Musketeers sloppy win over Lehigh. They looked much better in this one.BIG PICTUREBuffalo: Blake Hamilton, the Bulls top returning scorer and rebounder,

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. Chad Henne Jersey . -- Malcolm Hill made sure Illinois didnt repeat past mistakes in the final minutes of the teams 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. Hes 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 wasnt pleased with his teams effort.I feel fortunate we were able to get out of there with a win, Groce said. We didnt have the same edge we have on Saturday . we made too many mistakes.Matt OLeary 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 wasnt 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 its one of those deals where I was pleased with their performance and how they played tonight.BIG PICTUREIllinois: 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.IUPUI: 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.ROLE PLAYERD.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.TURNING POINTMike 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.HE SAID ITEvery good team has that one crazy person and (Leron Black) is our crazy person. Malcolm Hill.UP NEXTIllinois: 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.IUPUI: The Jaguars finishes their six-game road trip against Miami (Ohio) on Saturday.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org Demone Harris Jersey . Jason Zucker and Matt Cooke also scored for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Kuemper made five saves in the first, nine in the second, and nine in the third. The rookies best save came with 2:17 left in the third period when he denied former Wild forward Matt Cullen from just outside of the crease on the right side. Andrew Wylie Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have recalled forward Kevin Porter and defenceman Chad Ruhwedel from the minors as part of a five-player roster shuffle made by the NHLs worst team. http://www.customchiefsjersey.com/custom...arge-1136n.html . -- Matt Ryan needed one of the best games of his career to lead the Falcons and their depleted offence out of their three-game losing streak last week. CINCINNATI -- After a sloppy opening win, No. 11 Xavier spent its time working on defense. It was much improved the second time around.J.P. Macura scored 18 points and the Musketeers took advantage of 38 personal fouls by Buffalo, pulling away for an 86-53 victory on Monday night.The Musketeers (2-0) quickly opened a double-digit lead and got the balance back in their offense after relying on career highs for points by Trevon Bluiett and Edmond Sumner in their opening 84-81 win over Lehigh. Bluiett and Sumner had 13 points apiece on Monday.We took a step forward today, said Rashid Gaston , who had nine points and seven rebounds.The defense was much better, too, allowing few uncontested shots.Practice these last past couple days have really geared toward defense, Gaston said. We had to play more team defense.Buffalo (1-1) couldnt keep up with Xaviers quickness and quickly got into foul trouble. The Bulls trailed 42-22 late in the first half and had more fouls (23) than points.Two Bulls fouled out with 8 minutes left in the game, and Xavier went 28 of 38 at the line. Macura made all of his 10 free throws.Our team used Buffalos aggressiveness to our advantage, coach Chris Mack said.Nick Perkins led the Bulls with 15 points, and they shot only 31 percent from the field. Some of the Bulls complained about the many fouls called, but coach Nick Oats didnt see it that way.We need to learn to play defense without fouling, Oats said. Our guys said they got (bad calls), but those officials worked the tournament. They didnt cost us 30 fouls.With the big lead, Mack was able to use some of the freshmen who struggled in the opening win. Guard Quentin Goodin was tentative in the opener, but had 11 pointss and four assists after the coaching staff urged him to relax. Reggie Ragland Jersey. wasnt really scared, just hesitant, Goodin said. Tonight I played loose, started having fun, and it worked out. I just played the way I did when they recruited me.A LOT OF WHISTLESThe officiating crew of John Gaffney, Brent Hampton and Alfred Smith also called 21 fouls on Xavier for 59 total. The Bulls went 13 of 21 on free throws.TOUGH AT HOMEThe Musketeers improved to 218-31 at the Cintas Center.POLL IMPLICATIONSXavier slipped from No. 7 -- the highest preseason ranking in its history -- to No. 11 in Mondays poll, based upon the Musketeers sloppy win over Lehigh. They looked much better in this one.BIG PICTUREBuffalo: Blake Hamilton, the Bulls top returning scorer and rebounder, missed most of the preseason workouts with a broken non-shooting hand. He had 11 points and eight rebounds in a 76-66 win over Niagara on Friday. Hamilton fouled out against Xavier with eight points and three rebounds.Xavier: The Musketeers had three turnovers and defensive lapses in the final 61 seconds of their win over Lehigh, so holding onto the ball was a point of emphasis. They turned it over only nine times.The biggest part with the turnovers is we just had to settle down, Gaston said.UP NEXTBuffalo: Hosts Nazareth on Thursday, the Bulls only home game out of their first nine. Their next home game is Dec. 10 against Coppin State.Xavier: Plays Missouri on Thursday in the opening round of the Tire Pros Invitational in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.---More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org ' ' '