NEW YORK—Malik Ellison hit 5 of 6 3-pointers and scored a career-high 23 points to help St. John’s end a four-game slide with a 78-68 victory over DePaul on Monday night.After Billy Garrett Jr. missed a long 3-pointer for DePaul with the shot clock winding down, Marcus LoVett grabbed the long rebound and made a contested layup in transition for a 67-56 lead. It was LoVett’s only made field goal of the game. Garrett hit two free throws on the other end but Ellison answered with a 3-pointer to make it 70-58.Shamorie Ponds and Bashir Ahmed each scored 14 points for St. John’s (9-11, 3-4 Big East). Ponds sank four of St. John’s 12 3-pointers as the Red Storm made 54.5 percent from distance. Tariq Owens had 10 points, nine rebounds and four blocks.Garrett scored 16 points for DePaul (8-11, 1-5) but he had six of the Blue Demons’ 16 turnovers. Eli Cain added 15 points, Tre’Darius McCallum had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Joe Hanel scored 12. The Blue Demons have lost seven of their last eight games.It was St. John’s final game on campus this season.

INDIANAPOLIS—Down by 16 points at the break, the No. 13 Butler Bulldogs got an earful from coach Chris Holtmann.
”At halftime, coach came in, he was very upset with our play defensively and offensively,” forward Kelan Martin said.

After a pair of free throws early in the second half put them down by 18, the Bulldogs rallied. Kelan Martin wound up with 22 points as they surged to beat Marquette 88-80 Monday.

”Whew,” Holtmann said. ”What an interesting game – a roller coaster in a lot of ways.”

A familiar one, in fact.On Nov. 23, 2011, Butler trailed by 15 at halftime before overcoming Gardner-Webb. The coach for Gardner-Webb on that trip to Hinkle Fieldhouse? Yep, Chris Holtmann.The Bulldogs (16-3, 5-2 Big East) quickly overtook Marquette (12-6, 3-3) with a 38-18 burst, with Martin’s jumper giving them their first lead of the game.Marquette regained the lead one final time with about five minutes remaining, but Martin’s shot started a 7-0 run that put Butler ahead for good.The Bulldogs outscored Marquette 63-39 in the second half, shooting an astounding 70 percent without a single turnover.Kamar Baldwin had 18 points and Martin added seven rebounds as the Bulldogs won their 14th in a row at home.Markus Howard scored 26 points for the Golden Eagles.

”Obviously, I got to do a lot better job. I take full responsibility for anything that happens with our team,” Marquette coach Steve Wojciechowski said.At times when teams have made a run on us in the second half where we have had leads, our answer is always `call my play and I’ll bail us out with the basket,”’ he said. ”Butler’s answer to adversity tonight was to play better defense. The way they answer adversity is the way you win. The way we try to answer adversity is the way you lose.”

The Bulldogs face DePaul and Seton Hall on the road before returning home to welcome Georgetown and No. 7 Creighton.After losing to Creighton on Jan. 11, the Bulldogs bounced back with a win over No. 22 Xavier on Saturday, then rallied to top Marquette.Butler travels to DePaul on Saturday.

MEMPHIS—Doug McDermott scored a career-high 31 points, Jimmy Butler had a pair of key baskets in the closing minute and the Bulls surprised the Memphis Grizzlies 108-104 on Sunday night.The Bulls broke a 104-all tie with 25 seconds left on a 15-footer from Butler and a pair of free throws by McDermott. Butler had 16 points to help the Bulls win their second straight.Taj Gibson finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Bulls.Mike Conley led Memphis with 28 points and eight assists, and Marc Gasol had 24 points and 11 rebounds.The Bulls were without second-leading scorer Dwyane Wade, who did not play on the second night of a back-to-back after the Bulls beat New Orleans at home Saturday.The game featured 16 lead changes and 11 ties, with neither team holding a double-digit lead.

Playing on the road for the second straight night against one of their biggest rivals, Devan Dubnyk and the Minnesota Wild rallied to another impressive victory.Dubnyk made 33 saves, Jason Pominville scored in the third period and Minnesota beat the Blackhawks 3-2 on Sunday to grab sole possession of the top spot in the Western Conference.Nino Niederreiter and Chris Stewart also scored as Minnesota earned its fourth straight win and improved to 17-1-1 since Dec. 4. The Wild also beat the Blackhawks for the eighth straight time.

”To beat this team eight times in a row is really something,” said Boudreau, who was behind the bench in Anaheim when the Ducks were eliminated by the Blackhawks in the 2015 Western Conference finals. ”I don’t understand how you can do it. I wish I had had that knowledge a couple years ago.”

Minnesota (28-9-5) jumped in front for good when Marco Scandella shot the puck behind the net and it caromed right to Pominville standing all alone on the right side of the crease. He knocked it into the open net for his sixth of the season at 5:08.Minnesota defenseman Ryan Suter was sent off for tripping with 22.4 seconds left, but the Hawks were unable to get a good look even with the 6-on-4 advantage.

”It’s a big game, just point-wise,” Dubnyk said. ”If we want to be in first place, we’re going to have to win games against these guys.”

