Illinois’ Streak Is Over at 33

Rich McBride thought he had saved Illinois’ home-winning streak. He was just a split-second too late.

McBride’s shot came just after the buzzer and Penn State held off No. 6 Illinois, 66-65, in a Big Ten Conference game at Champaign on Saturday night, ending the Illini’s home winning streak at 33 games.

His shot went up as the horn sounded and officials spent several moments reviewing video replays to determine whether he got it off in time. All the while, the hometown crowd chanted “I-L-L-I-N-I,” but when referee Gene Crawford waived off the basket, the arena fell into a stunned silence.

Crawford said the initial ruling on the floor was a good shot, but the rules require the video review.

“We had to play it back a couple of times because the monitor flickered,” he said. “It was finally determined that the ball was still in his hand when the red light went on.”

The last time Illinois (20-3, 6-3) lost at Assembly Hall was 58-54 to Purdue on Jan. 10, 2004.

Travis Parker, who scored 21 points, had given Penn State (11-9, 3-6) a 66-65 lead when he grabbed a missed three-point shot, took a bounce and let the shot fly from the right of the free-throw circle.

The ball fell through the net with 8.5 seconds to go and gave Penn State its first lead.

No. 1 Connecticut 88, No. 22 Indiana 80 -- Rudy Gay scored 19 points and the Huskies (20-1) won their ninth game in a row after defeating the Hoosiers (13-6) in a nonconference game at Bloomington, Ind.

Josh Boone and Hilton Armstrong each had 16 points for Connecticut, which is 7-0 this season against ranked teams.

Indiana lost for the second time to a No. 1 team this season. The Hoosiers, who lost, 75-67, to then-No. 1 Duke on Nov. 30, are 1-5 all-time against No. 1 teams in Bloomington.

No. 2 Duke 97, Florida State 96 -- J.J. Redick made a go-ahead three-pointer and scored eight of his 36 points in overtime to lead the Blue Devils (21-1, 9-0) over the Seminoles (13-6, 4-5) in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Durham, N.C.

Shelden Williams had 27 points and 13 rebounds for Duke, including two clinching free throws in the final seconds. It was his 11th double-double of the season, five in the past six games.

Al Thornton tied his career high with 37 points for Florida State.

No. 3 Memphis 84, Rice 79 -- Chris Douglas-Roberts scored 21 points and Darius Washington Jr. made two free throws in the final seconds to help the Tigers (21-2, 7-0) defeat the Owls (9-11, 3-4) in a Conference USA game at Houston.

Rodney Carney had 13 points for Memphis, which has won 10 straight games.

Morris Almond scored 30 for Rice.

No. 4 Villanova 72, Marquette 67 -- Allan Ray scored 28 points, including the go-ahead three-pointer with 1:54 left, to help the Wildcats (17-2, 8-1) rally late over the Golden Eagles (16-7, 6-4) in a Big East Conference game at Villanova, Pa.

Randy Foye had 24 points for Villanova, which is off to its best start in conference history. They were down seven points with 3:30 left in the game and went on a 12-0 run -- highlighted by Ray’s three-pointer.

No. 6 Gonzaga 85, Santa Clara 71 -- Adam Morrison scored 24 points to help the Bulldogs (18-3, 8-0) to their 34th consecutive home win, longest streak in the nation, after defeating the Broncos (8-12, 1-7) in a West Coast Conference game at Spokane, Wash.

J.P. Batista had 21 points and seven rebounds for Gonzaga after four consecutive double-doubles.

No. 7 Texas 83, Texas A&M; 70 -- P.J. Tucker scored 25 points and the Longhorns (19-3, 7-1) survived a 31-point effort from Joseph Jones to defeat the Aggies (13-7, 3-6) at Austin, Texas, and keep their lead in the Big 12 Conference.

Tucker grabbed 12 rebounds for his eighth double-double of the season for Texas, which entered with a one-game lead over Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas in the Big 12.

No. 8 Florida 95, Kentucky 80 -- Taurean Green scored a career-high 29 points, Joakim Noah had a career-best 26 at Gainesville, Fla., and the Gators (20-2, 6-2) extended their winning streak over the Southeastern Conference’s most storied program to three games.

Florida’s previous long streak against Kentucky (15-7, 5-3) came nearly two decades ago. Florida also set a school record with its 20th consecutive home victory.

No. 11 West Virginia 66, Cincinnati 57 -- Mike Gansey scored 14 points and the Mountaineers (17-4, 8-0) used a 13-2 second-half run to defeat the Bearcats (15-8, 4-5) in a Big East game at Morgantown, W.Va.

Kevin Pittsnogle, whose wife gave birth to their first child, Kwyncie James, on Friday afternoon, scored 12 points, all on three-pointers for West Virginia.

No. 12 Michigan State 77, Northwestern 66 -- Shannon Brown scored 22 points, including his 1,000th, and Maurice Ager had 21 to lead the Spartans (17-5, 5-3) over the Wildcats (10-10, 3-6) in a Big Ten game at Evanston, Ill.

Brown scored his 1,000th and 1,001st points when he made two free throws with a minute left to become the 36th Spartan to reach that milestone. He made nine of 14 shots and grabbed eight rebounds.

No. 13 Tennessee 86, Mississippi 72 -- C.J. Watson scored 18 points in an SEC game at Knoxville, Tenn., to lead the Volunteers (16-3, 7-1) over the Rebels (13-8, 3-5) for their fifth straight victory.

No. 15 Boston College 74, Virginia Tech 73 -- Jared Dudley scored 26 points and made two free throws with five seconds left to lift the Eagles (17-5, 5-4) over the Hokies (13-9, 2-7) in an ACC game at Blacksburg, Va.

No. 20 Ohio State 67, Minnesota 53 -- Je’Kel Foster made a career-high seven three-pointers in eight attempts and scored 25 points to lead the Buckeyes (16-3, 5-3) over the Gophers (10-9, 1-7) in a Big Ten game at Columbus, Ohio.

No. 23 Iowa 94, No. 21 Michigan 66 -- Adam Haluska scored 18 points and the Hawkeyes (18-5, 7-2) shot a season-best 65.3% from the field, including 13 of 19 on three-point shots, to defeat the Wolverines (16-4, 6-3) in a Big Ten game at Iowa City.

Alabama 67, No. 24 Louisiana State 62 -- Ronald Steele went six for six from the free-throw line over the final 1:52 and scored 21 points to lead the Crimson Tide (12-8, 5-3) over the Tigers (15-6, 7-1) in an SEC game at Tuscaloosa, Ala.

No. 25 Northern Iowa 83, Indiana State 56 -- Grant Stout had 17 points, 13 rebounds and six blocked shots and the Panthers (20-4, 10-3) defeated the Sycamores (9-12, 2-11) in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Cedar Falls, Iowa.