Illinois Struggles but Edges Missouri

Luther Head scored 20 points, and No. 1 Illinois overcame foul problems, poor shooting and a second-half surge by Missouri for a 70-64 victory on Wednesday night at St. Louis.

Deron Williams had 19 points and five assists in a balanced attack for Illinois, which improved to 11-0 but matched its season worst for shooting at 42.3% from the field.

Before Wednesday, the closest any opponent had come to beating Illinois was Arkansas, which lost by 12 points.

Linas Kleiza had 25 points, one off his career best, for Missouri (6-5).

No. 2 Kansas 73, Wisconsin Milwaukee 62 -- Keith Langford scored 21 points, and Aaron Miles became the Big 12 Conference’s career assist leader as the Jayhawks (8-0) defeated the Panthers (6-3) at Kansas City, Mo. Miles had nine assists to give him 800 for his career.

No. 5 Wake Forest 81, New Mexico 64 -- Chris Paul scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Demon Deacons (10-1) over the Lobos (10-2) at Albuquerque. Wake Forest held New Mexico to a season-low 32.8% shooting from the field.

No. 7 Syracuse 88, Rice 72 -- Gerry McNamara had 19 points, 10 assists and a career-high nine rebounds, and Josh Pace equaled his career high with 22 points to lead the Orange (11-1) over the Owls (5-3) at Syracuse, N.Y. Michael Harries scored 25 points for Rice.

No. 8 Kentucky 92, William and Mary 47 -- Chuck Hayes scored 18 points, and Kelenna Azubuike had 17 to lead the Wildcats (8-1) over the Tribe (3-5) at Lexington, Ky. William and Mary had 32 turnovers.

No. 9 Georgia Tech 90, Charleston Southern 48 -- Isma’il Muhammad scored 16 points, and Luke Schenscher had 14 for the Yellow Jackets (8-1), who responded to their first loss of the season with a rout of the Buccaneers (1-6) at Atlanta.

No. 11 Connecticut 87, Central Connecticut 59 -- Marcus Williams had a school-record 16 assists, and Josh Boone and Charlie Villanueva each scored 20 points to lead the Huskies (6-1) over the Blue Devils (2-5) at Hartford, Conn.

No. 12 Washington 114, Sacred Heart 53 -- Jamaal Williams scored a career-high 22 points to lead a school-record eight players in double figures as the Huskies (9-1) routed the Pioneers (1-7) at Seattle.

No. 15 Texas 97, Centenary 52 -- Kenny Taylor scored 23 points, and the Longhorns (8-2) tied a school record by giving up only 12 points to the Gents (2-7) in the first half at Austin, Texas.

No. 18 Louisville 77, Austin Peay 49 -- Taquan Dean scored 16 points, and Ellis Myles had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cardinals (8-2) over the Governors (2-7) at in the championship game of the Billy Minardi Classic at Louisville, Ky.

No. 19 Alabama 76, Texas A&M; Corpus Christi 54 -- Kennedy Winston had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Crimson Tide (10-1), who closed the game with a 24-4 run to defeat the Islanders (7-2) at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

No. 21 Mississippi State 95, Jacksonville State 53 -- Lawrence Roberts had 22 points and a season-high 20 rebounds for the Bulldogs (11-2), who have won five in a row after a victory over the Gamecocks (4-7) at Jackson, Miss.

No. 22 Cincinnati 84, La Salle 63 -- James White and Eric Hicks each had 15 points for the Bearcats (9-0) at Cincinnati in a victory over Explorers (1-7), who were led by Steven Smith’s 35 points.

OTHER GAMES

Brendan Plavich caught an inbound pass from Curtis Withers with 0.7 seconds left, turned and heaved a game-winning shot from half-court to give Charlotte (7-2) a 74-73 victory over Indiana (2-6) at Bloomington, Ind. Indiana’s six-game losing streak is its longest since 1967-68.... Ike Diogu scored 21 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked a career-best seven shots to lead Arizona State (9-1) to a 68-63 victory over Santa Clara (7-5) at Tempe, Ariz. Arizona State is off to its best start in 14 years.... Aaron Brooks scored a career-high 25 points to lead Oregon (7-1) to a 71-56 win over Winthrop (7-4) at Eugene, Ore.... Richard Midgley scored 25 points to lead California (6-3) to a 69-46 victory over Hampton (3-7) in the first round of the Golden Bear Classic at Berkeley.... Dan Grunfeld scored 15 points to help Stanford (5-4) win its 17th consecutive home game, 71-54 over Dartmouth (3-6).... Dion Sherrell made two free throws with 14.2 seconds left to lift Wyoming (6-3) to a 49-47 victory over Washington State (5-4) at Laramie, Wyo.

WOMEN

No. 14 Boston College 65, St. Joseph’s 41 -- Kathrin Ress and Jessalyn Deveny scored 15 points apiece to carry the Eagles (8-1) over the Hawks (2-9) at Boston. St. Joseph’s shot only 23.4% from the floor.