NORMAL—Osiris Eldridge scored 17 points to lead five Illinois State players in double figures as the Redbirds rallied to defeat Creighton 71-62 Wednesday night.Dinma Odiakosa had 13 points and 11 rebounds, his seventh double-double of the season, for Illinois State (14-5, 5-3 Missouri Valley).Creighton (9-10, 4-4) scored the first 11 points of the game, and led 17-5 before the Redbirds scored the next 10 points. The Bluejays pushed the lead back to 38-28 by halftime, but Illinois State began the second half with a 17-6 run to take their first lead at 45-44.Justin Clark scored 13 points and Tony Lewis and Lloyd Phillips 12 each for Illinois State. The five in double figures accounted for all but four of the Redbirds’ points.Kenny Lawson Jr. and Darryl Ashford led the Bluejays with 11 points each, and Justin Carter grabbed 11 rebounds.

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CARBONDALE—Sam Maniscalco scored 21 points and Will Egolf had a double-double as Bradley nearly coughed up a 15-point lead but held on to edge Southern Illinois 57-55 on Wednesday night.Egolf had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Braves (9-9, 4-4 Missouri Valley), who put together their first two-game winning streak since Nov. 28 and Dec. 2.Tony Freeman led the Salukis (10-7, 3-5) with 15 points. Anthony Booker had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Carlton Fay added 14 points.Bradley rocketed to a 15-0 lead as the Salukis missed their first eight shots. But Southern Illinois responded, trimming the deficit to 21-18 with 5:11 left in the first half.Fay and Kendal Brown-Surles combined for seven consecutive points to give Southern Illinois its first lead at 55-54 with 2:31 to go. But Maniscalco hit three free throws in the final minute to rescue Bradley.

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TOLEDO—Xavier Silas scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and Northern Illinois held off Toledo in a 58-54 win on Wednesday night.Darion Anderson had 10 points and seven rebounds for the Huskies (8-8, 4-0 Mid-American Conference), who extended their winning streak to six games – the school’s longest run since the 1995-1996 season.It’s also the first time NIU has gone 4-0 in the conference.Silas, who went 6-for-14 from the floor and 3-for-6 from 3-point range, broke a 44-44 tie on his 3-pointer with 5:56 left in the second half. The Huskies pushed their margin to eight points on Lee Fisher’s jumper more than 3 minutes later.The Rockets (3-15, 0-4) cut Northern Illinois’ advantage to 56-54 with 8 seconds left. But Toledo got no closer as Anderson hit two free throws to give the Huskies enough cushion.Malcolm Griffin led Toledo with 13 points.

OTTAWA—Peter Regin picked up Tuesday night where Daniel Alfredsson left off one day earlier for the streaking Ottawa Senators.Regin had a goal and an assist and Brian Elliott made 29 saves to lead Ottawa to its fourth straight win, a 4-1 victory over the Blackhawks.Regin restored the Senators’ two-goal lead late in the second when he beat Cristobal Huet on a wraparound after Zack Smith and Ryan Shannon scored in the first to put the Hawks up 2-0.Mike Fisher scored a power-play goal 16:45 into the third to seal the win and extend the Senators’ streak, which included a 5-1 win in Boston on Monday as Alfredsson had a hat trick.Marian Hossa scored his third short-handed goal of the season earlier in the second for the Blackhawks, who ended a three-game winning streak.The Hawks, who held a 30-18 advantage in shots, entered tied with San Jose for No. 1 overall in the NHL with 72 points after beginning a season-high eight-game trip with wins in Columbus and Detroit over the weekend.Huet stopped 14 shots.Hossa, who spent his first seven seasons with Ottawa, drove in on a breakaway and sent a slap shot past Elliott for his 13th goal 6:05 into the second while Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews was in the penalty box.The Hawks, who entered tied with the Sharks for the league lead in short-handed goals, became the first team to reach eight this season.Regin, who assisted on Shannon’s goal 12:31 in, restored Ottawa’s two-goal margin when he drove the right side and went around the back of the net to put a backhand into an open left side with 1:55 left in the second.Elliott came up with a big stop on Patrick Kane’s shot off a rebound with just over four minutes remaining in the third. Elliott survived a close call earlier in the third when he recovered to make a sprawling stick save on Hossa just over six minutes into the third after he misplayed a puck behind his net.Hossa had a wide open net staring at him when Elliott inadvertently directed a dump-in toward his vacated crease. The Senators’ goalie lunged and stuck out his stick to deny Hossa’s shot.Smith scored his second goal in three games at 6:51 of the first.Shannon made it 2-0 at 12:31 when he redirected Regin’s centering pass from the left side beyond Huet for his fifth goal.

