Matt Farrell has been spreading the good news about Notre Dame teammate T.J. Gibbs.Gibbs’ play backed up Farrell’s words on Saturday.Gibbs scored 21 points to lead the No. 14 Irish to a 72-58 victory over DePaul in the season opener for both teams.
Gibbs shot 7 of 11 from the field.

”I’ve been telling people that since the summer, that he’s going to have a big year. Strong driver, shoots it way better than people think, and you saw that tonight. He’s confident. He’s another Jersey guy, so it’s a lot of fun to play with him.”

Bonzie Colson had 18 points and 13 rebounds and Farrell added 15 points for the Irish, who have Final Four aspirations after going 26-10 overall and 12-6 in the ACC last season.Eli Cain and Tre’Darius McCallum scored 14 points apiece for DePaul, which went 9-23 last season. Max Strus added 11 points and Devin Gage had 10.The Irish – who were picked by the media to finish third behind No. 1 Duke and No. 9 North Carolina in the ACC – made 9 of 12 3-point attempts in the second half.

”We’ve been really working on that all season, all offseason,” Gibbs said.

Notre Dame hit 12 of 27 from beyond the arc overall and shot 47.2 percent from the field to DePaul’s 33.8 percent.Colson, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, posted his 24th career double-double after recording 19 last season to lead the conference. He led Notre Dame in scoring at 17.8 points per game and rebounding at 10.1 last season to earn third-team AP All-America honors.Gibbs’ previous career-high was 13 points.

”He’s coming into his own, scoring, talking, and he’s become a little bit of a leader too, talking more on both sides of the floor,” Colson said. ”When he shoots the ball, he’s in attack mode. That’s what we need out of him.”

DePaul pulled within 31-30 before Strus missed on an alley-oop attempt and Notre Dame responded with 3s by Gibbs and Farrell to extend the lead to seven.The Irish began the second half by making 8 of 10 from beyond the arc to build a 13-point lead.

”We came out aggressive, but we slacked in the second half,” Gage said. ”I feel like we have a great team this year, and we’ll continue to progress.”

With a lively crowd on hand, DePaul unveiled its new home court at the 10,000-seat, $193 million Wintrust Arena on the city’s Near South Side.The Blue Demons hope to elevate their program with the new arena seven miles from campus. DePaul’s previous home court at AllState Arena was 14 miles away in the suburb of Rosemont. The Blue Demons played in Rosemont for 37 years.DePaul is 41-171 in the Big East since joining the conference in 2005-06 and last made the NCAA Tournament in 2004.

MIAMI GARDENS—Miami is getting championship rings when this season is over.Maybe, just maybe, the biggest kind.The Hurricanes sent two very clear messages to the College Football Playoff committee Saturday night – that they’re worthy of being a national title contender and that Notre Dame is not. Travis Homer ran for 146 yards, Deejay Dallas had a pair of touchdown runs and No. 7 Miami dominated No. 3 Notre Dame 41-8 to extend the nation’s longest winning streak to 14 games.Malik Rosier threw for a touchdown and ran for another for the Hurricanes (9-0, No. 7 CFP), who forced four turnovers for the fourth consecutive week and handed the Irish their second-worst loss in the history of the Miami-Notre Dame series. Only the 58-7 Miami romp in 1985 was more decisive.

”We didn’t see this coming,” Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said. ”Obviously, we felt we were prepared to play at a high level. We did not.”

And it came on the day that Miami clinched its first trip to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship game. The Hurricanes wrapped up the Coastal Division title about an hour before kickoff when Virginia’s loss to Louisville went final, giving Miami a berth against Clemson in the ACC title matchup on Dec. 2 at Charlotte.

”It’s a tremendous win,” linebacker Shaquille Quarterman said. ”It’s a tremendous moment.”

