Campbell, Bears struggle in 32-7 loss to 49ers
In a game billed as the battle of the backup quarterbacks, Jason Campbell and the Chicago Bears were shut down Monday night by a dominant San Francisco defense in a 32-7 loss that dropped the Bears into a tie with the Green Bay Packers atop the NFC North.
The Bears' record fell to 7-3 while the 49ers improved to 7-2-1. The Packers also are 7-3 and at present own the tiebreaker by virtue of their Week 2 victory over the Bears. Next up for the Bears is a home game against Minnesota at noon Sunday.
The Bears trailed 20-0 at halftime as 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick, subbing for the injured Alex Smith, looked like a polished veteran in his first NFL start. On the night, Kaepernick connected on 16 of 23 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 133.1.
Aldon Smith of the San Francisco 49ers had a career game last night
Illinois cruises to 94-64 win over USC in Maui
Illinois is enjoying a pretty good trip to Hawaii so far.
Two more wins would make it truly special.
Brandon Paul hit six 3-pointers to finish with a game-high 26 points, and Illinois advanced to the winner's bracket of the EA Sports Maui Invitational for the fourth time in as many appearances with a 94-64 win over USC on Monday night.
The Illini figure to have a good shot to make it to the title game, as they play the host school, Division II Chaminade, on Tuesday at the Lahaina Civic Center.
Butler beats Marquette by 72-71 in Maui
Rotnei Clarke sank a desperation 3-pointer at the buzzer to lift Butler to a 72-71 win over Marquette in the opening game of the Maui Invitational.
Clarke, the leading scorer at Arkansas as a junior (15.2) before transferring to Butler and redshirting last season, scored 20 points to lead the Bulldogs (2-1). Khyle Marshall, a 6-6 junior forward, scored a career-high 24 for Butler.
Vander Blue scored 21 points for the Golden Eagles (2-1), who had taken a two-point lead with eight seconds left when Junior Cadougan made one of two free throws. Clarke then dribbled up the floor and launched a 30-footer for the victory.