NOTES—The Blackhawks next play Thursday night at slumping Calgary….Hossa, who was chosen 12th overall by the Senators in the 1997 draft, had 188 goals and 202 assists for 390 points in 467 regular-season games with Ottawa from 1997-98 to 2003-04…..Senators RW Alex Kovalev extended his points streak to a season-high four games with an assist on Shannon’s goal. He has a goal and three assists during that span….Ottawa RW Chris Neil had two assists.

COLUMBUS—Evan Turner had 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists in No. 21 Ohio State’s 76-56 win over Northwestern. Turner also keyed a fast start with five points in a 7-0 run as the Buckeyes (14-5, 4-3 Big Ten) broke out quick and cruised to their third win in a row.As a 6-foot-7 point guard, Turner had the length that enabled the Buckeyes to throw the ball over Northwestern’s trapping 1-3-1 halfcourt zone. As a result, the Buckeyes shot 56 percent from the field in opening up a 40-17 halftime lead that allowed them to breeze to the finish. Dallas Lauderdale had a career-high 14 points for Ohio State, which has won the last 30 times it has hosted the Wildcats, dating to 1977. The Buckeyes were coming off impressive wins over No. 6 Purdue and No. 13 Wisconsin last week.John Shurna had 22 points and Drew Crawford 11 for Northwestern (13-5, 2-4), which played its third straight game against a ranked opponent. The Wildcats beat No. 6 Purdue 72-64 on Saturday, the highest-ranked team they had beaten in 31 years.At one point in the second half, the Wildcats hit 8 of 10 shots from the field but cut only three points off what was a 23-point deficit at the break.The Wildcats hit 9 of 23 3-pointers — they’re in the top 10 in the nation in shots made and attempted behind the arc — but never had an answer inside against the more aggressive Buckeyes.The Buckeyes broke out to a quick lead on a Turner jumper and a 3 sandwiched around Diebler’s fast-break layup.Carmody said the Wildcats had a bad day Monday in practice and that seemed to carry over into the game.While NU had difficulty getting space to shoot at the offensive end, the Buckeyes were at their best. They hit their first seven shots from the field while taking a 17-3 lead. After the Wildcats got as close as 10 points, the Buckeyes ran off 14 of the next 18 to go up 31-11.Ohio State, now 12-0 at home this season, also got three highlight-reel tomahawk dunks from William Buford in the opening half.The Wildcats, who had outrebounded Purdue 42-23, didn’t get a rebound in the opening 9:15. Ohio ended up with a 35-27 upper-hand on the boards.Turner became only the second Ohio State player (joining Jimmy Jackson) to have 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists.

Evan Turner dispels any injury concerns by fueling the Buckeyes with a near triple-double effort.