Alize Mack caught a 14-yard pass from Brandon Wimbush for the lone touchdown for Notre Dame (8-2, No. 3 CFP), which hadn’t played a road game against the Hurricanes since 1989.Ed Reed was on the field pregame waving a Turnover Chain, the necklace that has become college football’s most-discussed piece of jewelry this season. Vince Wilfork called Notre Dame out on Twitter for standing on the ”U” midfield logo in a pregame talk. The game was a sellout; a simultaneous concert a few miles south in Miami by Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull – both Miami natives with enormous fan bases – still had some tickets remaining not long before showtime.For now, the `Canes are the biggest thing in town again.Braxton Berrios made a diving catch for the first touchdown of the night, then ran back to the Miami sideline with his hands clasped behind his back – as if he was wearing handcuffs, a nod to the ”Catholics vs. Convicts” moniker from the 1980s that still makes the Hurricanes seethe.Rosier ran in from 16 yards out 88 seconds later after Jaquan Johnson got Miami’s first interception of the night, and the Hurricanes were well on their way to the rout. Trajan Bandy’s 65-yard interception return just before halftime sent the Hurricanes into the break leading 27-0, and Dallas scored twice in the second half.

EVANSTON—Clayton Thorson had a pair of touchdowns, Charlie Kuhbander hit all three of his second-half field goal attempts and Northwestern won its fifth straight with a 23-13 victory over Purdue on Saturday night.

”To win five straight in the Big Ten, with the teams we play, is pretty impressive,” Thorson said. ”It’s been a fun stretch with these guys.”

Thorson was 26 of 46 for 296 yards. He had an 11-yard TD pass to Bennett Skowronek and rushed for a 4-yard score. It was the 18th rushing touchdown of Thorson’s career, tying him with Brett Basanez for third place for most by a quarterback in school history.Skowronek had seven receptions for 117 yards. Justin Jackson was held to 46 yards on 25 carries for the Wildcats (7-3, 5-2 Big Ten).

”They basically did what we thought they were going to do, and that’s load the box to do everything they could to stop Justin,” Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald said. ”We needed Clayton and the receiving corps to step up and they did.”

Elijah Sindelar was 37 of 60 for 376 yards with two TDs and an interception for Purdue (4-6, 2-5). The sophomore established career highs in completions, attempts and passing yards.Purdue was 1 for 4 on fourth down with the only conversion coming on a fake punt. The Northwestern defense came up with three stops on a fourth and short, including a fourth-and-1 from the Purdue 45 with just less than 14 minutes remaining.Kuhbander hit a 36-yard field goal on the ensuing drive to give the Wildcats a 23-7 edge with just under 12 minutes to go. He has 12 field goals on the season to establish a new school record for a first-year player.

CHAMPAIGN—Heading into Saturday’s game, Indiana was 0-6 in the Big Ten. Losing that many conference games makes it hard to find something to play for late in the season, but the Hoosiers didn’t have to look far.Indiana’s 24-14 victory over Illinois secured their first conference win of the year and kept their bowl-game aspirations alive. But it was also the first Big Ten victory for head coach Tom Allen.Richard Lagow was the main catalyst for Indiana, throwing for 289 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday.The Hoosiers (4-6, 1-6) racked up 428 yards offense and used a balanced attack to leave the Illini as the only winless team in the Big Ten.Coming into the matchup, Indiana was ranked last in the conference in rushing yards per game at 114.6. But on Saturday, Indiana had 139 rushing yards led by Cole Gest who ran for 82 on 17 carries.Both teams got off to slow starts, but with 1:28 left in the first quarter Jalen Dunlap recorded his first career interception which set the Illini (2-8, 0-7) up at their own 44-yard line but they went three-and-out.Morgan Ellison broke the scoreless tie on a 2-yard plunge with just under three minutes left in the first half. His fourth score of the season capped a 10-play, 45-yard drive.Illinois didn’t give up another rushing touchdown, but Lagow got the job done through the air. He completed 32 of 48 attempts to 10 receivers with Ian Thomas and Simmie Cobbs Jr. both scoring.Cobbs was second on the team with 54 receiving yards has recorded a touchdown in three straight games.

RALEIGH—Brandon Saad missed an early opportunity for the Blackhawks, but he rose to the occasion when it really counted.Saad scored at 1:44 of overtime to give the Hawks a 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night. His penalty-shot attempt was stopped by Scott Darling less than two minutes into the game.Alex DeBrincat scored two goals and Gustav Forsling had one for Chicago, which scored three times after falling behind 3-1. DeBrincat and Forsling also assisted on Saad’s game-winner.

