ORLANDO—Daiquan Walker scored 21 points and Central Florida rolled to an 88-58 victory over UIC on Saturday night.Walker was 8 of 11 from the field. Justin McBride scored 14 points; A.J. Davis added 12 points and Adonys Henriquez chipped in 10 for UCF (3-3), which has won three of its last four games.Dikembe Dixson scored 22 points on 8-of-20 shooting for UIC (1-5). Tai Odiase added 10 points.McBride scored six points as the Knights started on a 13-1 run. Najeal Young‘s jumper pulled the Flames to 17-10 midway through the first half. McBride added six points in the final three minutes of the first half to help stretch the Knight’s lead to 43-21 at halftime.Henriquez and Matt Williams made back-to-back 3-pointers to make it 60-30 with thirteen minutes to play

EVANSTON—Alex Olah scored 21 points to lead Northwestern over Southern Illinois Edwardsville 81-56 on Saturday.Aaron Falzon added 17 and Bryant McIntosh chipped in with 11 for Northwestern (7-1), which has won four straight. The Wildcats shot 51.7 percent overall, made nine 3-pointers as a team and got five 3-pointers from Falzon. The Wildcats were boosted 12 first-half points from Olah and have their best eight-game start since 2011-12, when they also began 7-1.Playing its first game after beating Virginia Tech 81-79 in overtime Tuesday as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, Northwestern had little trouble with the visiting Cougars and led 35-26 at halftime despite shooting just 38.7 percent from the field during the opening 20 minutes.The Cougars (1-7) lost their seventh straight since opening the season with a 79-70 win over Arkansas State. SIUE also fell to 0-4 on the road, and is in the middle of a three-game trip away from home.The Wildcats, who won’t play again until Dec. 13, took their first 10-point lead at 23-13 with 6:23 left in the first half on a layup by Sanjay Lumpkin. Northwestern built its advantage to 29-15 with 4:25 remaining on a 3-pointer by Falzon, a shot notable because Falzon was playing without his right shoe.Northwestern was never really threatened during the second half. An Olah basket with 5:49 left in the second half put Northwestern ahead 65-44 and gave the Wildcats their first lead of at least 20 points.Burak Eslik scored 13 points for SIUE, which hasn’t lost by single digits since a 77-74 loss to Campbell on Nov. 24. Following that defeat, the Cougars have lost by at least 13 points in their following four contests.The Cougars are in the middle of a stretch of four games in seven days.Saturday’s game was SIUE’s first against a team from one of the five power conferences.The Wildcats improved to 5-0 all-time against SIUE, and 2-0 against the Cougars since their 2011 transition to Division-I. . Tuesday night’s win at Virginia Tech was the Wildcats’ fifth OT game over the past two seasons.Northwestern hosts Chicago State next Sunday.

CHAMPAIGN—Kendrick Nunn scored 27 points and Michael Finke added 24 to help Illinois survive Western Carolina Saturday, 80-68.Illinois (4-5) pulled away late. But the game was tied as late as the 7:58 mark in the second half when Elijah Pughsley hit a 3-pointer to make the score 59-59.But Illinois answered with a pair of baskets by Nunn. The second was a powerful dunk that gave Illinois a 63-59 edge with 7:18 left. Western Carolina never got any closer.While Finke, a freshman, and Nunn both had career highs for Illinois, their teammates were quiet. The rest of the Illini combined for 29 points.Mike Brown led Western Carolina (3-5) with 23 points. Pughsley finished with 15, all on 3-pointers. He was 5 of 10 from behind the arc.The game was sloppy. Western Carolina turned the ball over 19 times and the Illini 16.And after coming off a loss Wednesday to Notre Dame, Saturday’s game was too close for comfort much of the afternoon for Illinois.Early in the second half, Western Carolina used an 11-0 run to turn what had been a comfortable lead for Illinois into a tie game.Jaylon Tate fouled Justin Browning with 12:39 to play. Browning sank both free throws, and the State Farm Center grew uncomfortably quiet with the game tied 50-50.Only a layup from Malcolm Hill, who sat on the bench for the opening seven minutes of the second half, ended the run and put the Illini back up by two.But after the Illini stretched their lead to seven at 57-50, Western Carolina came right back, finally tying it again on Pughsley’s 3.Nunn is typically a starter but came off the bench Saturday.Illinois’ trouble defending the 3-pointer was apparent again Saturday. Notre Dame was 10 of 20 from 3-point range in Illinois’ 84-79 loss to the Fighting Irish on Wednesday. The Catamounts, who came into the game hitting just 29.5 percent of their 3-pointers, were 11-24 on Saturday for 45.8 percent.Illinois hosts Yale Wednesday.

