Dwyane Wade wearing a Bulls uniform never will look right to Miami coach Erik Spoelstra. On nights like this, it’s particularly painful.Wade scored 28 points against his former team, Jimmy Butler led the way with 31 and the Bulls held off the struggling Heat 105-100 on Saturday.Butler scored the Bulls final 10 points to help the Bulls come out on top after Miami pulled within one.Wade, the 12-time All-Star and three-time NBA champion with Miami, keyed a big third-quarter run in his second game against the Heat. He and the Bulls hung on after handing San Antonio its first road loss two nights earlier.

”I’ve seen it for so many years on our side,” Spoelstra said. ”He showed his competitiveness and the variety of his menu. He was going into the post, he was playing pick-and-roll basketball – he puts a tremendous amount of pressure on your team defense. He’s got all the talent in the world, but what really makes Dwyane is his intellect for the game. He knows where the defense is going to be, and he knows the moves before you even make them.”

Goran Dragic led Miami with 21 points and 11 assists, and an energetic Hassan Whiteside added 20 points after being benched for part of Friday’s blowout loss in Cleveland. Tyler Johnson scored 15, but the Heat dropped their fifth straight.Johnson cut it to 97-96 when he nailed a 3-pointer with 4:20 left. Butler then drove for a three-point play and hit another free throw to make it 101-96, but the Heat weren’t finished.A layup by Dragic and basket by Whiteside in the lane cut it to 101-100 with 13 seconds remaining. Butler then hit two free throws to boost the lead back up to three.With a chance to tie, Dragic and Josh Richardson botched a handoff near the top of the key. Butler got the steal and hit two more foul shots with less than a second left to seal the win.

”In this league, there are going to be some nights you’re going to play amazing, and there are going to be some nights where you play just well enough to get a win,” Wade said. ”Never begrudge a win. We played good enough to get a win tonight.”

Wade let out a smile after he was fouled by Whiteside on a soaring dunk after splitting two defenders for a three-point play during an 18-2 run in the third. Wade scored 11 during that spurt.

Floyd Mayweather took in the game and was shown on the video board during the third quarter.Udonis Haslem rejoined Heat after they let him miss Friday’s game at Cleveland to watch his son win a state football championship. The 14-year veteran got to see Kedonis Haslem, a 6-foot-4, 290-pound lineman, and Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas pound Plant 45-6 in the Florida Class 7A final. ”He’s missed all of his son’s important playoff games and championship games, senior year,” Spoelstra said. ”U.D. has been in 13 years of service with us and you miss so many moments that we felt that this would be a moment that he wasn’t going to miss and regret years from now.” … Spoelstra said Whiteside has been dealing with knee and hip issues as well as ”a couple other things.” … Miami was 5 of 20 on 3-pointers and 11 of 18 at the foul line.

NOTES—The Bulls were just 1 of 8 on 3-pointers but hit 28 of 31 free throws, with Butler going 15 for 16. … The Bulls, who began the night second to Denver in rebounds per game at 48.6, had 47. …The Bulls had dropped three straight at home to Miami. … The Bulls are 6-1 at the United Center against Eastern Conference teams…..The Bulls host Minnesota and Thom Thibodeau on Tuesday night.

