NORMAL—MiKyle McIntosh scored 20 points, Deontae Hawkins added 14 more and Illinois State took sole possession of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 76-62 win over Wichita State on Saturday night.Illinois State (14-4, 6-0) got a layup from DJ Clayton with just over five minutes left in the first half to spark a 12-3 run that gave the Redbirds a 36-27 halftime advantage and the lead for good.Clayton finished with 11 points, while Evans and Paris Lee had 10 points apiece for the Redbirds, who shot 54 percent from the field.Wichita State (15-4, 5-1) cut the deficit to a single point in the second half with a 3-pointer from Brown that made it 43-42 before the Redbirds pulled away again with an 11-2 run and held on down the stretch.Landry Shamet and Darral Willis Jr. led Wichita State with 14 points each.

MILWAUKEE—Andrew Rowsey sank 6 of 7 3-point attempts and scored a season-high 24 points to lead Marquette to an 83-58 victory over DePaul on Saturday.Katin Reinhardt added three 3-pointers and a season-high 19 points for the Golden Eagles (12-5, 3-2 Big East), who won their second straight by shooting 62.5 percent, including 13 of 27 (48 percent) from 3-point range. Duane Wilson had seven assists.Billy Garrett scored 12 points and Darrick Wood 11 for the Blue Demons (8-10, 1-4), who have lost six of their last seven.Marquette closed the final 8 1/2 minutes of the first half by outscoring DePaul 32-9 for a 52-31 lead. The run included five of Rowsey’s 3-pointers. Marquette had all but one of their 3-pointers in the first half.The lead remained in double figures, reaching a high 29 points late in the game on Rowsey’s final trey.

NEW YORK—Carmelo Anthony had 23 points, nine rebounds and six assists, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah had big games against their former team, and the New York Knicks beat the short-handed Bulls 104-89 on Thursday night.Rose scored 17 points in his return to Madison Square Garden after skipping the last game here, and Noah finished with 12 points and 15 rebounds as the Knicks snapped a three-game losing streak. Rookie forward Mindaugas Kuzminskas had a season-high 19 points.The Knicks bounced back from a loss at the buzzer in Philadelphia on Wednesday to win for the first time this season on the second night of back-to-back games.Dwyane Wade scored 22 for the Bulls, who were missing star swingman Jimmy Butler, Nikola Mirotic and Denzel Valentine, all because of illness. They dropped their third straight.

PISCATAWAY—In a game featuring a program reaping the benefits of a rebuild against a program resetting after hitting rock bottom, it was a tale of two halves.Vic Law scored a game-high 21 points while Scottie Lindsey added 14 and Isiah Brown came off the bench to score 11 to lead Northwestern past Rutgers 69-60 on Thursday night.Rutgers (11-7, 0-5 Big Ten) jumped out to a 7-0 lead and led 28-19 with 2:04 left in the half before Northwestern (14-4, 3-2) was able to cut it to 28-25 at the break.

”They’re tough,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. ”This was a really good win for us. We had to earn it. I thought they did a great job of taking us out of almost everything we wanted to do with their defense, their athleticism and their physicality. We just had to keep playing. Kind of muck it out. I felt very fortunate to only be down only three at half because we had been outplayed by more than that.”

Northwestern went on a 6-0 run early in the second half to take its first lead of the game, 33-32. The Wildcats’ largest lead was 15 at 62-47 with 2:52 to play.

”We just came out so sluggish in the first half and we were just trying to play our way in to the game,” Law said. ”They threw the first punch at us right away and we weren’t prepared, so second half we had a lot more fire, a lot more pop and we wanted to throw the first punch in the second half, so we had a lot more energy in the second half.”

Corey Sanders led Rutgers with 18 points while Deshawn Freeman had 12 points and 15 rebounds. Rutgers shot just 31.9 percent from the floor and 65.2 percent from the free-throw line.Over the course of the past three weeks, Rutgers has struggled to put a complete game together.Earning votes in the AP poll earlier this season as they try to make the first NCAA Tournament in history, the Wildcats have won consecutive games after a two-game skid. Northwestern started the season 12-2, including a nine-game winning streak.The Scarlet Knights are on a six-game losing streak as they seek their first Big Ten win of the season and the first conference win for first-year coach Pikiell. In their third year in the Big Ten, they are 3-38 in league play.Rutgers held a moment of silence prior to the game for former Northwestern women’s basketball player Jordan Hankins. The 19-year-old was found dead in her dorm room on Monday. On Tuesday, the Cook County medical examiner released an autopsy report that said Hankins killed herself.Northwestern wore patches on its jerseys with her initials and her uniform number, 5.Northwestern had a program record 15 blocks in the game with Dererk Pardon leading the way with eight, the second-most by a Northwestern player. The Wildcats entered the game ranked 10th in the country in blocks with six per game.