ROSEMONT—Eli Cain scored 20 points and DePaul piled up its largest point total of the season to beat Chicago State 96-72 on Saturday.Billy Garrett Jr. added 16 points, Tommy Hamilton IV and Myke Henry 13 apiece for the Blue Demons, who had six players in double figures. DePaul was 31 of 57 for 54.4 percent, including 11 of 20 from the arc.Fred Sims Jr. scored 22 points off the bench for the Cougars (3-6), who lost their fifth in a row. Jawad Adekoya added 17 points. Chicago State shot 35.2 percent and were only 8 of 29 from 3-point range.Cain hit a 3-pointer and Hamilton two free throws to give DePaul a 14-point lead early in the second half. They led by double figures from there, going ahead by as many as 27.It was the third straight win for the Blue Demons (4-3), who were playing their 500th game in the Allstate Arena.

Milton Doyle scored 17 points with eight assists and grabbed eight rebounds as Loyola edged Creighton 68-65 on Saturday.Devon Turk added 15 points for the Ramblers (5-3). Tyson Smith scored 11 points and Donte Ingram had 10.A pair of 3-pointers by Smith late in the first period gave the Ramblers a 27-13 advantage with 4:10 to go in the half and they led 29-25 at the break.Creighton, winless in two road games this season, trailed by as many as 11 points with 7:55 to go in the second period but closed the gap to 67-65 after two layups by Geoffrey Groselle in the final 14 seconds. Doyle countered with three free throws in the final four seconds as the Ramblers held on for the win.Khyri Thomas led the Bluejays (5-3) with 22 points. Groselle posted a double-double with 15 points and 12 rebounds.

OTTAWA—Mike Hoffman scored his second goal of the game 30 seconds into overtime to give the Ottawa Senators a 4-3 victory over the Blackhawks on Thursday night.Bobby Ryan and Mark Stone also scored for the Senators, and Craig Anderson – making his ninth straight start – stopped 35 shots.Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin each had a goal and two assists for the Hawks, and Artem Anisimov had a goal and an assist. Corey Crawford made 23 saves.Kane tied Bobby Hull’s franchise record 21-game point streak, set in 1971-72.With the score tied 2-2, Stone gave the Senators the lead at the 3-minute mark of the third as he was able to bat the puck out of mid-air and tuck it in behind Crawford to the awe of the 17,171 on hand at Canadian Tire Centre.However, the Blackhawks were able to tie things midway through the period as Kane dropped the puck back behind the Senators net and Anisimov scored from a sharp angle.The second period belonged to the Blackhawks after falling behind 2-0.The Blackhawks made it a one-goal game as Kane scored his 16th of the season with the Blackhawks enjoying a two-man advantage.The Hawks tied the game at the 16-minute mark as Panarin was able to get into the slot unchallenged and beat Anderson short-handed, with Kane picking up an assist on the goal.Hossa nearly made it 3-2 as he had a breakaway late in the period, but Anderson was able to just get a piece of the puck and keep it on the goal line.The Senators were clearly the better team in the opening 20 minutes and were able to jump out to a 2-0 lead.Hoffman extended his scoring streak to eight games as he picked up his team-leading 12th goal in the opening minutes of the game.The Senators then made it 2-0 with a power-play goal from Ryan. Stone created the perfect screen and Ryan was able to find an opening to beat Crawford.

AFC GAMES: BUF over Hou,Cin over CLEVE, Balt over MIAMI, Jax over TENN, K.City over OAK, Den over SD NFC GAMES: Ariz over STL, TB over Atl, Car over N.ORL INTER CONF GAMES: NYG over nyj, N.ENG over Phil SUN NIGHT: PITT over Indy MON NIGHT: WASH over Dal NFC NORTH GAMES: MINN over Seat, DET over G.Bay(Thur Night), BEARS over S.Fran Home Teams in ALL CAPS. Last Week: Les 10-6, Producers 14-2, To Date: Les 105-72, Producers 111-66

Coming off an emotional win two nights earlier, facing the slumping Denver Nuggets had the makings of a trap game for the Bulls. Thanks to Pau Gasol, the Bulls came out with another win. Gasol had 26 points and 19 rebounds to lead the Home team to a 99-90 win over the Nuggets on Wednesday night. Gasol shot 12 for 19 from the field and had his fifth consecutive double-double as the Bulls, who beat San Antonio on Monday night, won for the third time in four games and improved to 7-1 at home. ”This is the type of game that you play against a team that has lost seven in a row and you think that you’re going to probably win the game and it’s not going to require your maximum effort,” Gasol said. ”Sometimes teams do fall into that trap and for parts of the game we kind of were in that place, but I think we snapped out of it well and with enough time on the clock that we could make a run and win the game.” The Nuggets, who finished shooting 39 percent from the field, led 72-68 heading to the fourth quarter after limiting the Bulls to 17 points in the third, but they regained the lead for good at 82-79 with 7:37 left on Doug McDermott‘s 3-pointer, and handed the Nuggets their eighth straight loss. ”I think tonight we hurt ourselves,” Denver’s Randy Foye said. The Nuggets fell behind by eight but cut the lead to four on J.J. Hickson‘s dunk with 2:22 left. The Bulls then rebuilt its lead and salvaged the win after outscoring the Nuggets 31-18 during the fourth, including 12 from Gasol. ”(Pau) did everything for us tonight when it wasn’t our best energy game of the season,” Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said. Jimmy Butler, playing through a lingering right heel contusion, scored 19 points in 39 minutes and Derrick Rose finished with 12 points on 3-for-17 shooting.Will Barton scored 16 points and Kenneth Faried had 14 points and nine rebounds for Denver, which was outrebounded 62-49, allowed 30 second-chance points and went 13 for 22 from the free-throw line.Joakim Noah came off the bench and added nine points and 11 rebounds for the Bulls, who played most of the game without Nikola Mirotic after he suffered a concussion and facial laceration during the first quarter. Mirotic was defending in the lane when he took an inadvertent right elbow to the face from a driving Emmanuel Mudiay, sending him to the floor.Mirotic, who had three points and two rebounds, left the game immediately and went to the locker room for observation where he received stitches.