Nick Holden scored 55 seconds into overtime, Antti Raanta made 26 saves against his former team and the New York Rangers beat the Blackhawks 1-0 on Friday night.Derek Stepan passed from the boards to a streaking Holden in the middle of the ice, and he beat Scott Darling on the stick side for his fourth goal of the season.Darling was going for his second straight shutout while subbing for injured starter Corey Crawford but had to settle for another solid performance.Raanta, who made his NHL debut with the Hawks in 2013 and played for the Blackhawks for two seasons before he was traded to New York, improved to 15-0-3 in 20 career appearances at the United Center.The 27-year-old Raanta had 17 saves in Thursdays 2-1 victory at Winnipeg, and coach Alain Vigneault opted to give him a second straight start over Henrik Lundqvist because of his recent play and his success in the United Center.Marian Hossa appeared to have the go-ahead goal for the Blackhawks when he shot it between the legs of Rangers defenseman Ryan McDonagh and Raanta 6 minutes into the third. But Vigneault challenged the play and it was waived off when a replay review showed Hossa was offsides.The Blackhawks played without defenseman Brent Seabrook, who was sidelined by an upper-body injury. Captain Jonathan Toews missed his eighth straight game with an upper-body injury, and Crawford missed his fourth in a row after he had an emergency appendectomy last weekend.New York forward Rick Nash was sidelined for the second straight game by an upper-body injury. Nash is tied for second on the Rangers with 11 goals.While each team was missing some star power due to injuries, Raanta and Darling put on quite a show.Raanta made a great glove save on Patrick Kanes one-timer early in the first and had a dazzling stop on Richard Paniks wide-open look in the middle in the second. The 6-foot-6 Darling made a couple terrific saves in rapid succession in the second, denying Stepan on the doorstep before getting over to knock away Jesper Fasts prime opportunity on a 2-on-1.Raanta got some help in the third when Mats Zuccarello swept a loose puck away from the goal line with 2:20 left.

NOTES—Rangers F Jimmy Vesey returned to the lineup after missing a game with an upper-body injury. Nash, D Adam Clendening and RW Josh Jooris were scratched. … Blackhawks D Michal Kempny was a healthy scratch. … The Rangers and Blackhawks play again on Tuesday night in New York….The Blackhawks hosts the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.

Marian Hossa was back on top of his game and the Blackhawks got back in control of theirs.Hossa had two goals, Scott Darling made 22 saves and the tight-checking Blackhawks beat the Arizona Coyotes 4-0 on Tuesday night to snap a two-game slide.Artem Anisimov and Dennis Rasmussen also scored to help the Hawks maintain a three-point lead over St. Louis in the Central Division.The 37-year-old Hossa scored his team-leading 13th and 14th goals in his 27th game – surpassing his total of 13 last season in 64 contests.

”I feel more recharged, and with the puck going in, you feel more confident,” Hossa said. ”But I try not to be just a goal scorer. I try to play both ways and even if I don’t score in a bunch of games, I try to make some plays for the team.”

And the Blackhawks turned in one of their better defensive and puck management efforts this season, according to coach Joel Quenneville.

”I like what we gave up tonight – not much,” Quenneville said. ”When we check well and don’t play much in our own end, we generally play well and we have the puck a lot more. Tonight was a good step.”

Darling made a handful of tough stops but wasn’t heavily tested in his first shutout this season and third of his career. He started his third straight game in place of No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford, who had an appendectomy in Philadelphia on Saturday.

”I can’t remember one extremely good Grade-A chance that we gave up,” Darling said. ”The guys were great, the D were great, the forwards were great on defense.It feels good, especially that one. It was a team shutout.”

Mike Smith blocked 23 shots as the Coyotes lost their fifth straight and completed a quick road trip, playing their second game in two nights. Arizona lost 4-1 on Monday night at Columbus with Louis Domingue in goal in the second contest of a home-and-home set with the Blue Jackets.

”Playing in back-to-back games, we did not have the energy we needed to get back into the game,” coach Dave Tippett said. ”We do not make enough plays to get anything done, whether it is defensively or offensively.”

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews sat out his seventh straight game with an upper-body injury. Quenneville said earlier on Tuesday he hopes Toews will rejoin the Blackhawks when they travel to New York next week to face the Rangers and Islanders.Brent Seabrook left with an injury with 6:38 left in the second period following a hit from Jordan Martinook that threw him awkwardly against the boards.

”We’ll see how is he is tomorrow,” Quenneville said.

Anisimov’s power-play tip-in from the edge of the crease with 4:23 left in the first period opened the scoring. He was set up by Patrick Kane’s pinpoint feed from the lower right corner and deflected the puck just under Smith’s pads.Barely a minute after Darling made a point-blank save on Tobias Rieder, Hossa and Rasmussen struck for goals 19 seconds apart early in the second to boost the lead to 3-0.

”It was the turning point of the game for sure,” Tippett said. ”As the game went on, our energy wasn’t there.”

