DeMar DeRozan had 35 points, Delon Wright set career highs with 25 points and 13 rebounds, and the Raptors beat the Bulls 124-115 on Wednesday night.DeRozan came up big again after scoring a franchise-record 52 points in a win over Milwaukee on New Year’s Day. He was particularly good in the third quarter this time, scoring 18 points after being held to nine in the first half. DeRozan also shot 5 of 8 on 3-pointers and converted all 10 free throws.Wright had his first career double-double and hit four 3s to lead a big effort by the bench. He scored 12 in the second quarter and eight more points in the fourth to help Toronto pull away for its ninth win in 11 games.Serge Ibaka and Kyle Lowry scored 16 apiece for Toronto. Fred VanVleet, from nearby Rockford, added 13 points, and the Raptors’ reserves outscored the Bulls 54-39.Justin Holiday led the Home team with 26 points, and Lauri Markkanen added 22 points and 12 rebounds. Nikola Mirotic scored 20, but the Bulls dropped their third straight.The Bulls looked sharp early on, with a 10-point lead after the first quarter. But they couldn’t sustain their edge on defense and were impatient on offense – particularly the second unit.

ROSEMONT—Glynn Watson Jr. knew he needed to step up after two quiet games and give Nebraska a lift.This will do.Watson scored 19 points and Nebraska took control down the stretch to beat Northwestern 70-55 on Tuesday night.

”It’s just on me,” Watson said. ”I’ve got to get focused.”

Held to a total of three points over the previous two games against UT San Antonio and Delaware State, he sure was locked in for this one. Watson also had six rebounds and six assists.James Palmer Jr. added 18 points, 15 in the second half, and Isaac Copeland scored 13.The Cornhuskers (11-5, 2-1 Big Ten) blocked 14 shots, one shy of their record, on the way to their fourth straight win.Dererk Pardon had 17 points and a season-high 15 rebounds for Northwestern (10-6, 1-2). But the Wildcats shot just 29 percent from the field (19 of 65) and were 6 of 21 on 3-pointers.It didn’t help that star guard Bryant McIntosh watched from the sideline after exiting Saturday’s win over Brown with a left knee injury. He is day to day after an MRI showed no major structural damage.

”If you take our main creator out, we become a team that has to really score off our offense,” coach Chris Collins said. ”Because that’s not a strength of what a lot of our guys do. They’re good players, but when you have a guy like Bryant, he can break you down (off the dribble) he can play in pick-and-roll and obviously that’s a big element of what we do. But you have to play with what you have. I’m not making excuses. That’s part of the game.”

Nebraska coach Tim Miles acknowledged McIntosh’s absence allowed his team to take some more chances on defense, to be more disruptive. And they certainly were able to fluster the Wildcats. Then again, Northwestern also missed its share of open shots, particularly on the perimeter.Despite all that, the Wildcats led by seven early in the second half. Nebraska then took control and ended a four-game losing streak to Northwestern.The Cornhuskers are starting to build some momentum after back-to-back losses to Creighton and Kansas.Northwestern: The Wildcats continue to struggle to find consistency coming off their first NCAA tournament appearance.The Cornhuskers went on a 16-5 run to go up 41-36. Law cut it to 41-40 with a basket and two free throws, but the Cornhuskers pulled away after that.

Anton Gill made a 4-point play with just under eight minutes left, and Collins said, ”They got a lot of energy from that.”

Isaac Copeland got fouled on a put-back and hit the free throw to complete the 3-point play, making it 54-45 with 6:13 remaining. And James Palmer nailed a 3 to make it 59-49 with 3:32 left.

Jessie Govan scored 25 points with 12 rebounds and Marcus Derrickson added 24 points as Georgetown fought off DePaul 90-81 to get its first Big East win of the season on Tuesday night.

Govan had nine of his 17 second-half points in the final 4:45, including four free throws in the final seconds to seal the win. He made 8-of-12 field-goal attempts and was 9 of 12 from the line.

Derrickson was 6 of 15 from the field, but made all 10 of his free-throw attempts. Jahvon Blair added 15 points for Georgetown (11-3, 1-2), which started the season 10-1. The Hoyas opened conference play with losses to Butler and Marquette.The Blue Demons made four more field goals than Georgetown, but the Hoyas outscored DePaul 31-14 from the free-throw line.The Hoyas were up 54-44 when Max Strus, who finished with 19 points, scored seven straight DePaul points to start a 16-7 run, capped by Marin Maric’s dunk, as the Blue Demons closed to 61-60 with 9:44 left. The Hoyas answered by scoring 11 points in a row to pull ahead 72-60.Maric and Tre’Darius McCallum had 18 points apiece for DePaul (7-8, 0-3).