”That’s a big comeback win and one we needed in the room,” DeBrincat said. ”Hopefully we can keep moving with this. Getting two goals was nice. I get a few puck bounces there and get lucky and it goes in. But it was good timing for me. We definitely needed this win.”

Brock McGinn had two goals and Jeff Skinner scored one for Carolina.Anton Forsberg had 35 saves to beat Carolina for the first time in three career meetings.Darling, who spent the previous three seasons with the Blackhawks, stopped 26 shots for the Hurricanes.Carolina led 2-0 after an opening period in which the Hurricanes outshot the visitors 16-15.

”I had a couple of chances early,” Saad said. ”You miss those chances and they end up scoring. You definitely want one, and it was great to get it in overtime. It feels good. But the biggest thing is contributing to a win.”

McGinn put the Hurricanes ahead at 6:53 on a backhander from the left doorstep with assists from Derek Ryan and Justin Williams. McGinn has goals in three straight games, while Ryan has points in three straight and Williams has assists in the last three.Skinner added his eighth of the season, unassisted from the same spot at 9:01.The Blackhawks scored on a rush just after a power play ended at 7:34 of the second, with DeBrincat converting on Jonathan Toews’ pinpoint pass to the right doorstep.Back came Carolina at 9:58, with McGinn roofing the puck past Forsberg on a rushDeBrincat scored his second goal early in the third, and Forsling tied it on a blast from the left point with 9:31 remaining.

”We dug a hole again, but I thought we hung in there,” Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville said. ”Certainly scoring that late (Forsling) goal helped. I liked their response coming in after (Carolina’s) third goal.”

Along with Darling, Carolina forwards Joakim Nordstrom, Teuvo Teravainen and Marcus Kruger and defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk were members of the 2015 Blackhawks team that won the Stanley Cup.

SAN ANTONIO—The Spurs normally rely on their depth to get through the rigors of a lengthy regular season, but their leaning on their reserves earlier than usual after multiple injuries.No more so than Saturday night, when San Antonio was without a third of its roster.Pau Gasol had 21 points and 10 rebounds and the short-handed Spurs beat the Bulls 133-94, setting a season-high in points despite missing six players.Dejounte Murray added 17 points and fellow second-year player Davis Bertans had 16 points in 18 minutes for San Antonio.The Bulls lost rookie forward Lauri Markkanen to a sprained left ankle late in the first half. The severity of the injury is unknown, Bulls coach Fred Hoiberg said.The Spurs were without three starters and two key reserves. In addition to Kawhi Leonard and Tony Parker, who have yet to play this season due to quadriceps injuries, San Antonio was also without Danny Green. Manu Ginobili rested on the second night of a back-to-back. The Spurs still had the depth to hand the rebuilding Bulls their fourth straight loss.

”Having people out and having lost the last game at home last night, I guess you’re (playing) more with an edge,” Gasol said.

San Antonio raced to a 30-8 lead in the opening quarter, extending the margin to 22 points at the close of the period.The Bulls shot 35 percent and did not have any fastbreak points in the first quarter while the Spurs had eight.