Hossa flashed his skill to complete a 2-on-1 with Ryan Hartman at 6:26 that made it 2-0. Hossa controlled Hartman’s cross-ice pass with his right skate, kicked it to his stick and then stuffed a shot under Smith’s glove from the edge of the crease.Smith stopped Richard Panik from the doorstep moments later, but Panik jumped on the rebound behind the net and shoveled it in front to Rasmussen.Hossa completed the scoring by converting a breakaway with 3:16 left. He beat Smith with a wrist shot on the stick side after being sent in by Niklas Hjalmarsson’s pass.

NOTES—Referee Gord Dwyer left after the first period with an illness. … Crawford, expected to miss two to three weeks, has begun off-ice exercises. … Arizona entered having allowed a league-high 850 shots. … Trevor van Riemsdyk played in his second contest since being activated from IR last Friday and missing 20 games. He skated at Philadelphia on Saturday, but sat out Sunday against Winnipeg. … Michal Kempny and Michal Rozsival were healthy scratches, as were Arizona C Tyler Gaudet and D Kevin Connauton…..Blackhawks host the New York Rangers on Friday night.

AUBURN HILLS—In the long run, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson are going to be the most important players on the Detroit roster.Tuesday, though, they were spectators.Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy went with his bench in the fourth quarter against the Bulls, and they outscored the Visitors 31-19 to pull out a 102-91 victory.

”It’s tough for guys like Andre and Reggie to have to watch a close game down the stretch, because they want to be out there,” Van Gundy said. ”Marcus (Morris), too, but the bench guys were doing such a good job that I couldn’t take them off the floor.”

Tobias Harris, who led Detroit with 22 points, was the only Pistons starter to get his usual playing time in the final 12 minutes. He was joined by Ish Smith, Darrun Hilliard, Aron Baynes and Jon Leuer.

”Tobias was scoring and Ish got us 10 assists, but it was mostly great defense,” Van Gundy said. ”That group took the game away from the Bulls.”

Drummond added 15 points and 10 rebounds for the Pistons, who won for the fourth time in five games.Jimmy Butler scored 32 points and Dwyane Wade added 19 points and seven assists for the Bulls, who lost their third straight. They were playing their fourth game in five nights and struggled in the fourth quarter.

”We battled back from a 17-point deficit and took the lead into the fourth,” Fred Hoiberg said. ”That just takes so much energy out of you. We have to stop digging holes for ourselves.”

Drummond dominated early, scoring 10 points on three dunks and two tips. Even when he went to the bench with foul trouble, the Pistons put together an 11-0 run to lead 36-21 early in the second quarter.Rajon Rondo had 10 points in his return to the lineup.Detroit maintained a double-digit lead for most of the second period, but the Bulls rallied after Jackson picked up his third foul. The Pistons were ahead 51-44 at the half, thanks to a 16-6 edge on points off turnovers. Drummond had 14 in the half, while Butler had 16 for the Bulls.The Bulls were within 51-50 in the first two minutes of the third, and took a 72-71 lead into the fourth. Butler and Taj Gibson both had eight points in the period, while Drummond didn’t score for Detroit.Hillard’s 3-pointer capped Detroit’s 12-3 run to start the fourth, giving the Pistons an 83-75 lead with 7:28 to play.

”We had things rolling and Coach let us keep going,” Leuer said. ”You appreciate that as a player, if you get it going and you are allowed to ride it out.”

The Pistons pulled away down the stretch against the weary Bulls.

”We’ve just got to win a couple games,” Butler said. ”When we do that, everything will be fine and dandy again.”

Rondo missed Monday’s loss to Portland due to a team suspension.Due to his foul problems, Jackson only played 10 minutes in the first half. He’s still on limited minutes after missing the season’s first 21 games with knee tendinitis, and played eight minutes in the second half. Ish Smith played the entire fourth quarter.Leuer, normally Detroit’s sixth man, only played seven minutes in the first half, and Van Gundy blamed himself. ”I was trying to keep Tobias away from Jimmy Butler and screwed up my rotation. As it turned out, it didn’t matter who guarded Jimmy, but we should never have a half where Jon only plays seven minutes.”

The Bulls visit the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday.

