Illinois Routs Wake Forest

No. 5 Illinois made a case for the top ranking Wednesday night, turning No. 1 Wake Forest into a nonconference patsy with a 91-73 rout at Champaign, Ill.

“They played infinitely better than we did. I don’t know how much more clearly I can say it,” Wake Forest Coach Skip Prosser said.

Roger Powell Jr. scored 19 points, Dee Brown and Luther Head added 16 each and the Illini (5-0) beat Wake Forest (5-1) in every phase of the game. Illinois was up by as much as 32 in the second half.

No. 3 Syracuse 91, St. Bonaventure 67 -- Hakim Warrick had 18 points and Josh Pace added 14 points for the Orange (6-0) at Syracuse, N.Y.

The loss dropped the Bonnies to 0-4, the first time in the team’s 85-year history that St. Bonaventure has started a season with four losses.

No. 9 North Carolina 70, Indiana 63 -- Rashad McCants scored 19 points and Raymond Felton added 18 points for the Tar Heels at Bloomington, Ind.

It was the fifth straight win for the Tar Heels (5-1). Indiana (2-1) was led by Bracey Wright with 18 points.

No. 13 Pittsburgh 65, St. Francis, Pa. 41 -- Chevon Troutman led a decisive 17-2 run late in the first half and scored 22 points at Pittsburgh.

Troutman made four free throws and Antonio Graves, Carl Krauser and Ronald Ramon made three-pointers during the run, which gave Pittsburgh (4-0) a 34-19 lead. St. Francis is 2-2.

Gonzaga 99, No. 14 Washington 87 -- Adam Morrison scored a career-high 26 points and Ronny Turiaf had 23 points and 13 rebounds at Spokane, Wash., as Gonzaga (4-1) defeated the Huskies for the seventh time in a row.

Nate Robinson led Washington (4-1) with 22 points.

No. 22 Alabama 114, East Tennessee St. 77 -- Earnest Shelton scored 24 points and Ronald Steele had an Alabama-record 18 assists at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

No. 24 Virginia 48, Northwestern 44 -- At Evanston, Ill., Elton Brown had 15 points overall and scored the first eight points of the game for the Cavaliers (5-0). Northwestern (1-4) is off to its worst start since 1999-2000.

Nevada Las Vegas 73, California 72 -- Seldom-used senior Andy Hannan made an 18-foot jump shot with 0.4 seconds left to lift the Runnin’ Rebels (2-1) past the Golden Bears (3-2) at Berkeley.

*

McKendree College Coach Harry Statham set the all-time college record with his 880th career victory, one more than former North Carolina coach Dean Smith, with his Bearcats’ 83-72 win over Maryville at Lebanon, Ill. McKendree is an NAIA school, so Smith still holds the NCAA record.

WOMEN

Camille Little scored a season-high 24 points and La’Tangela Atkinson added 19 for No. 2 North Carolina (6-0) in an 89-51 victory over Wofford (2-4) at Chapel Hill, N.C.... No. 8 Connecticut (2-1) narrowly avoided its first two-game losing streak in 12 seasons, beating South Florida (5-3) in overtime, 75-65, at Storrs, Conn.... Jessica Simmonds scored 19 points to lead George Washington (3-1) to a 62-52 upset of No. 24 Villanova (3-2) at Washington.