Unbeaten Illinois thumps Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Dee Brown scored 20 points, 18 on 3-pointers, to lead top-ranked and unbeaten Illinois to an 84-48 victory over Northwestern on Wednesday night that clinched a share of the Big Ten title for the Illini.

No. 23 Villanova 76, No. 3 Boston College 70

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Randy Foye scored 23 points and the Wildcats survived a 9-minute stretch without a field goal for their third home win over a ranked team.

Curtis Sumpter scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half for Villanova (18-6, 8-5 Big East).

No. 5 Kentucky 81, Auburn 73

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Kelenna Azubuike had career-highs of 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who clinched a share of the SEC East for the sixth straight year.

No. 6 Wake Forest 88, Longwood 47

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Taron Downey scored 13 points in Wake Forest's rout.

Eric Williams added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (23-4), who led by as many as 40 points in the first half.

No. 15 Syracuse 83, St. John's 69

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Hakim Warrick emerged from a slight slump to score a career-high 35 points and the Orange broke a two-game losing streak.

West Virginia 70, No. 18 Pittsburgh 66

PITTSBURGH — Kevin Pittsnogle scored all but two of his 22 points in the second half and West Virginia rallied from 14 points down in just over 9 minutes to beat Pittsburgh for the second time this season.

No. 21 Charlotte 80, Memphis 77

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Eddie Basden scored 24 points, including two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play, for Charlotte.

The 49ers (20-4, 11-2 Conference USA) moved into a tie with Louisville for first place with the victory — their sixth straight.

No. 7 Duke 60, Georgia Tech 56

ATLANTA — Lee Melchionni hit two late 3-pointers and Duke continued its dominance of Georgia Tech.