CHAMPAIGN—Malcolm Hill made sure Illinois didn’t repeat past mistakes in the final minutes of the team’s 85-77 win over IUPUI on Tuesday night.When the Jaguars’ Darell Combs banked in a 3-point shot with 2:24 left in the game, Hill had a flashback to Illinois’ 84-80 loss to Winthrop. Hill took charge and scored 32 points – 23 in the second half – to help the Illini hold off the Jaguars.

”Put the ball in his hands,” Tracy Abrams said. ”He’s a great player, one of the best in the country, and we have to give him the ball.”

Illinois (7-3) shot 55 percent from the field and 7 of 16 from 3-point range.The Illini opened with a 10-0 run but committed eight turnovers, allowing IUPUI to rally to a 42-41 halftime lead.Mike Thorne Jr. hit a jumper, Hill dunked and Illinois pulled ahead in the second half by shooting 60 percent from the field.Leron Black scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds. He was a presence throughout the game, including a key rebound with 23 seconds left, despite battling foul trouble.Although Illinois won, coach John Groce said he wasn’t pleased with his team’s effort.

”I feel fortunate we were able to get out of there with a win,” Groce said. ”We didn’t have the same edge we have on Saturday . we made too many mistakes.”

Matt O’Leary led IUPUI (3-6) with 25 points, shooting 7 of 15 from the field and 4 of 9 from beyond the arc.The Jaguars also kept the battle at the board close, losing 29-28.CIUPUI coach Jason Gardner said he wasn’t happy with the end result but was proud of the way his team fought back after falling to a 10-0 Illini start.

”We gave ourselves a chance to be right there,” Gardner said. ”You never want to be excited about losses, but I think it’s one of those deals where I was pleased with their performance and how they played tonight.”

The Illini have rebounded well after a week where they went 0-3. If Illinois can win out the rest of its nonconference schedule – Central Michigan, BYU and Missouri – the team will be in good shape heading into Big Ten play.The Jaguars will try to salvage a difficult road trip. They face a few challenging games, including one against Northwestern, before returning to equal competition.D.J. Williams played eight minutes and scored five points off the bench. The sophomore has recently found it hard to get some playing time, but he provided some energy when the Illini lacked some.Mike Thorne brought in an offensive rebound and was fouled when he scored on a layup with 5:22 left in the game and the score tied at 68. He made the free throw and the Illini followed that up with a Hill breakaway layup to take a 73-68 lead.

”Every good team has that one crazy person and (Leron Black) is our crazy person.” Malcolm Hill.

The fighting Illini have the next few days off before entering the final stretch of their nonconference season when they play Central Michigan on Saturday afternoon.

Damian Lillard had 30 points and seven assists, CJ McCollum scored 24 and the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Bulls 112-110 on Monday night for their third consecutive victory.Allen Crabbe added 17 points for Portland, which opened a five-game trip with its fourth win in five games. Maurice Harkless had 11 and Evan Turner finished with 10, providing a nice boost in the fourth quarter.Dwyane Wade scored 34 points for the Bulls, and Jimmy Butler finished with 26 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Robin Lopez had seven points and 14 rebounds.TheBulls played without point guard Rajon Rondo, suspended one game for conduct detrimental to the team. There was no public indication from the Bulls on what triggered Rondo’s suspension. He is expected to return Tuesday night in Detroit.

”We’ve moved past it. It’s something where we’re not going to talk about the details of it,” coach Fred Hoiberg said.

Portland trailed 93-92 before Ed Davis converted a driving layup with 8:19 left, sparking an 11-0 run for the Trail Blazers. Turner made three straight jumpers and Lillard connected from long range to make it 103-93 with 5:55 left.The Bulls closed to 108-105 on Nikola Mirotic’s two foul shots with 1:56 remaining, but Lillard made four free throws in the final seconds to help Portland hold on.Mirotic finished with 18 points and seven rebounds for the Bulls, who have dropped three of four. Isaiah Canaan had 10 points.Lillard scored 17 to help Portland to a 65-57 halftime lead. The Trail Blazers shot 55 percent in the first half, but the Bulls turned it up on defense to get back in the game in the third quarter.Mirotic capped an 18-4 run with two foul shots, giving the Bulls a 75-70 lead with 5:44 left. The Bulls had an 87-83 advantage before McCollum made a 3-pointer in the final second of the period, trimming the lead to one heading into the final quarter.