PHILADELPHIA—Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each had a goal and two assists to lead the Philadelphia Flyers over the Blackhawks 3-1 on Thursday night.Brian Elliott made 38 saves and Sean Couturier also scored for the Flyers, who avenged last Wednesday’s 3-0 loss at the United Center while beating the Blackhawks for the 14th straight time in Philadelphia during the regular season.The Hawks last regular-season victory at Philadelphia came on Nov. 9, 1996 at the Spectrum. The Blackhawks did clinch their 2010 Stanley Cup title with a Game 6 win on the Flyers’ home ice.Connor Murphy scored for the Blackhawks.Couturier upped his team-leading total to 10 goals by finishing Giroux’s pass from close range four minutes into the second period to give Philadelphia a 3-0 lead.The Hawks got on the board with 3:47 remaining in the second when Murphy scored on a rebound from the left circle. Murphy’s father, Gord, is a Flyers assistant and watched the goal from the bench.That was the only goal the Blackhawks could muster despite coach Joel Quenneville reuniting the top line of Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews and Patrick Sharp in hopes of kick-starting a tepid offense. It was to little avail, though, and the Blackhawks now have three goals in their last three games.The Blackhawks had a chance to pull closer during a 5-on-3 power play near the end of the period, but the Flyers were able to kill it off.The Flyers, playing with pep in their step after four days off, took a 2-0 lead with a pair of first-period goals in a strong opening 20 minutes.Giroux opened the scoring five minutes in by firing a one-timer from the slot past Corey Crawford. Voracek put Philadelphia ahead by two with 7:52 left in the period when he scored on a one-timer from the right circle after a cross-ice pass from Shayne Gostisbehere.Crawford stopped 28 shots.

NOTES—D Gustav Forsling returned after missing three straight games with an upper-body injury. . Flyers rookie Nolan Patrick missed his seventh consecutive game with an upper-body injury, but did skate on his own during the morning skate. He is targeting a return next Tuesday at Minnesota. . The Flyers held a moment of silence before the game for former Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay, who died in a plane crash Tuesday…..The Blackhawks are at Carolina on Saturday night.

LAKE FOREST—Former Bears great Joe Fortunato passed away Monday in Mississippi. He was 87.Fortunato played his entire 12-year NFL career with the Bears from 1955-66. A five-time Pro Bowler and three-time first-team All-Pro, he was named to the NFL 300 greatest players team in the early 2000s as well as the NFL All-Decade Team for the 1950s.Fortunato was selected by the Bears in the seventh round of the 1952 draft (80th overall) out of Mississippi State, where he played fullback and linebacker and was voted an All-American in 1951. He did not join the Bears until 1955 due to a military commitment.Fortunato played in 155 career games, recording 16 interceptions and 22 fumble recoveries.After retiring as a player, Fortunato spent two seasons as a Bears assistant, working as linebackers coach in George Halas’ final year as head coach in 1967 and then as defensive coordinator on Jim Dooley’s staff in 1968.

“Joe Fortunato was not only a great player for the Chicago Bears,” Bears chairman George H. McCaskey said in a statement, “including being a part of our 1963 championship at Wrigley Field, he was a key figure in one of the greatest linebacker trios in Bears history alongside Hall of Famer Bill George and Larry Morris. The Chicago Bears family extends our condolences to the Fortunato family on the passing of Joe.”

• 
• JOE FORTUNATO in 1960

TORONTO—Bobby Portis gave the Bulls a boost in his first game back from suspension. Just not enough to top DeMar DeRozan and the Toronto Raptors.DeRozan scored 24 points, Jonas Valanciunas had 21 points and 10 rebounds, and the Raptors beat the Bulls 119-114 on Tuesday night for their first three-game winning streak over the Bulls since 2009.Portis had 21 points and 13 rebounds in his return after sitting out his team’s first eight games.

”Bobby gave us a great lift out there,” coach Fred Hoiberg said. ”He played with great emotion. He went out there and gave us energy when we needed it.”

The Bulls suspended Portis after he punched teammate Nikola Mirotic during a preseason practice. Mirotic, who suffered facial fractures and a concussion, is expected to miss four to six weeks.

”I got my dream taken away from me for three weeks,” Portis said. ”I don’t want my dream taken away from me anymore.”

DeRozan called Portis ”a solid player” after watching the third-year forward make 8 of 13 field goal attempts.

”He’s got a great touch on his jump shot,” DeRozan said. ”He came out and played well for them tonight.”