CHAMPAIGN—For 20 minutes Wednesday, Illinois kept Notre Dame point guard Demetrius Jackson in check.Steve Vasturia was scoring for the Fighting Irish, but with Jackson frustrated and quiet with just four points, the Illini had the edge and a halftime lead.Then Jackson woke up.He finished with 21 points and Vasturia did, too, leading Notre Dame to a comeback 84-79 win over the Illini in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. ”I got some good looks,” Jackson said, crediting teammates with creating space for him to shoot in the second half. ”It’s just up to me to step up and knock those down.” Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said the team’s switch to a zone defense in the second half made a big difference. ”We were having such a hard time in man-to-man, you’ve got to try something else,” Brey said. ”My feeling was, we’re going to ride this till the end because I think it’s the only option we’ve got.” That change in defense shut the Illini down. Illinois (3-5) shot 50 percent in the first half but was 13 of 37 in the second 20 minutes. That included an ice-cold 2 of 18 start. ”I didn’t like our start to the second half,” Illinois coach John Groce said. ”I had a veteran group out there. I did not think we were ready to play at all.” The Fighting Irish spoiled the reopening of Illinois’ recently renovated State Farm Center with the win.Notre Dame (5-2) had lost two of three coming into the game and had fallen out of the Associated Press Top 25.But a 3-pointer from Vasturia with 1:54 to play put Notre Dame up 72-62.Illinois rode tough defense and the energy of the first night back in its campus arena to a 41-33 halftime lead.Malcolm Hill led Illinois with 19 points, while Kendrick Nunn had 13 points and seven rebounds.Zach Auguste added 16 points with 14 rebounds for Notre Dame.Illinois came into the game facing the challenge of controlling Jackson and, missing starting center Mike Thorne, 6-foot-10, 245-pound Auguste.Through the first 20 minutes, Illinois blunted the offense of both. Jackson went to the locker room with a quiet four points and one assist and Auguste had seven points and four rebounds.But in the second half Jackson started finding his stride.The senior hit a 3-pointer from the left, just in front of the Notre Dame bench, with 9:51 left in the game. The Irish were up 58-49 and Jackson flashed a big grin at the bench as he spun to head back up court.Hill said the difference between Illinois’ two halves was frustrating. ”We need to put the two pieces together,” he said. ”Our second half start was bad. We started off good in the first half.” NOTES—The Fighting Irish had a flurry of turnovers early, including four in the game’s opening minutes. But they finished with nine. Jackson was 3 of 4 from 3-point range and Vasturia 3 of 5…..Illinois used a combination of Maverick Morgan, Michael Finke and Leron Black to fill in for Thorne, who suffered a torn meniscus last weekend against Iowa State. The three subs combined for 21 points and nine rebounds. Illinois turned the ball over just three times…..Brey called the win important for a team he said is trying to find an identity, and particularly after the Fighting Irish lost two of their last three. On the road in front of a big, loud crowd Wednesday, Notre Dame never gave the impression it might buckle, Brey said. ”Even down eight, down 10, we were really calm,” he said…..The renovated State Farm Center changed the look of the interior, making most of the 15,544 seats dark blue and adding premium seats, box seats, new concessions and other features. The $169.5 million project, which isn’t quite finished, reduced the capacity by about 1,000. But the project boosted the number of seats for the Orange Krush student section from 700 to 1,200 and wrapped it around three sides of the court. Illinois also named the new court after Illini coaching legend Lou Henson, who was at Wednesday’s game. Henson is Illinois’ winningest coach, with 423 wins over 21 seasons.

Myke Henry scored 17 points, leading five Blue Demons in double figures as DePaul bested UIC 82-55 on Wednesday night.Billy Garrett Jr. had 13 points, Rashaun Stimage 12 and Eli Cain and Tommy Hamilton IV 11 for DePaul (3-3), which defeated its Windy City rival for the fifth time in six tries.Leading 13-9 with 11:17 left in the first half, the Blue Demons used a 22-2 run to take control. DePaul led at the half by 21 points, and UIC never got closer than 20 points the rest of the way. The Flames (1-4) committed 21 turnovers and made just 36.4 percent of its field-goal attempts. Dominique Matthews led the Flames with 17 points and added five rebounds. No other player scored in double figures.DePaul assisted on 19 of 29 field goals and made 17 of 21 free-throw attempts.