Chicago Blackhawks resume rivalry with Detroit Red Wings in Western Conference semifinals

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  Chicago Blackhawks center Jonathan Toews celebrates a goal by Chicago Blackhawks right wing Marian Hossa in the first period as the Blackhawks defeated the Minnesota Wild 5-1 in Game 5 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup first-round playoff series in Chicago, Thursday, May 9, 2013. (AP Photo/Daily Herald, George LeClaire)The Associated Press

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  The Detroit Red Wings celebrate their 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks in Game 7 of their first-round NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoff series in Anaheim, Calif., Sunday, May 12, 2013. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)The Associated Press

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CHICAGO –  Jonathan Toews and the Chicago Blackhawks got to watch all the action in the NHL playoffs while they waited for an opponent to emerge for the second round.

What they saw from the Detroit Red Wings looked very familiar.

"Just that same relaxed, patient experience that they've shown in the playoffs and makes them a tough team to beat," Toews said. "They got some veteran guys who have won Stanley Cups. They understand what it takes to win during playoff time and that's the reason they came out on top."

Yup, Chicago's next opponent is a very familiar one. Detroit's 3-2 victory in Anaheim in Game 7 on Sunday night set up one last matchup between the "Original Six" teams in the Western Conference semifinals.

Under the NHL's realignment plan, the Red Wings will move to the East next season, meaning they will not face the Blackhawks in the playoffs before the Stanley Cup. That adds another level of intrigue to a best-of-seven series that already features one of the NHL's biggest rivalries in the tense setting of the second round of the postseason.

"I think it's just fitting, final year of being in the Western Conference and we're facing the Hawks here in the playoffs," Detroit goalie Jimmy Howard. "It's going to be a lot of fun."

Detroit had to scramble to extend the longest active playoff streak in major professional sports to 22 straight seasons, winning the last four games of the regular season to secure the seventh spot in the West. Still, it's the lowest playoff seed for the Red Wings since the NHL moved to the 1 vs. 8 conference format in 1993.

That hardly mattered in the first round against Anaheim.

The Red Wings and Ducks alternated wins for the first six games of the playoffs. Anaheim got its first chance to close it out on Friday night, but Henrik Zetterberg scored in overtime to lift Detroit to a 4-3 victory after it blew a two-goal lead with 3½ minutes left in regulation.

Zetterberg then had a goal and an assist in the deciding game as the Red Wings emerged from a 3-2 series deficit for the first time they beat Colorado in the 2002 Western Conference finals. They went on to hoist the Stanley Cup.

"I think we believe in what we do," Zetterberg said. "Of course it's nice to win games and win games in the way we've done it, in overtime, those close games.

"That series is over now. It's a new team and new challenges."

Chicago has been quite the challenge of late. The Blackhawks have won seven in a row against the Red Wings dating to last season, including four games this year. But half of this year's games went to a shootout and another was decided in overtime.

"When we played them during the year, there was maybe one game where it kind of got out of hand," Chicago goalie Corey Crawford said. "But the other games were pretty tight games. We won a couple in shootouts.

"They're a team that can skate with us and obviously they have a lot of skill. It's going to be fun."

The Red Wings caught a break when the NHL scheduled the first game of the series against the Blackhawks for Wednesday night, giving them an extra day to rest following the grueling series against Anaheim and the trip back across the country. There also could be another extra day before Game 2, since the United Center has to stay clear on Friday night for a possible Game 6 between the Bulls and Heat in the NBA playoffs.

But Chicago gets the extra rest as well, and it's taking full advantage of its extended break since it beat Minnesota in five games in the first round. Center Michal Handzus missed practice Monday, but coach Joel Quenneville called it a maintenance day and said he expects him back on the ice on Tuesday. Center Dave Bolland and goalie Ray Emery will be available against Detroit after they missed the series against the Wild with lower body injuries.

"Certainly we've had a good history with them in the past and had some very intense games," Quenneville said. "Had a couple of great games with them this year. It helps with our travel as well, but certainly we're excited about getting into this round. We're going to have our hands full with this team, but we're excited about it."

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AP Sports Writer Larry Lage in Romulus, Mich., contributed to this report.

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Jay Cohen can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/jcohenap

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Great West Conference Tournament Recaps

Published March 15, 2013

Sports Network

Chicago, IL –  Art Bernardi hit a pair of free-throws with two seconds remaining to lift the fourth-seed Houston Baptist Huskies knocked off the top-seed NJIT Highlanders, 62-61, in the semifinals of the Great West Tournament at Jones Convocation Center.

Bernardi scored a game-high 18 points for Houston Baptist (14-16) which also got 12 points from Rob Lewis and 10 from Dauson Womack.

Ryan Woods netted 16 points, P.J. Miller notched 15 and Chris Flores chipped in 10 for NJIT (16-13).

The Huskies will take on either third-seed Chicago State or second-seed Texas Pan-American in Saturday's title game.

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Big Ten Conference Tournament Recaps

Indianapolis, IN –  Cody Zeller scored 24 points to lead five Indiana players in double figures, as the third-ranked Hoosiers pulled away late to earn an 80-64 victory over Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament.

Christian Watford scored 15 points, while Victor Oladipo and Yogi Ferrell each chipped in 12 for Indiana (27-5), which won the Big Ten regular season title outright for the first time since 1993 but has never won the tournament crown. The top-seeded Hoosiers, who also received 11 points from Will Sheehey, will next play Wisconsin in Saturday's semifinals after the Badgers knocked off Michigan.

Tracy Abrams and Brandon Paul each scored 16 points to lead Illinois (22-12), which beat Minnesota in the first round on Thursday to likely seal an NCAA Tournament bid. Paul, who hit the winning shot at the buzzer in the Illini's 51-49 win on Thursday, didn't make a field goal in the second half Friday.