If C.J. McCollum finds a shot he likes, he won’t hesitate to take it.McCollum proved it Monday night when he scored 25 of his 32 points after halftime, including the tiebreaking basket with 56.5 seconds remaining in overtime, and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the  Bulls 124-120.Al-Farouq Aminu added a season-high 24 points and Evan Turner also had his season best with 22 for Portland, which was without leading scorer Damian Lilliard for a fifth straight game.Kris Dunn scored 22 points and Nikola Mirotic had 18 points off the bench for the Bulls, who blew a late lead for a second straight game. The Bulls lost for only the fourth time in 14 games since Mirotic returned to the lineup.Though he missed his first seven shots, McCollum was pivotal as Portland rallied from a six-point deficit in the final 2 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter. McCollum scored the final four points in regulation to tie the score at 112 and answered after Lauri Markannen, who finished with 19 points, made a jumper from the corner that tied it at 120 with 1:14 left in overtime.McCollum then made his short floater and added a pair of late free throws.

LAKE FOREST—No shock in that John Fox was officially dismissed as Bears Head Coach by GM Ryan Pace.As the Bears try to recover from a decade of poor drafting by building a new foundation that’ll allow them to finally compete again in the crowded NFC North, they’ve decided to pace themselves on their march toward relevancy. Despite posting a 14-34 record in his three seasons as the Bears’ general manager and despite firing his first coaching hire, John Fox, earlier on Monday, Ryan Pace landed a contract extension that’ll keep him in Chicago through 2021.Pace will get his chance to see his plan through.Fox of course also had a 14-34 Coaching record, second worst winning percentage in Bears history, only to Abe Gibron.

“He’s earned the opportunity to see his plan to fruition,” Bears team president Ted Phillips told reporters a day after the Bears wrapped up a 5-11 season.

Pace isn’t losing any power either. He confirmed that he will be allowed to make the final decision on the Bears’ next coaching hire. Eagles QB coach John DeFilippo, Vikings OC Pat Shurmur, Panthers DC Steve Wilks emerge in the Bears’ Head Coaching search.Fox was never good with the media, and in fact walked out on his postgame media session in Minneapolis after two consecutive questions about his job security. He and Lovie Smith had THAT in common.

ORLANDO—Notre Dame receiver Miles Boykin lived up to Brian Kelly’s expectations.The Fighting Irish’s head coach told the junior during a practice leading up to Monday’s Citrus Bowl game against LSU that Boykin was going to win the MVP trophy.Boykin made not only one of the top plays of this bowl season but one of the more memorable catches in Notre Dame bowl history. He made a dynamic one-handed grab and raced down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown with 1:28 remaining to give the 14th-ranked Fighting Irish a 21-17 victory over No. 16 LSU.The win by Notre Dame (10-3) is its first in a New Year’s Day bowl since the 1994 Cotton Bowl against Texas A&M and snaps a nine-game skid in January postseason games.

”He looked at me like I had two heads. But I felt like he had a chance,” said Kelly about his prediction. ”He’s got the ability, if we could get him the football. And Ian got him the football and Miles made a great individual play and, lo and behold, I’ve got the MVP sitting next to me.”

Boykin had only nine catches for 151 yards and a TD coming into the game, but he got his first start after starters Chase Claypool (shoulder injury) and Kevin Stephenson (suspension) were ruled out.Boykin showed off his wide-catch radius on what proved to be the game-winning play. On first-and-10 from the Irish 45, Ian Book lofted a pass up the right sideline that Boykin was able to snag with his right hand at the LSU 33, eluding corner Donte Jackson. Boykin then broke a tackle attempt by Donte Jackson at the LSU 26 before finding a clear path to the end zone.

”Ian put it in place where only I could reach it,” said Boykin, who finished with three receptions for 102 yards and a touchdown. ”It was a great pass and I was just lucky enough to pull it down on one hand. I’ve got pretty big hands.”

LSU coach Ed Orgeron said that Boykin made a great grab but lamented his defense’s other struggles on the play.

”We had our best cover guy on him (Jackson) but he’s a big receiver,” he said after the Tigers finished the season 9-4. ”We had two guys on him and missed the tackle. That’s what I’m mostly disappointed with.”

Book entered the game in the second quarter after Brandon Wimbush struggled moving the offense. The sophomore was 14 of 19 for 164 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.Book’s first touchdown came early in the fourth quarter. With Notre Dame trailing 14-6, he found Michael Young in the back of the end zone for a 6-yard score. Josh Adams then scored on a two-point conversion to tie it.