NOTES—Both teams had poor nights shooting beyond the arc: Rutgers was 1 of 12 while Northwestern was 3 of 20…..Northwestern ended a five-game stretch to open Big Ten play that included four road games. Rutgers returned home after playing five of the last six on the road….Lindsey has now scored in double figures in all 18 games this season, the most consecutive games a Northwestern player has scored in double figures for the first time since John Shurna had 22 straight in 2011-12. It’s the most consecutive to start a season since Evan Eschmeyere started with 24 in a row in 1998-99…..NU returns home to host Iowa on Sunday.

CLEVELAND—Godwin Boahen scored seven of 10 points during a 24-7 second-half run to help UIC beat Cleveland State 59-54 on Thursday night.The Vikings led 39-30 before UIC took a 54-46 lead 2:18 remaining. Boahen made two layups and a 3-pointer, Dominique Matthews scored six of his 11 points, and Tarkus Ferguson added five of his six points during the stretch.Cleveland State pulled to 58-54 and had the ball with 23.8 seconds to go, but Kasheem Thomas missed a reverse layup on the next possession. Ferguson grabbed the rebound and split a pair of free throws to seal it.Clint Robinson also scored 11 points for UIC (9-8, 2-2 Horizon League). Rob Edwards had 13 points to lead Cleveland State (5-12, 1-4).Both teams shot poorly from the line. The Flames made 12 of 22 (55 percent) free throws while Cleveland State finished 7-of-20 shooting (47 percent).

A nifty shot by Duncan Keith helped the Blackhawks keep rolling despite giving up two leads.Keith scored a power-play goal 38 seconds into overtime, lifting the Hawks to a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night for the Blackhawks’ fourth straight victory. Keith, who also had an assist, beat Petr Mrazek with a rising screened drive from the top of the slot. The man advantage was set up when Justin Abdelkader was called for boarding Niklas Hjalmarsson with 15.2 seconds left in the third. It was just the second goal this season for Keith, who was named to the All-Star team earlier in the day for the fourth time in his career. The two time Norris Trophy winner has 29 assists, and moved into third place in all-time scoring among Blackhawks defensemen with 86 goals and 403 assists.
”I feel I’ve been shooting the puck quite a bit better the last three weeks or so.” Keith said.
And the difference?

”If I gave away my secrets, everybody would be using them,” Keith joked. ”I don’t know if those secrets work. I’ve got two goals.”

Keith’s goal, which he didn’t think Mrazek saw, allowed the Western Conference-leading Blackhawks to sweep a four-game homestand.Richard Panik also had a goal and assist, while Brian Campbell and Tanner Kero each scored. Ryan Hartman added two assists and Corey Crawford stopped 33 shots.

”The expectations are to keep climbing in the standings and obviously finish first in our division,” Campbell said. ”I think we’re starting to roll our lines a lot better right now than we were earlier in the season. We’re picking up the tempo of the game a little bit more.”
Andreas Athanasiou, Tomas Tatar and Luke Glendening had Detroit’s goals. Mrazek had 39 saves as the Red Wings fell to 2-2-2 on a season-high seven-game road trip.Penalties hurt the Red Wings. the Hawks were 2 for 6 with the advantage and got added momentum from the chances. Detroit failed on its lone power play.Abdelkader, who returned after missing 16 games with a knee injury, said he and his team were happy with the point, even if the late penalty against him allowed the Hawks to get two.

”It’s never a good feeling, but that’s how it goes,” Abdelkader said. ”We took too many penalties tonight. but we found a way to battle back.”

