GrobberNET

INDIANAPOLIS — Mike Tisdale scored 21 points and Demetri McCamey had 13 as fifth-seeded Illinois hung on for a 58-54 upset of No. 13 Wisconsin in Friday’s Big Ten tournament quarterfinals.The Fighting Illini (19-13) now face No. 5 Ohio State in Saturday’s semifinals. The Buckeyes advanced with a last-second 69-68 win over Michigan.Wisconsin (23-8) was led by Trevon Hughes and Jon Leuer, each with 14 points. Hughes led a frantic flurry in the closing minutes that got the... (more...)

GLENDALE—The White Sox rallied late with a group of minor leaguers in the 8th inning to take the lead,but had to settle for a 5-5 ten inning tie with the Cleveland Indians.Alejandro De Aza doubled in a run,and C.J.Retherford followed with a blast into the Cleveland bullpen off loser Jess Todd.The #5 slot in the White Sox rotation is Freddy Garcia’s to lose. On Thursday against a rather rag-tag group in Cleveland Indians uniforms at Camelback Ranch, Garia worked three frames,but the... (more...)

Patrick Sharp was all alone, hanging back a bit in overtime and waiting for a chance the puck might come his way in a 4-on-4 game.And when Los Angeles’ Brad Richardson made an errant pass in the center of the rink, Dave Bolland picked it off and quickly sent it in Sharp’s direction.From just outside the blue line, Sharp took it to the net and beat Jonathan Quick 2:08 into overtime — his second goal of the game — to give the Blackhawks a 3-2 victory Wednesday.For Kings coach... (more...)

MESA—On a cool,partly cloudy day,the San Francisco Giants remained one of the hottest teams in Spring Training by beating the Cubs 5-1.Carlos Zambrano had an easy 1-2-3 first inning,got out of trouble in the top of the second after Aubrey Huff led off with a double, but the “Bad Z” showed up in the Giants third when John Bowker,Kevin Frandsen and Aaron Rowand each singled to fill the bases. Zambrano then plunked Eugenio Velez to force in Bowker, and switch hitting Pablo Sandoval... (more...)

PHOENIX—Ben Sheets still looks like a pitcher who hasn’t worked in nearly a year and a half.His command isn’t quite there and his fastball velocity is slightly down. Oakland’s new $10 million ace still considered his short outing in a 9-5 loss Wednesday over the White Sox a step in the right directionSheets, who missed all of 2009 recovering from elbow surgery, allowed six runs – five earned – on five hits with a walk in 2 2-3 innings of his second spring start.The... (more...)

His right wrist wrapped in ice, Deron Williams insisted he feels no pain when he soars for dunks. It hurts when he shoots, though. The way he played Tuesday, it was hard to tell.Williams got the better of Derrick Rose, finishing with 28 points and a season-high 17 assists, while CJ Miles scored a season-best 26 points to lead the Utah Jazz to a 132-108 victory against the Bulls.It’s even more fun on nights like this.He hit three of five 3-pointers and threw down a vicious transition dunk on... (more...)

PHOENIX—Ryan Dempster tossed two perfect innings in his spring debut and the Cubs beat the Oakland Athletics 10-3 on Monday.Derrek Lee and Aramis Ramirez each drove in a run for the Cubs. Ryan Theriot had two hits, walked once and scored twice.Brett Anderson pitched 1 2-3 scoreless innings and Kurt Suzuki homered for the A’s. Anderson allowed one hit, walked two and struck out three.The Cubs scored seven runs in the seventh, sending 11 hitters to the plate. Mike Fontenot drove in two... (more...)

GLENDALE—A pair of center fielders made their spring training debuts on the field Monday, but it was Alex Rios who had the better day.Rios, who has been in the White Sox lineup only once this spring because of a sore right shoulder, went 2 for 2 with a mammoth home run to deep center field in the Sox 5-4 loss to a Seattle Mariners split squad.Rios said his shoulder injury has not affected his swing.Franklin Gutierrez, the Mariners’ everyday center fielder in 2009 who signed a $20.5 million... (more...)

***Don’t look now,but the hated Detroit Red Wings have gotten healthy and not only look like they will make the playoffs after a mediocre first 4 1/2 months of the season,but against the Blackhawks Sunday,they looked like their ‘old’ selves. After the Hawks look a 2-0 lead into the first intermission, the Wings dropped the big one on Cristobal Huet and the Hawks–five goals in the second period. Heut left after giving up four, then Antti Niemi yielded Pavel Datsuyk’s... (more...)

The Blackhawks golie controversary continues. Not even a hat trick by Andrew Ladd could sidetrack the Detroit Red Wings.Pavel Datsyuk capped a five-goal second period and Detroit rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Blackhawks on Sunday.Ladd’s first goal of the game gave the Hawks a 2-0 lead in the first period, but Detroit took charge in the second before Ladd added two more goals in the final period.Brian Rafalski started the surge with a power play goal 4:12 into the second to cut the lead... (more...)