Six-footer Robo Kreps scored on a drive to the basket over 6-foot-11 center Roeland Schaftenaar with 5.6 seconds to play Wednesday night, rallying UIC to a 63-61 upset over Oregon State.Kreps finished with 19 points and Zavion Neely added 13 for UIC (2-6), which had lost its previous six games by an average of 14.2 points and had previously beaten only Division II Illinois-Springfield.Schaftenaar’s layup gave Oregon State a 61-58 lead with 50.9 seconds left. After Brad Birton’s basket pulled the Flames within a point, the Beavers (4-5) threw away the inbounds pass with 21.8 seconds to go.Kreps then spotted an opening on the right side, drove in against Schaftenaar and scored for a 62-61 lead. Josh Tarver’s inbounds pass was intercepted by Neely, who made one of two free throws. Birton picked off Tarver’s next inbounds pass to seal the victory.It was the third humiliating loss this season for Oregon State (4-5), which opened the season with a 24-point loss to Texas A&M-Corpus Christi and later dropped a home game to Sacramento State.The loss ruined the return to Chicago for Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, President Barack Obama’s brother-in-law. Two years ago, when he was coaching at Brown, Robinson led his team to a victory over Northwestern in Evanston. Robinson got to know Obama during pickup basketball games in Chicago some two decades ago, years before Obama married Robinson’s sister, Michelle.
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PEORIA—Courtney Stanley drained a 3-pointer from half-court as time expired to finish Loyola’s comeback from a 12-point deficit in a 68-65 victory over Bradley on Wednesday night.The Ramblers’ Terrance Hill led all scorers with 20, including five in a row in the final 1:31 that turned Bradley’s five-point edge into a 65-65 tie preceding Stanley’s winner. Walt Gibler went 10-for-10 from the line in scoring 12 for Loyola (7-2), and Ben Averkamp added 10.Bradley (5-4), which was held scoreless for the last 3:02, got 17 points from Andrew Warren, 12 from Chris Roberts, 11 from Milos Knezevic and 10 from Sam Maniscalco.The Braves outshot Loyola 48.9 percent to 40.7 and smoked the Ramblers from 3-point range, sinking 10 of 19 to Loyola’s 6 of 22. But they couldn’t overcome an 18-9 advantage at the line for Loyola, which won its third straight game.
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ROSEMONT—Nick Hendra hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and Vlad Moldoveanu scored 26 points off the bench as American upset DePaul 62-57 on Wednesday night.Hendra’s shot from beyond the arc put the Eagles (2-8) up 59-57 with 2:28 remaining. After Will Walker missed a 3-point attempt for DePaul (6-4), Daniel Munoz was fouled and made a pair of free throws to put American up 61-57 with 34.4 seconds left.Hendra finished with 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting.Devin Hill scored 14 points and Walker added 13 for the Blue Demons, who played without center Mac Koshwal for the seventh straight game because of a left foot injury.Moldoveanu scored seven points during a 9-2 run by American in the second half. His jumper gave the Eagles a 55-50 lead with 4:32 remaining.DePaul trailed by 10 early in the second half but got back in the game with a 11-0 run keyed by Hill’s seven points during the span. Hill’s free throw gave DePaul a 35-34 lead. Leading 18-17 in the first half, American scored nine straight points. Hendra made a 3-pointer, and Moldoveanu connected on a jumper to give the Eagles a 27-17 lead with six minutes remaining in the half.Mike Bizoukas’ layup cut the American lead to 32-24 with four seconds to play before halftime.During the first half, the Eagles were 5 of 11 from 3-point range and held DePaul to 35.7-percent shooting.
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ATHENS—D.J. Cooper scored 18 points, including eight during a late first-half stretch, as Ohio University defeated Illinois State 75-57 on Wednesday night.The Bobcats (6-3) led 18-17 with 5:04 left in the first half after a layup and free throw by Dinma Odiakosa, who paced the Redbirds (7-2) with 13 points and 11 rebounds.After a jumper by Reggie Keely put Ohio ahead 20-17 with 4:38 remaining, Cooper added a layup 29 seconds later to make it 22-17. Cooper’s 3-pointer made it 25-19 with 3:37 left and he closed the half with another 3-pointer for a 28-23 lead 25 seconds before intermission.The Bobcats began the second half with a 22-7 run to lead 50-30 with 10:13 remaining and led by at least 13 the rest of the way.
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EVANSTON—Juice Thompson scored 14 points as Northwestern won its seventh consecutive game Wednesday night, defeating North Florida 84-54.Five other Wildcats scored in double figures besides Thompson, as Luka Mirkovic had 13 points and a career-high eight assists, Jeremy Nash and John Shurna added 11 apiece, and freshmen Drew Crawford and Alex Marcotullio each scored 10.Northwestern (8-1) has its longest winning streak since 1993-94, when the Wildcats won nine in a row. They host Stanford on Saturday.Leading just 30-29 in the first half, NU used a 15-2 run to grab a commanding 45-31 advantage. The Wildcats sank three 3-pointers in the surge, including two by Marcotullio. Thompson had three of Northwestern’s nine first-half 3s. Northwestern finished with 14 three-pointers.Jerron Granberry led North Florida (1-6) with 16 points.