Panik’s goal was his 10th, making him the sixth Hawk player to reach double digits. Both Panik and Campbell ended eight-game droughts. Kero’s goal was his first in nine games since his recall from Rockford of the AHL.Athanasiou, benched at Anaheim on Jan. 4, has responded with three goals and six points in his last three games.Buoyed by three power plays, the Blackhawks dominated the first period and led 2-0 after 20 minutes on goals 26 seconds apart by Campbell and Panik.
”I thought (penalties) hurt us in the first period,” Detroit coach Jeff Blashill said. ”We took a penalty right away and now you’re on your heels a little bit.”
Campbell opened the scoring during a power play at 10:04. His shot from the top slot glanced off Detroit defenseman Alexey Marchenko in front and past Mrazek’s glove.Panik then connected to complete a 2-on-1 break with Hartman when he swatted in a rebound of Hartman’s shot with a backhander.It was 3-all after two as Detroit took charge in the middle period.Hhanasiou cut it it to 2-1 at 1:37 after Trevor van Riemsdyk turned over the puck behind the net to Thomas Vanek. Vanek fed it to Athanasiou at the left side of the slot and he ripped a rising shot over Crawford’s glove.Tatar capitalized after another scramble near the Blackhawk net and tied it at 2 at 9:09 – just 21 seconds after he left the penalty box.Kero put the Hawks back ahead 3-2 with 1:42 left in the second, swatting in a loose puck from just outside the crease.But Glendening knocked in the puck from a scrum on the right side of the net with 19 seconds remaining in the period to knot it again.Both goalies had to be sharp to keep the third scoreless.

NOTES—Keith trails only Doug Wilson and Bob Murray in career scoring by a Blackhawks defenseman. . Detroit D Mike Greene returned after sitting out eight with an upper-body injury. Greene is the Red Wing’s top scoring defenseman. … The Blackhawks and Red Wings play their second of two regular-season games on March 10 in Detroit. … Four Blackhawks players, the most from any team, were named to NHL All-Star team – G Corey Crawford (second appearance), Keith (fourth appearance), C Jonathan Toews (sixth appearance) and RW and reigning MVP Patrick Kane (sixth appearance.). The lone Red Wings player selected was C Frans Nielsen, who will make his first appearance.The Blackhawks: are at Washington on Friday night.

WASHINGTON—John Wall scored 26 points, including a game-winning baseline jumper with 5.9 seconds left, and added 14 assists as the Washington Wizards moved above .500 with a 101-99 victory over the Bulls on Tuesday night.Marcin Gortat had 10 points and 12 rebounds for Washington (19-18). He also set the screen that freed up Wall for his jumper to seal a 10th straight home win.Markieff Morris and Bradley Beal each added 19 points for the Wizards, who completed their biggest comeback victory of the season after trailing by 18 in the second quarter.Washington is above .500 for the first time in more than a year. A season ago, the Wizards were 6-5 after a victory on Nov. 24, 2015.Dwyane Wade, Jimmy Butler and Niko Mirictic were all missing from the short handed Bulls lineup

Russell Westbrook had 21 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds, helping the Oklahoma City Thunder pull away from the Bulls for an easy 109-94 victory Monday night.Steven Adams scored 22 points and Enes Kanter had 20 points and 11 rebounds, leading a dominant performance inside for Oklahoma City. Victor Oladipo added 13 points.Dwyane Wade led the Bulls with 22 points, and Michael Carter-Williams had 15. Cristiano Felicio finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.The Bulls had won three in a row and five of seven, but they were no match for the Thunder with Jimmy Butler hampered by an illness. The reigning Eastern Conference player of week had one point on 0-for-6 shooting and seven assists in 29 minutes before exiting in the third quarter.

Ryan Hartman scored off a goalmouth scramble in the third period and tacked on two empty-netters, helping the Blackhawks beat the banged-up Nashville Predators 5-2 on Sunday night.Artemi Panarin and Niklas Hjalmarsson also scored for the Blackhawks, who have won the first three of a four-game homestand. Patrick Kane added three assists, running his team-best total to 32 in 43 games, and Corey Crawford made 25 saves.Hartman was credited with his eighth of the season when Richard Panik’s shot created a scrum in front of the net, and the referees ruled the puck crossed the line before the goal was dislodged. It looked as if the puck might have gone off Hartman’s left hand while he battled Nashville defenseman Yannick Weber for position.The Predators pulled Pekka Rinne for an extra attacker with 1:39 left, and Hartman added two more goals for his first career hat trick. The big night for the rookie moved him into fifth on the team with 10 goals.Nashville lost for the third time in four games. Mattias Ekholm and Austin Watson scored for the Predators, and Rinne finished with 26 stops.The Predators played without defenseman P.K. Subban and forwards James Neal, Colin Wilson and Viktor Arvidsson. Subban has been out since Dec. 15 with an upper-body injury, and Neal was placed on injured reserve Saturday with an upper-body injury. Arvidsson missed his second straight game with an upper-body injury, and Wilson was inactive after he left Friday’s 2-1 loss at Florida with an injury.But Nashville was in position to possibly steal one on the road before Hartman’s closing flurry. The Predators tied it at 2 early in the third when Mike Fisher’s shot got past Crawford and went off the post before Watson poked it in.Defenseman Ryan Ellis had a shot go off the right post about 5 1/2 minutes into the third, and the Predators had a couple more prime scoring opportunities in the final period.The Blackhawks jumped in front in the first when Kane skated into the middle of the Nashville zone and passed it over to Panarin, who drove a one-timer over Rinne’s right shoulder from the outside of the left circle at 7:45.Panarin, who also scored in Friday night’s 2-1 win against Carolina, nearly picked up a second goal in the second, but Rinne got over for a terrific left pad save. The Russian winger has 20 points in his last 18 games.Nashville bounced right back after Panarin’s 17th of the season, tying it at 1 just 45 seconds later. Fisher made a nice pass to Ekholm, who beat Crawford from the left circle for his second goal of the season.