Patrick Kane scored twice on a whopping 12 shots for the Blackhawks (27-14-5), who were coming off an ugly 6-0 loss at Washington. Artem Anisimov, battling an illness, had two assists, and Corey Crawford made 29 stops.

”Frustrating. Even though it was 2-0, at 2-2 you still feel good being in a tie game going to the third at home playing a team playing on back-to-back nights,” Kane said. ”Tough not to get anything out of that game.”

Joel Quenneville called Friday night’s performance against the Capitals a failure ”across the board,” and he went with seven defensemen for the Blackhawks’ first game of the season against Minnesota. He also leaned heavily on Kane, who has six goals and 12 assists in his last 14 games.

”Kaner had the touch tonight,” Quenneville said.

The reigning NHL MVP beat Dubnyk on the stick side at 4:33 of the first, and then added his 14th of the season in the second. The winger dug the puck out of the faceoff circle and snapped it over Dubnyk’s left shoulder for a 2-0 lead at 4:16.Minnesota got one back after Anisimov was sent off for tripping at 5:04 of the second. Jonas Brodin’s long shot went off Wild center Mikael Granlund in front and dropped to the ice near Niederreiter, who slammed it in for his 12th.Stewart tied it at 2 when he beat Crawford on the short side from the left circle with 9 minutes left. Stewart also scored in Minnesota’s 5-4 victory at Dallas on Saturday night.

”We didn’t have the best legs right from the get-go, but I feel like we found a way,” Niederreiter said. ”Then we kind of find a rhythm and kept going.”

Kane played more than 27 minutes in his first multigoal game of the season. … The Blackhawks scratched forwards Andrew Desjardins and Jordin Tootoo. … D Nate Prosser and RW Kurtis Gabriel were inactive for Minnesota.The Blackhawks are at Colorado on Tuesday night.

EVANSTON—Northwestern has found much of its success this season behind strong guard play and stout defense.Both of those elements were at their absolute peak on Sunday, as Scottie Lindsey scored 22, Bryant McIntosh had 20 and the Wildcats dominated both ends of the court in a convincing 89-54 win over Iowa.

“You close your eyes and you envision a night like tonight,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “That’s what I dreamed of. It was as loud as it’s been in (Welsh-Ryan Arena) since I’ve been here.”

Lindsey had a career-high eight rebounds while McIntosh, who was honored before the game for scoring his 1000th career point on Jan. 5 against Minnesota, shot an efficient 9 for 11 from the field and added 10 assists for his first double-double this season.

“They were both really good,” Collins said. “Quietly, they like to view themselves as an elite backcourt. I thought they were both tremendous tonight.”

The Wildcats defense also impressed. Facing a Hawkeyes team that ranked near the top of the Big Ten at 83.0 points per game, the Wildcats limited Iowa (11-8, 3-3 Big Ten) to 35.3 percent from the field, 23.5 percent from behind the arc and the team’s lowest scoring total in 14 games.Northwestern (15-4, 4-2) is second in the Big Ten with 63.9 points allowed per game.Peter Jok felt the brunt of that defensive effort. Entering Sunday with a Big Ten-best 22.9 points per game, Jok had just four points against the Wildcats, snapping a streak of 22 games where he scored in double figures.

“Personally, I didn’t have any energy tonight and I think they fed off that,” Jok said. “I’ve just got to toughen up and be a better leader. I didn’t think I was a very good leader tonight.”

Northwestern opened the contest with a quick 8-0 advantage and seldom wavered from there. Iowa nearly closed the gap in the first half, cutting the deficit to three, but the Wildcats quickly answered with a 14-1 run.The Wildcats have won three straight. Their last conference victory of 20 or more points came in a 98-59 rout on Feb. 27, 2016 against Rutgers.Tyler Cook and Ryan Kriener each had 14 points to lead Iowa.It marks the Hawkeyes second defeat this season of 30 or more, as Iowa lost 74-41 on Nov. 25 to then-No. 6 Virginia.Northwestern out-rebounded Iowa 39 to 24, and holds a plus-23 rebounding margin over the three-game winning streak.

“They were focused and locked down,” Cook said. “We let them do what they wanted to do and that’s why tonight went their way.”

Northwestern held a moment of silence prior to the game for former Wildcats women’s basketball player Jordan Hankins. Sunday marked the team’s first home game since the 19-year-old was found dead in her dorm room on Monday.NU sealed the game with a 20-1 second-half run, capped by a McIntosh-to-Dererk Pardon alley oop. The 35-point margin of victory is the Wildcats’ largest ever over Iowa.

NOTES—The Hawkeyes road woes continue. Failing to carry momentum from their home win over then-No. 17 Purdue on Thursday, Iowa dropped to 1-6 away from home and 0-4 in true road games Sunday….The Wildcats unselfish offense continues to play a key role in the team’s success. They entered Sunday leading the Big Ten with a 1.6 assist-to-turnover ratio, and boosted that number with 29 assists to 12 turnovers against the Hawkeyes…..Northwestern travels to Ohio State on Jan. 22.

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).