”It was an awesome opportunity, such a surreal moment that last play with Miles,” Book said. ”We knew it was going to be a close game. We just had to stay composed and do what we have been doing since January.”

The game lacked drama the first three quarters. It was scoreless until four seconds remained in the first half when a Justin Yoon 46-yard field goal gave Notre Dame a 3-0 halftime lead.LSU’s Danny Etling was 19 of 33 for 229 yards and a pair of second-half touchdowns to Derrius Guice. Guice, who was the MVP of last year’s game, had 98 yards on 21 carries. Kelly joins Knute Rockne, Ara Parseghian and Lou Holtz as the only Fighting Irish coaches to have three double-digit win seasons at the school.

MINNEAPOLIS—The Minnesota Vikings and their dominant defense can finally rest.They’ve made a convincing case they’re a strong contender for the Super Bowl that happens to be on their home turf.Latavius Murray rushed for 111 yards and two touchdowns , and the Vikings held the Bears to 86 total yards through three quarters on their way to wrapping up a first-round bye for the playoffs with a 23-10 victory over the Bears on Sunday.

”We wanted to finish this season off right,” Murray said.

Stefon Diggs caught six passes for 65 yards and a touchdown from Case Keenum for the Vikings (13-3), who reached 13 wins for only the second time in the history of the 57-year-old franchise after holding a second straight opponent without an offensive touchdown.

”You respect everybody who played the game and came before us,” Diggs said, ”but all those wins that we’ve had in the past, even today, they don’t matter anymore because it all could end.”

As long as this defense that entered the final regular-season game with the fewest points and yards allowed in the NFL this season is intact, the Vikings will be all the more likely to stick around.

”We’ve got a lot of good players. They understand the system and what their responsibility is, and they play very, very hard,” coach Mike Zimmer said. ”They’ve got this little edge about them right now, that they don’t want to give an inch.”

Mitchell Trubisky finished his rookie season with a turnover-free game, completing 20 of 36 passes for 178 yards. He failed, however, to guide the Bears (5-11) across the goal line despite 11 plays from the 10-yard line or closer in the fourth quarter.

”I just got more comfortable as the weeks went on,” Trubisky said. ”Just to play my game, be a leader on this team and help the offense grow and get better, but we’ve got to find a way to have a chance to win at the end of games.”

Trubisky also took a safety in the second quarter on an intentional grounding call when Danielle Hunter and Linval Joseph closed in on a sack in the end zone and he side-armed a throw between the two pass rushers.

”He just tossed it as if he was scared or something,” Hunter said.

Well, could you blame him?
”Nah!” Hunter said.Keenum said 13-3 had ”a nice ring to it.” The Vikings finished 12-2 four times with a 14-game schedule (in 1969, 1970, 1973 and 1975), but the only other time they’ve topped 12 victories was their 15-1 record in 1998.

”This place is crazy hard for teams to come in and play, especially with our defense. So I’m excited. I think this place is going to be rocking,” Keenum said.

In what could have been the final game for coach John Fox, who’s 14-34 in three seasons, the Bears didn’t cross midfield until the fourth quarter and totaled only 30 yards rushing. They were penalized 10 times for 116 yards and went 1 for 14 on third and fourth down conversions.Fox refused to address his status, leaving the podium in less than two minutes after a terse postgame news conference. The Bears are 1-5 against each of their three NFC North foes under Fox.

CALGARY—The recent promotion of Matthew Tkachuk onto Calgary’s No. 1 power-play unit is paying off.Tkachuk scored twice and Mark Giordano scored 52 seconds into overtime to lift the Flames over the Blackhawks 4-3 on Sunday night.Calgary’s power play was in a 2-for-31 slump when coach Glen Gulutzan made some personnel changes to his top unit on Thursday. One move was inserting Tkachuk into the role of net-front presence.The Flames have gone 3 for 8 with the extra man in the three games since, including a perfect 2 for 2 against the Hawks.Tkachuk gave Calgary a 2-0 lead at 4:42 of the second on a set play in which he got into open space and stuck his stick out, deflecting in Johnny Gaudreau’s pass.

”They’ve been working on that one play in practice and they just missed it the other night and they hit it tonight,” Gulutzan said.

In overtime, Mikael Backlund sent a pass back to the blue line where Giordano took a couple strides and fired a shot into the top corner on Jeff Glass. It helped Calgary salvage a win after Brandon Saad tied it with 1:46 left in the third period.Sean Monahan also scored for Calgary, which had lost five of seven home games. Mike Smith turned away 34 shots.Jordan Oesterle and Jonathan Toews also scored for the Blackhawks,who extend their points streak against Calgary to 16 games (10-0-6), a streak that dates to Feb. 2, 2013. Glass finished with 35 saves.