NOTES—It was Joel Quenneville’s 1,500th regular-season game as an NHL head coach. He is 389-194-78 in nine seasons with the Hawks. … Actor Bill Murray attended the game…..The Blackhawks host the hated Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.

LINCOLN—Northwestern came to Nebraska off two straight losses and went into halftime at Pinnacle Bank Arena on the wrong end of a dizzying 14-0 run that wiped out its double-digit lead.

”We know we have good players, we know we have a good team,” Wildcats coach Chris Collins said. ”But can we be tough? In this league, you have to be incredibly tough to win.”

The Wildcats were tough enough Sunday, winning 74-66 against a Nebraska team that started the day alone in first place in the Big Ten.Scottie Lindsey scored 15 of his 19 points in the second half and Northwestern withstood the run that stretched to 16-0 early in the second half.

”I think it gives a lot of our confidence back,” Lindsey said. ”We’d lost two straight games, and it’s easy to fold like that. We wanted to come in here against a team that’s proven that they’re here to stay; they’re No. 1 in the conference right now. We wanted to come in here and get a big win, and we did.”

Vic Law was 5 for 6 on 3-pointers and finished with 15 points for the Wildcats (13-4, 2-2 Big Ten), who also got 13 points from Dererk Pardon.Tai Webster scored 17 points to lead the Huskers (9-7, 3-1), who lost for the first time in five games.Northwestern made its first five 3s of the second half, with Law hitting one to give the Wildcats a 56-50 lead. The Huskers got no closer than five points the rest of the way.

”We knew they had shooters, and one quick letup and just like that it’s five 3s, and they go on a run and now we’re playing catch-up,” Nebraska’s Evan Taylor said. ”It’s a learning lesson. We have to get better moving forward.”

The Huskers looked ready to blow out the Wildcats after they outscored them 14-0 over the last 1:42 of the half to go up 37-33, with Webster popping a 3 just before the buzzer.

”Initially a little shell-shocked,” Collins said, describing his players’ mood at half. ”I think we were angry but initially we couldn’t really express it because we felt we were in control of the game. The tempo was to our liking, we were playing pretty good defense. It hit us like a buzz saw. Webster hits the 3 at the buzzer and you’re down four. That was a critical time for our team.”

Northwestern matched its season high with 11 3s on 24 attempts. The Wildcats shot 50 percent in the second half and 51 percent for the game. The Huskers mustered just 37.5 percent after halftime and 43.1 percent overall.

”They packed it in and dared us to shoot outside shots,” Taylor said. ”I thought their defensive game plan was good, but we kind of got timid on offense.”

The Huskers, trying to start conference play 4-0 for the first time since 1975-76, got 12 points from Michael Jacobson and 11 from Taylor. But Glynn Watson Jr., who had a career-high 34 against Iowa on Thursday, was held to just six points.

”You live and die by the jumper,” Jacobson said. ”If you’re making them, everything looks good. As soon as they don’t go in, it’s pretty ugly.”

The Wildcats are in the middle of playing four of its first five conference games on the road for the first time since 1955-56. Beating the Huskers was almost a must for a team that harbors hopes of making the NCAA Tournament for the first time.The Huskers were coming off their thrilling double-overtime victory over Iowa on Thursday, and it didn’t look like they were short on energy early. But it became apparent fatigue was a factor as Northwestern began winning most the loose balls and Nebraska’s shooting took a dive in the second half.

”One of our better wins, if you consider what Nebraska was playing like. They were the hottest team in our league… They have one game they’d like to have back. Everybody says, `Oh, they lost to Gardner-Webb.’ We all have a game where you’re a little braindead in the nonconference before Christmas. For us to come in here and steal one on the road was huge for our team and program.” – Collins….Northwestern visits Rutgers on Thursday.