Illinois Gets Past Michigan State

Luther Head scored 22 points, Dee Brown had 18 and No. 1 Illinois made 13 three-point baskets to remain undefeated with an 81-68 victory over No. 12 Michigan State on Tuesday night at East Lansing, Mich.

Illinois, 22-0 overall and 8-0 in the Big Ten Conference, was expected to face a tough test against Michigan State (14-4, 5-2) in an arena known to be raucous. But several Fighting Illini calmly made three-point baskets and when they were not making shots from beyond the arc, they scored on low-post moves and midrange jump shots in their half-court offense.

“I thought it was louder during warmups than during the game,” said Illinois’ Deron Williams, who missed only one of five three-point shots and scored 14 points.

Illinois shot 56.9% from the field and was 13 for 24 beyond the arc.

Illinois is one of two unbeaten teams in Division I, along with No. 5 Boston College.

Alan Anderson scored 14 points for the Spartans, who lost their 12th in a row against a ranked opponent.

Brown insisted Illinois is not thinking about going into the NCAA tournament undefeated.

“If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t,” he said. “We’re not worried about it. Everybody thought we were going to lose this game.... I just hope people keep picking against us.”

Illinois is off to its best start in the Big Ten since winning the first 10 conference games during the 1955-56 season. The last conference team to begin as well was Indiana in 1993.

No. 5 Boston College 62, West Virginia 50 -- Craig Smith overpowered a collapsing defense to score 23 points for the Eagles at Boston.

The burly forward was scoreless while the Mountaineers built an 18-9 lead with 9:21 left in the first half. Then he scored 17 of the Eagles’ next 24 points, giving them the lead for good, 33-32, with a layup with 16:04 remaining.

Boston College (19-0, 8-0 Big East Conference) matched its school record 19-game winning streak set in 1968-69. It already has its highest ranking and best start ever.

The Mountaineers (12-7, 2-6) have lost six of seven. They were led by Mike Gansey and Tyrone Sally with 10 points each.

Clemson 88, No. 22 Maryland 73 -- Sharrod Ford tied his career high with 25 points at Clemson, S.C., and the Tigers ended a 13-game losing streak against Maryland.

Clemson (11-10, 2-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) hadn’t beaten the Terrapins (13-6, 4-4) since Dec. 4, 1997. And this figured to end like the others with Maryland back in the Top 25 after victories over Duke and Georgia Tech last week. But the Terrapins fell behind early, 13-2, then missed their final 13 shots of the half to fall behind, 45-29, at the break.

OTHER GAMES

Mississippi State 71, Florida 57 -- Shane Power had 18 points and Marcus Campbell added 13 points and 11 rebounds at Starkville, Miss.

Lawrence Roberts also had 13 points and 11 rebounds for Mississippi State (17-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference), which used a huge second half to win its 11th in a row at home and defeated the Gators for the third time in four meetings.

The Bulldogs didn’t trail after halftime and shut down the SEC’s most productive offense.

The Gators (13-5, 5-2) went cold in the second half -- they had five field goals in the final 15 minutes -- and finished well shy of their scoring average of 82.1.

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On the Horizon

College basketball’s last two Division I unbeatens each added a victory Tuesday. Here are the next five games for each, with the home or away record of their opponents, where applicable:

ILLINOIS (22-0)

Sunday vs. Indiana (1-6 on the road)

Feb. 8 at Michigan (10-2 at home)

Feb. 12 vs. Wisconsin (4-3 on the road)

Feb. 16 at Penn State (5-6 at home)

Feb. 19 at Iowa (11-1 at home)

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BOSTON COLLEGE (19-0)

Saturday at Seton Hall (7-4 at home)

Feb. 8 at Notre Dame (10-2 at home)

Feb. 16 vs. Rutgers (2-5 on the road)

Feb. 19 vs. Syracuse (5-1 on the road)

Feb. 23 at Villanova (7-1 at home)