”We’ll take any point that we can get, but obviously we want to get both points especially at the position we’re in,” Saad said.

Toews and Saad also had an assist and each snapped six-game pointless streaks.Saad tied it with the goalie pulled. Toews won a faceoff back to Saad, whose quick shot deflected off the skate of Travis Hamonic and through Smith’s pads.”Goals are going to happen. You just have to find ways to make the saves at important times,” Smith said. ”Big goal by (Giordano) in overtime there and we go into the new year feeling good about ourselves.”

The Flames took a 3-0 lead 1:05 seconds later with Gaudreau again orchestrating the setup, this time to Monahan in front, who snapped his nine-game goalless drought.The Bears answered right back with two quick goals.Shortly after the Blackhawks’ power play expired, Oesterle’s point shot eluded Smith, who was completely screened by Ryan Hartman and did not move on it until it was coming back out of the net.Oesterle has goals in two straight games. He went the first 36 games his career without a goal until scoring in the 4-3 win over Edmonton on Friday.Fifty-six seconds later, Oesterle was in the middle of things again, his point shot was kicked out by Smith but Toews buried the rebound.With Corey Crawford (upper body) sidelined, Glass, a Calgary native, made his second-straight and second career start forthe Bears and was solid again.

NOTES—Backlund played in his 500th career game. … Andrew Mangiapane made his NHL debut for the Flames after being called up Sunday morning from Stockton (AHL). He played on the fourth line with Matt Stajan and Troy Brouwer. … Giordano played career game No. 712, moving into 6th place on the Flames all-time list.Play at the New York Rangers on Wednesday night.

WASHINGTON—Bradley Beal delivered when the Wizards needed him most.Beal scored 17 of his 39 points in the fourth quarter to lead Washington to a 114-110 win over the Bulls on Sunday.Beal scored 15 straight points in the fourth as the Wizards rallied from an eight-point deficit early in the period. He also had nine rebounds and tied a career high with nine assists.

”I didn’t even know that,” Beal said when asked about his spurt. ”That’s just being in the zone, being locked in.”

Beal became the second player this year to have at least 39 points, nine rebounds and nine assists. Oklahoma City’s Russell Westbrook had 40 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists on Dec. 29.Beal has shown signs of taking his game to a new level this season. When backcourt mate John Wall was out with a knee injury, Beal had a career-high 51 points at Portland on Dec. 5, a night after the Wizards suffered a 47-point loss at Utah.

”He’s able to stay aggressive and still be hot and also make the right reads at the right times,” Wall said.

Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said it was frustrating trying to defend Beal.

”We were trying to get it out of his hands there for a stretch,” Hoiberg said. ”But they did a good job finding him, seeking him out.”

Nikola Mirotic scored 21 points to lead the Bulls, who had won 10 of its previous 12. Kris Dunn had 19 points and 11 assists.David Nwaba’s two free throws with 1:26 to play gave the Bulls a 108-107 lead, and Dunn hit a jumper with 54 seconds remaining.Wall’s three-point play with 29.4 seconds left put the Wizards up 112-110. After Beal missed two free throws, Washington got the rebound and Wall added two free throws with 9.1 seconds to play.Wall had 21 points, nine assists, six rebounds and four blocked shots.The difference was 3-point shooting. Washington was 16 for 36 (44.4 percent) while the Bulls were 8 for 35 (22.9 percent). The Bulls missed 17 of 20 3-point attempts in the first half.

ROSEMONT—Northwestern is now set for the resumtion of Big Ten Play after they rallied from a seven point hole to beat the Ivy League’s Brown Bruins 73-55. The Wldcats(10-5, 1-1)started slowly, and led 42-37 at halftime. Brown(6-6)started getting long range shots from guards Brandon Anderson(26 points) and Desmond Cambridge(22)who each had a trio of three point buckets. Brown’s largest lead was 55-48 with 15:30 to play, but a steal and dunk by Scottie Lindsey started the Cats on the comeback trail. Bryant McIntosh suffered-likely a knee injury which the extent of which was not yet known. NU finshed the rest of the game on a 47-18 run. The play inside from Dererk Pardon and Gavin Skelly game NU a big boost. Pardon led the Wildcats with 18 points and 8 rebounds, Lindsey had 14. McIntosh had 13 before the injury. Vic Law, back after missing the Oklahome game, and Anthony Gaines each contributed 11.

NOTES—The Wildcats resume Big Ten Play with Nebraska Tuesday night here at Allstate Arena…..Attendance was 6006.

LES