcheted up the defensive pressure. Three UIC turnovers and an ISU blocked shot later, the home team’s advantage was down to one with just over 12 minutes remaining. The Flames faltered offensively and the Redbirds used an eight-point surge to take the lead for good, 55-49, with 8:25 to go in the contest. Illinois State pushed its lead to as many as 15 points on three occasions as it rebounded from a tough shooting effort in the first half to connect on 48.3 percent of its attempts in the second. On the other side, the Redbirds turned UIC over six times in the second stanza and limited the home team to only seven field goals in 29 efforts. ISU scored 11 points off those six miscues, while the Flames failed to net a basket off of the four turnovers by the visitors. Matthews lead all scorers with a career-high 20 points Wednesday, marking the second consecutive contest in which he posted a personal best. The Chicagoan also matched his career high with five rebounds and handed out a career-high four assists while playing 39 minutes. Paris Burns also chipped in with a season-high 14 points for the Flames, including 10 in the second half. He added a pair of helpers, a steal and a board. Freshman Dikembe Dixson posted his second consecutive double-double Wednesday night with 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. The reigning Horizon League Freshman of the Week matched a career high with four assists as he played a career-high 39 minutes. UIC will hit the road for its next contest, but it will not have to travel very far. The Flames will make the short trip to Chicago’s north side to battle the Loyola Ramblers on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 3 p.m. The squad will make its return to the Pavilion on Tuesday, Dec. 22 when it hosts Purdue-Calumet in the penultimate nonconference affair. NOTES—UIC has used eight different starting lineups through eight games … The Flames shot a season-high 82.6 percent (19-of-23) from the free-throw line … Dominique Matthews scored a career-high 20 points … Paris Burns scored a season-high 14 points … UIC used a season-low eight players against Illinois State … Jake Wiegand played in his 100th game in a UIC uniform … Wiegand corralled six rebounds, his highest output since Nov. 13 vs. San Francisco … Dikembe Dixson matched a career high with 10 rebounds for the second game in a row … Dixson led UIC in rebounding for the fifth time … The Flames are 1-4 against in-state opponents this season … Illinois State won for the 15th time in the series

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Although Jae’Sean Tate is a sophomore he is one of the most experienced players for Ohio State and he used his leadership, as well as 17 points and 10 rebounds, to lead the Buckeyes to a 67-54 win over Northern Illinois on Wednesday. Coach Thad Matta liked the way Tate rallied the Buckeyes (5-5) in the second half when the Huskies kept the outcome in doubt. ”For once tonight, Jae’Sean Tate during a timeout was very vocal,” he said. ”I hadn’t seen that before. That energized us a little bit and connected us a little bit. ”After (the game) I said, `That’s who you are and that’s who you need to be.’ ” Tate gave the Buckeyes the lead for good on a 3-point play to make it 47-44 with 11:33 to play after JaQuan Lyle stole the ball and fed Tate in the paint, starting a 10-2 run. ”It’s an extraordinary play,” Tate said. ”That gave us the juice and the intensity to extend the lead.” Keita Bates-Diop had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Trevor Thompson scored 10 for the Buckeyes. Marin Maric had a career-high 17 points for Northern Illinois (7-2) and Marshawn Wilson added 16. ”Our guys competed hard. They just had too many more weapons than us tonight and they made big shots,” Northern Illinois coach Mark Montgomery said. The Huskies shot a season-low 26.8 percent (15 of 56) from the field. ”Their defense obviously affected us,” Montgomery said. ”They’re long and athletic. Six minutes to go and we’re down only six and an opportunity to cut the lead, you have to shoot the ball well.” Thompson said defense won the game because the Buckeyes hit 39 percent (20 for 51) from the floor. ”At times our shots weren’t falling, but we just kept playing defense,” Thompson said. ”That’s the biggest key for us. When we’re not hitting shots, we continue to play defense. We don’t lax up on screens, everybody plays together . Once (Tate) hit that three-point play, we started `D-ing’ up and we started rolling after that.” Ohio State led 33-31 in a choppy first half that featured four ties and four lead changes. NOTES—The Buckeyes knew Northern Illinois had out-rebounded its opponents in seven of the first eight games and wanted to be the aggressor. ”We knew we had to give them a hard first punch, play hard and stick to the game plan,” Thompson said.Tate said Ohio State picked up the intensity after halftime. ”When we came out we just had that Buckeye basketball sense to us; getting on the ground for loose balls, being in the gaps, we just played harder and we got the win.”….The Huskies are 7-47 all-time against current Big Ten teams. They have lost 13 straight games vs. the conference since beating since a 55-51 home victory against Wisconsin on Dec. 14, 1999.

