ORK -- Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera scored their first goals with the Islanders and helped New York to a needed victory

EVANSTON, Ill. -- 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 wasnt 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. Dererks going to be out for a while, Collins said. Were 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 DePauls 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 Hanels layup ended a 25-2 Wildcats run.Theyre only a couple plays away from being undefeated, and they play like that, Leitao said.BIG PICTURENorthwestern 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.HE SAID ITIt makes us harder to guard because we have so many different guys that can put the ball in the hoop, Lindsey said of Northwesterns balanced offense.STAT OF THE GAMENorthwestern made 19 baskets and had 18 assists in the first half.UP NEXTDePaul hosts Lamar on Tuesday.Northwestern faces New Orleans on Dec. 11. Cyber Monday College Jerseys . "I dont know that were close," said general manager Alex Anthopoulos. "I just think, right now, the acquisition cost just doesnt work for us right now. I dont know if I can quantify how far off or things like that that they might be but I would say we continue to have dialogue. Fake College Football Jerseys .B. -- The Baie-Comeau Drakkar took over sole possession of first place atop the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League on Thursday with their sixth straight win. https://www.fakecollegejerseys.com/ .J. -- New York Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz will miss the rest of the season after having surgery on his left knee. College Jerseys China . The CFLs leading rusher kept adding to his gaudy numbers this season and scored the winning touchdown with just over two minutes to play. The New Westminster, B.C., native plowed three yards into the end zone for the last score of a heated, see-saw battle between the two teams with the best records in the CFL. Stitched College Jerseys . -- Derrick Rose shook off poor shooting early to hit clutch shots late and Carlos Boozer had 20 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 104-95 preseason victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday night. NEW YORK -- Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera scored their first goals with the Islanders and helped New York to a needed victory in a finale of a long stretch of home games.Cal Clutterbuck and Ladd scored 1:39 apart midway through the third period to lift the Islanders over Vancouver 4-2 on Monday night, giving the Canucks their ninth straight loss.Chimera and Nikolay Kulemin also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots to help the Islanders improve to 2-3-2 in their last seven.We had a little bit of puck luck tonight, New York coach Jack Capuano said. The last few games we played well, we just havent got results. Its good for the guys to get that feeling.Ladd and Chimera, New Yorks top free agent signings in the offseason, had combined for just four assists through the first 12 games.Its great for me and Jason, just getting that good feeling to put a couple of pucks in the net, Ladd said. Sometimes all it just takes is one and build off from there.Daniel Sedin and Markus Granlund scored, and Ryan Miller had 28 saves for Vancouver, which fell to 0-8-1 with eight straight regulation losses since opening the season with four wins.Its tough. We need some good results, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. Its nice we got the first (goal) tonight, its been a long time since thats happened. ... We got one on the power play, and that hadnt happened in a while, either. ... We didnt take it away in the third like we needed to.Clutterbuck backhanded the rebound of a shot by Johnny Boychuk past Millers blocker side at 9:11 of the final period to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. It was Clutterbucks second of the season and first since the season-opener.Ladd got his first with 9:10 remaining, firing a one-timer off a pass from Nick Leddy.The Islanders completed a five-game homestand 2-1-2, bringing their record up to 3-6-2 during a stretch with 10 of 11 at home.There might be a little bit of a relief but I think we got a mature enough group to realize that theres a couple of games in there that we probably should have won and we didnt, Capuano said.Kulemin gave the Islandeers a 2-1 lead at 7:38 of the second period with his first of the season.ddddddddddddJohn Tavares knocked the puck away from Miller to Kulemin, who tipped it in from the right side. It gave Tavares a point in five straight games (one goal, four assists).The Canucks tied it on the power play with 3 1/2 minutes left in the middle period as Bo Horvat got the rebound of his initial shot off the boards and sent the puck back in front of the net, where Granlund fired it into the open cage.The Canucks entered a league-worst 7.7 percent on the power play (3 for 39) and ended an 0-for-19 skid on their second chance of the night.Sedin opened the scoring as he stole the puck inside the blue line, skated in on Halak and fired it in off the goalies glove for his fourth of the season at 4:22.That was a turnover on their blue line and I was fortunate to get a half breakaway, Sedin said. It was nice to get the first one, but we need more of those.Chimera tied it nearly 5 1/2 minutes later with his first. Anders Lee knocked Brock Nelsons shot down at the left side of the net and it bounced across the front of the goal to Chimera, who tipped it into the open goal.Game notes Sedin has six goals and 17 points in 18 games against the Islanders. ... The teams conclude their season series on March 9 at Vancouver. ... The Islanders officially put D Travis Hamonic on injured reserve with a right hand injury. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. D Adam Pelech was called up from Bridgeport earlier Monday and had an assist in his season debut. ... The Islanders were 21 for 22 on the penalty kill for a league-best 95.5 percent over the first six games, but are 16 for 26 in seven games since.UP NEXTCanucks: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday night in the fifth game of a six-game trip that concludes Thursday at Detroit.Islanders: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night in the opener of a two-game trip to Florida.---Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP ' ' '