Illinois handed Indiana one of its four conference losses, taking a 74-72 decision Feb. 7 in Champaign on Tyler Griffey's uncontested layup just before the buzzer.

The Hoosiers, who were No. 1 at the time, made sure this one never got that close.

Indiana never trailed and opened a 10-2 lead just under seven minutes into the contest. The Hoosiers continued to play front-runner and built a 26-9 margin with just under six minutes remaining in the first half before carrying a 35-21 advantage to the break.

The Illini pulled within 10 early in the second half, but couldn't get closer until two free throws from D.J. Richardson made it a 60-52 game with 8:17 to play. The Hoosiers, who had an answer every time Illinois made it a 10-point game earlier in the half, came up empty when Jordan Hulls missed from beyond the arc.

However, the Illini failed to convert on their next two trips before a layup from Oladipo and a three from Watford made it 65-52 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining.

Illinois got only as close as 11 from there and a 13-4 run in the final few minutes gave Indiana its largest lead at 80-60 with a minute to play.

Game Notes

Paul finished 2-for-13 from the field and was 11-of-12 from the free throw line ... Richardson and Griffey each scored nine for the Illini, who shot just 34.5 percent overall ... Indiana shot 54 percent from the field, led by Zeller's 9-for-11 effort ... Zeller also had nine rebounds, while Oladipo had a game-high 11 boards ... Indiana outrebounded Illinois, 38-26 ... The Hoosiers have reached the Big Ten championship game just once, falling to Iowa in 2001.

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Mountain West Conference Tournament Recaps

Las Vegas, NV –  Anthony Bennett poured in a game-high 23 points on 10-of-14 shooting and also pulled down seven rebounds to lead UNLV to a 72-56 win over Air Force in a quarterfinal matchup of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.

Bryce Dejean-Jones scored 12 points and Anthony Marshall added 11 for the third-seeded Rebels (24-8), who will face Colorado State on Friday.

Kyle Green and Marek Olesinski finished with 13 points apiece for the Falcons (17-13), who lost leading scorer and first team All-MWC selection Michael Lyons to an apparent knee injury just minutes into the game.

The senior guard banged knees with Dejean-Jones and remained on the floor for several minutes before he was helped to the locker room.

Lyons was averaging 18.3 points per game entering the contest.

Air Force pulled within 9-7 five minutes in following Taylor Broekhuis' jumper, but UNLV used a 17-3 run to go up 26-10 with 6:22 left in the first half and took a 33-20 lead into the break.

The Falcons couldn't get closer than nine points down in the second half as the Rebels cruised to their sixth win in seven games.

Final Score: Colorado State 67, Fresno State 61

Las Vegas, NV (Sports Network) - Wes Eikmeier scored 18 points and Greg Smith added 11 as Colorado State downed Fresno State, 67-61, in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament on Wednesday.

Gerson Santo had 10 points and Colton Iverson, who battled foul trouble all game, finished with seven points and five rebounds over 23 minutes for the second-seeded Rams (25-7), who will face third-seeded UNLV in the semifinals on Friday. Colorado State split the season series with the Rebels.

It is the second straight season, and fifth time overall, CSU has reached the semifinals of the MWC Tournament.

Tyler Johnson scored 14 points, while Jerry Brown and Marvelle Harris added 12 points apiece for the seventh-seeded Bulldogs (11-19), who competed in the MWC Tournament for the first time.

Fresno State led 29-26 after a back-and-forth first half, but Colorado State opened the second half with a 9-4 run.

Daniel Bejarno canned back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Rams a 49-42 lead with 9:19 to go.

Fresno State scored seven straight points to make it 55-53 with 2:42 to go, but a pair of Eikmeier free throws made it a four-point game.

After the Bulldogs pulled within two, Jon Octeus split a pair of free throws for a 58-55 lead. Eikmeier then delivered the dagger to Fresno State with a trey from the right wing with 1:03 left.

Harris' three-point play made it 62-60 with 29 seconds left, but the Rams outscored Fresno State 5-1 over the final 24 seconds.

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Southern Conference Tournament Recaps

Asheville, NC –  Jake Cohen scored 17 points as the top-seeded Davidson Wildcats rallied from a 13-point deficit to secure a 65-62 win over the fourth-seeded Appalachian State Mountaineers in the semifinals of the Southern Conference Tournament at U.S. Cellular Center.

De'Mon Brooks added 16 points, Tyler Kalinoski chipped in 11 off the bench and Chris Czerapowicz tacked on 10 for Davidson (25-7) which will take on the winner of the other semifinal matchup between third-seed College of Charleston and second-seed Elon.

Nathan Healy had 14 points and seven rebounds, Jay Canty registered 13 points and seven boards as well while Mike Neal tacked on 13 points for Appalachian State (15-16).

In the first half the Mountaineers shot 59.1 percent from the field to take a 28-26 lead into the break. The Wildcats netted 40.7 percent of their field goal tries in the first period.

The Mountaineers stretched their lead to 13 points with 15:03 remaining by ripping off a 13-2 run to open up the second half. The Wildcats responded with a 13-2 run of their own to pull back within two points (43-41) midway through the half. There were four ties in the final 10 minutes and the last one was broken when Davidson pulled away in the final minutes with an 8-2 run to take a 65-59 lead with 25 seconds left. Tab Hamilton netted a 3-pointer on the Mountaineers' next possession and Nik Cochran missed the front end of a one- and-one to set up a final shot attempt for the Mountaineers. However Healy's last second 3-point attempt was off the mark giving the Wildcats the win.

Davidson shot 58.3 percent from the field, including 5-of-7 from 3-point range, in the second half.

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