NOTES—Wade got his fourth assist in the fourth quarter to reach 5,000 for his career. … F Doug McDermott practiced with the Windy City Bulls after he was assigned to the D-League for conditioning. McDermott hasn’t played since Nov. 11 due to a concussion. ”Hopefully he has another good day tomorrow and we’ll see what happens with Thursday,” Hoiberg said. … G Michael Carter-Williams, who has been sidelined since Oct. 31 with left wrist and left knee injuries, also could head to the D-League soon. Hoiberg said he thinks Carter-Williams is going to be re-evaluated Tuesday…..The Bulls visit Detroit on Tuesday night for their first game of the season against the Pistons. The Bulls dropped three of four to Detroit last season.

Jordan Howard ran for 117 yards and a career-high three touchdowns and the Bears handed San Francisco its 11th straight loss, beating the 49ers 26-6 on a snowy Sunday.The 49ers (1-11) extended their franchise-record losing streak and set a club low with 6 yards net passing on a day when Colin Kaepernick got lifted for Blaine Gabbert.The Bears (3-9) finished with a season high in points and picked up a rare win in a matchup between two of the NFL’s worst teams.Matt Barkley, making his second start with Jay Cutler sidelined by a season-ending shoulder injury, went nearly the entire first half without a completion.But he led a touchdown drive near the end of the second quarter and finished 11 of 18 for 192 yards.Howard, who came in with two rushing touchdowns, scored on a 1-yard run near the end of the first half.A fifth-round draft pick from Indiana, he added a 2-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the third and a 5-yard run midway through the quarter.Howard’s three rush TDs are tied for the second-most by a Bears rookie in a game.Kaepernick completed just 1 of 5 passes for 4 yards and was sacked five times. He also ran for 20 yards on six attempts before Gabbert replaced him in the fourth quarter.Gabbert was 4 of 10 for 35 yards and sacked for a safety near the end of the game.Carlos Hyde ran for 92 yards, but the 49ers remained winless since they shut out Los Angeles in the season opener.The Bears led 7-6 after a first half that was ugly.Neither team completed a pass in the first quarter – something that hadn’t happened in an NFL game since the Jets and Patriots did it on Nov. 13, 1988.San Francisco had minus-14 yards passing in the half and didn’t get a completion until Kaepernick connected with Vance McDonald on a 4-yarder midway through the second quarter.Barkley went almost the entire half without one before completing four for 64 yards on a touchdown drive that gave the Bears a 7-6 lead.He finally hit Deonte Thompson with a short pass with 1:43 remaining. Two completions to Cameron Meredith – a 28-yarder and 17-yarder – put the ball on the San Francisco 12. And Howard ran it in from the 1 to give Chicago a 7-6 lead with 31 seconds left after Tramaine Brock got flagged for pass interference against Daniel Brown in the end zone.

NOTES—Bears LB Leonard Floyd was back in the lineup after missing a game because of a concussion. the Bears first-round draft pick, Floyd left the field on a stretcher following a scary collision with teammate Akiem Hicks trying to make a tackle in a loss at the New York Giants two weeks ago. … LG Josh Sitton was active but did not start after missing a game because of a right ankle injury. … WR Alshon Jeffery served the third game of a four-game suspension for violating the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers, while LB Jerrell Freeman served his second game….The Bears visit Detroit on Sunday.

Barely 2 minutes after narrowly missing a goal that could have put the game away, Andrew Copp came right back and scored an even bigger one.Copp got the tiebreaking goal with 4:45 left, Bryan Little scored his third in three games and the Winnipeg Jets edged the Blackhawks 2-1 on Sunday night.Copp beat Scott Darling stick side with a shot from the right circle that slipped just inside the left post and gave Winnipeg its second consecutive victory and fourth in five games.Artemi Panarin scored with 6:54 remaining to tie it at 1, moments after Copp hit the crossbar.