Before the game, Portis said Mirotic did not reply to his phone and text messages following the incident, adding that the two have not yet spoken.Kyle Lowry scored 17 points and Serge Ibaka had 16 for the Raptors, who had lost 11 straight meetings with the Bulls before the current streak began with an overtime victory on March 21. Toronto beat the Bulls 117-100 on Oct. 19, the opening game of the season for both teams.Robin Lopez scored 20 points and Justin Holiday had 15 as the Bulls lost for the fourth time in five games.Toronto led by as many as 23 but the Bulls cut the deficit to 115-112 following a hook shot by Portis with 41 seconds left. DeRozan answered with a turnaround jump shot with 20 seconds left, leading to a Bulls timeout.Hoiberg said Mirotic is responding well to having his activity level increased daily, but has yet to resume running. … The Bulls had held three previous opponents below 100 points. … The Bulls are 1-4 on the road.Raptors: Toronto recorded more than 20 assists for the seventh time in their first 10 games, finishing with 22. … The five-point margin of victory was the smallest of the season for the Raptors, who had won by nine points or more in their five previous wins. … Toronto matched a season-high with 13 made 3-pointers. All five starters made at least one. … The Raptors assigned F Bruno Caboclo to its G-League team, Raptors 905.Hoiberg said he tore into his team at halftime after what he called an ”awful” defensive performance in the first two quarters. Toronto ended the second with a 16-4 run.

”They got anything they wanted in the first half,” Hoiberg said. ”We didn’t take anything away from them. It was too easy.”

Charlie Lindgren is not Ken Dryden or Carey Price,,,but he kept the Montreal Canadiens in the game until they finally solved Corey Crawford.Not bad for a 23-year-old goaltender making his first appearance of the season.Lindgren had 38 saves in his first career shutout, helping the Canadiens beat Crawford and the Blackhawks 2-0 on Sunday night.

”We needed a solid performance from Charlie and he gave us that,” coach Claude Julien said.

With Carey Price sidelined by a minor lower-body injury and Al Montoya coming off a 19-save performance Saturday night in a 5-4 overtime win at Winnipeg, Julien turned to Lindgren for Montreal’s third game in four nights. The Lakeville, Minnesota, native responded with Montreal’s first shutout while improving to 4-0 in four career NHL starts.Lindgren was promoted from Laval of the American Hockey League on Friday.

”I think down there the last four games or so I was really starting to kind of get into a groove and playing really good,” he said. ”I came up here and definitely want to make the most of my opportunity.”

Lindgren and Crawford were locked up in a scoreless duel before Jonathan Drouin skated through the slot and shot the puck into the left side of the net at 1:54 of the third. Drouin’s third goal of the season stopped Crawford’s scoreless streak at 173 minutes, 9 seconds.Defenseman Joe Morrow added his third career goal at 7:45, helping Montreal to its fourth win in five games. Morrow blasted a slap shot by a screened Crawford for his first goal since Oct. 27, 2015, for Boston against Arizona.
“‘We played solid,” Montreal forward and for Hawk Andrew Shaw said. ”We didn’t give up too many prime scoring chances, but when we did Charlie was there.”

Coming off consecutive shutouts against Philadelphia and Minnesota, Crawford finished with 33 stops in his first career regulation loss against his hometown team. He was 8-0-2 with a 1.49 goals-against average in 10 games against Montreal.The Blackhawks have scored just 11 goals in their last six games.

”We know what we have behind us,” Ryan Hartman said. ”Crow’s been playing great for us. He’s kept us in some games, like in Minnesota. Even versus Philly too. We need to generate some offense for him.”

Lindgren got over for a great blocker save on Jonathan Toews with 1:40 left in the first. Toews banged a shot off the left post early in the second, and Lindgren gloved another solid opportunity for Chicago’s captain with about seven minutes left in the third.Lindgren also robbed Richard Panik with 15 seconds left.

”Give him credit,” Blackhawk star Patrick Kane said. ”I think he played well. Sometimes you can probably make better shots. He was kinda seeing the puck through some traffic, so give him credit.”

The Blackhawks also went 0 for 3 on the power play after scoring with the man advantage in each of their previous two games, including Saturday night’s 2-0 victory at Minnesota.

NOTES—Blackhawks D Gustav Forsling missed his third straight game with an upper-body injury. He could return Thursday night at Philadelphia. ”He’s very close,” Quenneville said. ”I think we give him four more days is what we’re looking at.” . … The Blackhawks wore camouflage-style jerseys for warmups that will be autographed and auctioned off online to benefit USO of Illinois.