College basketball
Brown leads Illinois to easy victory over Northwestern CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) – Dee Brown scored 20 points, 18 on 3-pointers, to lead top-ranked and unbeaten Illinois to an 84-48 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night that clinched a share of the Big Ten title for the Illini.
Brown was 6-of-8 from 3-point range, hitting five in the first half as the Illini took a 45-22 lead.
Illinois (28-0, 14-0) clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title for the second consecutive season. The Illini can win the championship outright with a victory in either of their last two games – Purdue and Ohio State – or a loss by second-place Michigan State.
No. 5 Kentucky 81, Auburn 73
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Kelenna Azubuike had career-highs of 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who clinched a share of the SEC East for the sixth straight year.
Kentucky (21-3, 12-1 Southeastern Conference) didn’t pull away until the final minutes against Auburn (12-14, 3-10), the last-place team in the SEC West.
No. 6 Wake Forest 88, Longwood 47
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Taron Downey scored 13 points in Wake Forest’s rout.
Eric Williams added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (23-4), who led by as many as 40 points in the first half.
Michael Jefferson scored 14 points for the Lancers (1-29), who extended their school-record losing streak to 18 games in their first full season of Division I competition.
No. 7 Duke 60, Georgia Tech 56
ATLANTA – Lee Melchionni hit two late 3-pointers and Duke continued its dominance of Georgia Tech.
The Blue Devils (20-4, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won 18 of the last 19 games in the series, including nine straight at Alexander Memorial Coliseum. They reached the 20-win mark for the 21st time under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
No. 15 Syracuse 83, St. John’s 69
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Hakim Warrick emerged from a slight slump to score a career-high 35 points and the Orange broke a two-game losing streak.
It was the 20th consecutive road loss for St. John’s (9-15, 3-11 Big East), which got a career-high 33 points from sophomore guard Daryll Hill. St. John’s has not won on the road since a 72-61 victory at Stony Brook on Nov. 29, 2003.
No. 21 Charlotte 80, Memphis 77
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Eddie Basden scored 24 points, including two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play, for Charlotte.
The 49ers (20-4, 11-2 Conference USA) moved into a tie with Louisville for first place with the victory – their sixth straight.
Darius Washington had 29 points for Memphis (16-11, 9-4).