”I was lucky to redeem myself,” he said. ”It felt really good to respond in that manner.”

Panarin spoiled Connor Hellebuyck’s bid for a second shutout against the Hawks in less than a month when he completed a give-and-go with Patrick Kane and beat Hellebuyck on the glove side.Hellebuyck finished with 25 saves and outdueled Darling, who started his second straight game for the Blackhawks in place of No. 1 goalie Corey Crawford. Darling made 30 saves, including three on breakaways.Hellebuyck preserved the lead at the end with six saves during a final Hawk flurry. That included a point-blank stop on Marian Hossa with seconds left after Winnipeg’s Jacob Trouba got a double-minor for high-sticking with 2:49 remaining and the Blackhawks pulled Darling for an extra skater.Hellebuyck made 27 saves in the Jets’ 4-0 win over the Blackhawks on Nov. 15 in Winnipeg.Little’s power-play goal with 43.4 seconds left in the second period was his fourth point in four games since missing 23 with an injury.Crawford underwent an emergency appendectomy in Philadelphia on Saturday and is expected to miss two to three weeks. Lars Johansson, recalled earlier Sunday from Rockford of the American Hockey League, was Darling’s backup.

Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews sat out his sixth straight game with an upper-body injury that coach Joel Quenneville said is ”not getting better.” Quenneville said Toews skated briefly Sunday morning, but he plans to ”keep him off the ice for a few days and get a better assessment in the middle of the week or so.”

The Hawks offense is sputtering without Toews. The team has totaled two goals while losing back-to-back games.

”You lose a key guy who does so much for you,” Quenneville said. ”We didn’t generate much tonight. It was just one of those games where they came in our building … and shut us down.”

Darling was solid, just not good enough.

”We’re definitely not generating the chance we want to be,” he said. ”Getting inside, making it tough on the other goalies. So we’ve got to figure out a way to do that.”

NOTES—Winnipeg’s leading scorer, center Mark Scheifele, missed his second consecutive game with a lower-body injury. Scheifele has 13 goals and 13 assists in 26 games. … Crawford returned with the Blackhawks following their 3-1 loss at Philadelphia on Saturday after his appendectomy earlier in the day. … The 29-year-old Johansson backstopped Frolunda HC to a Swedish championship in 2016 and is playing his first season in North America. To make roster room for him, the Blackhawks assigned 20-year-old rookie forward Nick Schmaltz to Rockford. … Blackhawks D Trevor van Riemsdyk, activated from injured reserve on Friday, didn’t dress. Fellow defenseman Michal Rozsival was a healthy scratch. …The Blackhawks host the Arizona Coyotes on Tuesday night.

EVANSTON—Northwestern coach Chris Collins loved the way his team played in the first half Saturday against DePaul.The Wildcats were efficient on offense as they raced out to a big lead.He wasn’t so fond of the ending.Northwestern built a 36-point halftime lead before DePaul outscored the Wildcats 46-26 in a foul-ridden second half as reserves took the court.

”The ball was moving. We were sharing it. With the score, we did not play as well in the second half,” Collins said. ”Give DePaul credit. A lot of it had to do with them. They kept fighting.”

Scottie Lindsey scored 19 points and Vic Law had 16 as Northwestern beat DePaul 80-64.Gavin Skelly added 15 points and Sanjay Lumpkin had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Wildcats (6-2), who have won three straight.Derrick Wood scored 15 points and Joe Hanel and Billy Garrett Jr. added 11 apiece for DePaul, which saw its three-game winning streak end. The Blue Demons (4-2) shot just 33 percent from the field and went 2 for 20 from beyond the arc.

”Severe disappointment,” DePaul coach Dave Leitao said. ”Our performance today, I have to go back a long way to be a part of a first half like that.”

The Wildcats had little trouble despite losing their starting center earlier in the week. Freshman Barret Benson started in place of Dererk Pardon, who is expected to be sidelined for the rest of the non-conference schedule after undergoing surgery on his non-shooting hand. Pardon, who averages 6.9 points and 7.0 rebounds, was injured Monday in a victory over Wake Forest.Benson had five points in foul trouble in his first career start.