Andre Yates scored 14 points, Daniel Levitt added 12 on four 3-pointers – both career highs – and Cleveland State rallied to beat Loyola 60-54 Wednesday night in a game that featured eight lead changes and six ties.Donte Ingram put Loyola on top 42-41 with a layup with 6:41 to play, but Tim Hasbargen and Levitt each made 3-pointers and the Vikings led 47-42 with 4:12 to go. Loyola’s Milton Doyle tied it at 47 with a free throw, then Jibri Blount made two free throws and Levitt hit another 3 amid a 7-2 run and the Vikings led 54-48. The Ramblers got no closer than four the rest of the way.Blount scored a career-high 11 points and Demonte Flannigan added 10 for the Vikings (3-7), who trailed 24-23 at halftime.Earl Peterson had 16 for the Grizzlies.

The last guy who had a scoring streak longer than Patrick Kane‘s 26 games was Mats Sundin who scored in 30 straight for the Quebec Nordiques back in 1992. The Nords moved down to Colorado and became the Avalanche in 1995. Ol’ Mats can tip his hat to his former franchise for making sure Kane didn’t get any closer to pushing him down the record books.For the first time since Oct. 15, Kane was held without a point in a game as the Avalanche picked up a 3-0 win over the Blackhawks. His scoring streak ends at 26 games, which was the longest such streak in 23 years. The all-time record for the longest scoring streak is 51 games set by Wayne Gretzky in 1983-84 and that one looks like it will remain untouchable for some time.Though Kane fell well short of Gretzky’s record, he still made some history. The star winger managed to set the Blackhawks’ franchise record for most consecutive games with a point. Hockey Hall of Famer Bobby Hull was the previous record holder as he had a 21-game streak in 1971-72. Kane also set the record for longest point streak by an American-born player, surpassing Eddie Olczyk and Phil Kessel, who each had points in 18 straight for the previous record. Lastly, Kane bested Sidney Crosby‘s scoring streak from 2010-11 by one game for the longest run by an active NHLer.In total, Kane posted 40 points over the course of the streak. He tallied 16 goals and had 24 assists. The 27-year-old remains the NHL’s scoring leader with 46 points. He is tied for the league lead with 27 assists and his 19 goals tie him for second in the NHL.Kane and the Blackhawks ran into an extremely hot goaltender in Semyon Varlamov Tuesday night. The Avalanche goalie has won four straight decisions while allowing just four goals total over that stretch. He made 29 saves to earn the shutout over the Blackhawks as the Avs have claimed their sixth in their last eight games while continuing their approach back to the .500 mark.The Blackhawks went 15-7-4 while Kane went on his incredible run. They are currently in wild card position after starting the evening in second place in the incredibly tight Central Division standings.

Trailing to a team with just one win this season, the Bulls used the halftime break to identify the reason – their defense.Jimmy Butler had 23 points and the Bulls rallied from a five-point deficit for a 115-96 rout of the lowly Philadelphia 76ers on Monday night.

”That was the main focus in the second half – just to guard,” Butler said. ”You can’t look at their record and think they’re not a good team, because they are. But if we focus on the way we have to play on both ends, we can win games.”

Nikola Mirotic had 17 points and Tony Snell scored 15 of 16 points in the second half. Joakim Noah had 15 rebounds and eight assists as the Bulls won their third straight.After trailing 56-51 at the intermission, the Bulls had a 64-40 advantage in the second half.The 76ers drop to 1-25 and remain winless through 15 road games. Rookie Jahlil Okafor had 22 points in his first game as a professional in his hometown.

”It was fun,” Okafor said. ”Just pretty fun having all my family here.”

Okafor had eight points on 4-of-4 shooting in the second quarter and had 16 points in 16 first-half minutes. Philadelphia scored 37 points in the second on 16-of-25 (64 percent) shooting.

”In the second quarter, we did not put any pressure on them,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. ”They went anywhere they wanted on the floor and they were comfortable. We were not helping. It was a very poor defensive quarter for us.”

The Bulls, though, quickly dashed hopes for an upset early in the third quarter. The Bulls dialed up the intensity and made Philadelphia look like a one-win team.After committing just two turnovers in the first half, the Sixers had six in the first 6:34 of the third quarter. By then, the Bulls had claimed a 69-62 advantage and things only got worse for Philadelphia.The Bulls had an 85-68 lead entering the fourth – thanks to a 34-12 edge in the third – and Mirotic had a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the final quarter to make it a 20-point game.Snell led the Bulls with 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting in the third. Okafor was limited to two points.Besides seven turnovers in the quarter, the Sixers were just 5 for 21 (23.8 percent) from the field.Derrick Rose played despite feeling ill and had six points in 26 minutes. Hoiberg said he considered having Rose sit out the second half, but the former MVP played roughly 9 minutes.Okafor was asked if all the losing is tough. ”I’m living my dream,” he said. ”It’s been a lot of fun. It’s my rookie campaign and I’m working on improving. Coach always talks about having good days and good days adding up.”

NOTES—The Bulls host the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday night.