Brown Leads No. 6 Illinois Past No. 7 Michigan State

Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo summed up his team’s showdown with Illinois on Thursday night with one short statement.

“This was a Dee Brown night.”

Brown scored a career-high 34 points, and No. 6 Illinois remained unbeaten with a 60-50 victory over the No. 7 Spartans in a Big Ten opener at Champaign, Ill.

Illinois has won 30 in a row at home, matching No. 8 Gonzaga for the longest such streak in college basketball.

Brown was 12 for 22 from the field, including seven for 13 from three-point range, and he totaled 23 points in the first half for the Illini (15-0). He finished the half with a 30-foot shot to beat the buzzer.

“I think it was one of the most incredible performances I’ve seen,” Izzo said.

Brown is one of two starters back from the Illinois team that spent most of the season ranked No. 1 and lost to North Carolina in the national championship game.

Michigan State (12-3) had its 11-game winning streak ended as the Illini held the Spartans nearly 33 points below their average.

Maurice Ager, the Big Ten’s leading scorer, finished with nine points, 13 below his average.

“A lot of times we played right into their hands,” said Ager, who was three for eight from the field.

“I feel if I would have played halfway decent we would have come out with the victory.”

No. 3 Villanova 76, No. 9 Louisville 67 -- Randy Foye scored 24 points and the Wildcats (10-0) pulled away late to beat the Cardinals (11-2) at Louisville, Ky.

Allan Ray added 17 points for the Wildcats, whose start is their best season-opening stretch since 1995-96.

David Padgett had 17 points and six rebounds for Louisville, which was making its debut in the Big East after moving from Conference USA.

No. 18 Ohio State 104, Penn State 69 -- Ron Lewis scored 26 points and J.J. Sullinger had 18, and they combined to make all but one of their 19 shots from the field in the Big Ten opener for both teams at Columbus, Ohio.

The Buckeyes (11-0), off to their best start in 15 seasons, shot 63% from the field. Jamelle Cornley had 20 points for the Nittany Lions (8-4), who lost their 33rd consecutive Big Ten road game.

No. 24 West Virginia 57, South Florida 53 -- Mike Gansey scored 18 points and Kevin Pittsnogle had 16 at Tampa, Fla., to lead the Mountaineers (9-3) to their seventh consecutive victory in the Big East opener for both teams.

Solomon Jones had 18 points for the Bulls (6-8).