”He did a great job. Dererk’s going to be out for a while,” Collins said. ”We’re going to need him to continue to progress in his role.”

Skelly also helped inside and was 5 of 7 from the field.Northwestern led 54-18 at halftime after shooting 54 percent from the field to DePaul’s 24 percent. Lindsey led all scorers with 16 points and was 4 of 5 from beyond the arc for the Wildcats, who led by as much as 39.The Wildcats opened the game with a 32-8 lead before Hanel’s layup ended a 25-2 Wildcats run.Lindsey won the WALDO FISHER-FRANK MCGRATH AWARD as the game’s MVP.

”They’re only a couple plays away from being undefeated, and they play like that,” Leitao said.

NU continues solid non-conference play as it aims for its first appearance in the NCAA Tournament after winning a school-record 20 games last season. The Wildcats upset then-No. 22 Texas on Nov. 21, and their two losses were by a combined six points to No. 18 Butler and Notre Dame.DePaul, which went 9-22 last season, lost its first road game after edging Missouri State and Drake by two points apiece.

”It makes us harder to guard because we have so many different guys that can put the ball in the hoop,” Lindsey said of Northwestern’s balanced offense.

Northwestern made 19 baskets and had 18 assists in the first half.DePaul hosts Lamar on Tuesday,Northwestern faces New Orleans on Dec. 11.

MIAMI—Thanks to a dose of defense, Illinois’ recent turnaround gained momentum Saturday.The Illini held Virginia Commonwealth to 30-percent shooting and won 64-46 in the HoopHall Miami Invitational.The win was the second in a row for Illinois (6-3) after a pair of losses to ranked teams, including a thumping by 32 points from West Virginia.

”I’m proud of our guys for the way they responded from where we were at last week,” coach John Groce said. ”I love the fact that our staff, our support staff, our players said, `Let’s get this stuff fixed. Let’s come up with solutions.’ We fixed a couple of things and we played better this week. We took steps in the right direction.”

Illinois sophomore Leron Black tied a career-high with 18 points, added eight rebounds and was chosen the game’s most valuable player. Malcolm Hill had 16 points, five assists and two steals, and Jalen Coleman-Lands scored 12 points.VCU (6-2), which was off to its best start since 1993, had a three-game winning streak snapped.

”We just got hammered,” coach Will Wade said. ”We weren’t ready to play. We got beat in every hustle category. It’s on me. I didn’t have us prepared to play. It’s embarrassing as I’ve ever been in four years coaching a team.

”We were crying and moaning. … We were just awful.”

The Rams shot a season-low 16 for 53, including 2 for 18 (11 percent) from 3-point range. Things got worse at the end, when Illinois outscored VCU 14-3 in the final 4:20.

”We finished so well because we defended so well,” Black said. ”As our defense goes, so does our offense. We wanted to keep them uncomfortable.”

JeQuan Lewis, averaging a team-high 15.7 points, was held to three points and shot 1 for 7 from 3-point range. He limped out of the game with a right ankle injury, and although he returned, he played only 21 minutes.

”I don’t think it certainly helped when he hurt his ankle,” Wade said.

Mo Alie-Cox led the Rams with 10 points. They came in shooting 50 percent this season and had scored at least 63 points in every game.The Illini missed 10 of their first 11 shots while falling behind 11-4.

”We weren’t making shots at the beginning, but we were aggressive,” Black said. ”We kept competing. We knew we couldn’t put our heads down. We kept fighting.”

A 9-0 run put them ahead 22-14, and they led the rest of the way, although VCU scored 11 consecutive points to cut the margin to 35-34 early in the second half.

”I like the response we had to the second-half run by VCU,” Groce said. ”They really popped us in the mouth. We just had a great response by the team. Our guys exhibited some of the toughness that we want.”

Hill, who came into the game shooting 43 percent from 3-point range, improved that by going 2 for 3.The Illini won with defense for a change. They scored at least 79 points in their five previous wins, and had allowed at least 62 points in every game.

”This win shows what kind of team we are,” Hill said.

The Illini return home to play IUPUI on Tuesday.