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CHAMPAIGN—John Hart had played 33 minutes of basketball for No. 13 Purdue this season before Tuesday night’s game against Illinois. Hart wasn’t even listed in the game’s official score book, costing the Boilermakers a technical foul and two points at the free throw line when he did play. The Illini said they knew nothing about him.Hart more than made up for the technical and introduced himself to Illinois with 14 points, five of them in an early second-half run that gave the Boilermakers a lead they rode to an 84-78 victory.JaJuan Johnson led Purdue with 24 points.The win ended a three-game losing streak for Purdue (15-3, 3-3) and kept the Boilermakers in the thick of a crowded Big Ten, in a fifth-place tie with Ohio State and Minnesota.The loss dropped Illinois (12-7) to 4-2 in the conference and two games behind Big Ten leaders Michigan State.Demetri McCamey led the Illini with a game-high 28 points, including 13 from the free throw line. But he missed six free throws, and the Illini were 17 of 29 (58.6 percent) from the line.After trailing 32-28 at the half, Purdue opened the second half with a 15-4 run.Hart keyed the run, first with a fast break layup that tied the score at 32, then with a 3-pointer that gave the Boilermakers a 35-32 lead.The game started to slip away from the Illini even before halftime, though.Purdue went cold from the field midway through the first half, failing to find the basket from the field for 7:01. But Illinois didn’t do much with the opportunity.The Illini led 16-12 at the start of that stretch, with 10:52 on the clock, and 26-20 when Moore broke the ice at 3:51. In between Robbie Hummel and Johnson kept Purdue going with two free throws each.But Illinois could only blame itself. The Illini were 4 for 12 from the field over those seven minutes, including 0 for 3 from three-point range.Purdue then closed the gap to 28-26 on a jump shot by Hart with 53 seconds left in the half.Only an unusual technical — called when the officials noticed after Hart’s first points that he didn’t appear on the official roster — let Illinois widen its cushion. McCamey hit both free throws for a 30-26 lead and Illinois led 32-28 at the half.Illinois held a slim 23-21 rebounding edge at half time, but had 11 offensive boards — and only four second-chance points to show for them.Weber complained about his team’s missed opportunity.Purdue was effective at the free throw line, hitting 27 for 34 (79.4 percent).for the Boilermakers, after hitting just 10 of the 30 first-half shots, finished 27 for 56 (48.2 percent). They hit 65.4 percent — 17 for 26 — of their second-half shot.Illinois held Purdue’s leading scorer, Hummel, to 11 points, but McCamey said the Illini failed to make the changes it needed to when Painter put Hart in the game.

*** This column is usually issued on Mondays,but due to Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. Day,we postponed it until today.

***The four NFL Divisional round playoff games over the weekend were mostly a disappointment. Three of the four games were blow outs,with only the Jets upset win over the Chargers the slightest bit interesting,or competitive. Now the Jets will visit the Colts in a rematch,not only of the 15th game of the regular season in which Indianapolis “tanked” the contest to rest players,and thus gave the Jets an easy fourth quarter rally for a win that got Rex Ryan’s team INTO the post season. This is also a rematch if sorts of Super Bowl III when “Broadway” Joe Namath the the Jets stunned the Pro Football world by beating the favored BALTIMORE Colts 16-7 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.

***Two Dome teams will each be trying to end long “Super Bowl droughts”. The New Orleans Saints have NEVER been to a Super Bowl,even though many have been held in the “Big Easy” including the Bears 46-10 rout of New England in SB XX. The Minnesota Vikings have not been to a Super Bowl in 33 years since they lost big to the Raiders. The Vikes also have not been in a SB since moving indoors to the Metrodome in 1982.

***The Bears organization remains in shock over the sudden death of 26 year old defensive end Gaines Adams,whom they picked up from Tampa Bay in October for a second round draft pick. And no, don’t ask, the Bears do not get their second round pick back.

***The Cubs had their annual sellout for the 25th Convention this past weekend at the Chicago Hilton. Fans were excited to be there,but the buzz of the past few years was not evident. Many smart fans know the Cubs are clearly underdogs to win the NL Central.

***It’s the White Sox turn next with Soxfest at the Palmer House this Friday.

***The Blackhawks are off to a 2-0 start on their eight game road trip. The nearby games(in Columbus and Detroit)are behind them. Now are games in Ottawa,Calgary,Vancouver,San Jose and lastly Carolina after a coast to coast flight.

***The Bulls loss at Golden State Monday afternoon was almost as bad as their embarressing defeats at home with pathetic New Jersey,and the game with Sacramento in which they blew a 35 point-second half lead. The Warriors dressed just eight players,and three were from the D-League! Even with Kirk Hinrich out due to the flu, this loss was unacceptable.  

LES

OAKLAND—Andris Biedrins had been waiting for a while to finally feel like his old self again.There he was Monday, blocking shots, rebounding and struggling from the free-throw line as usual.Biedrins grabbed a season-high 19 rebounds to go with a career-best eight blocked shots, Monta Ellis had 36 points on 39 shots, and the short-handed Golden State Warriors snapped a three-game losing streak with a 114-97 victory over the Bulls Biedrins returned late last month after missing 25 games with inflammation in his right groin where it attaches to the abdomen.Corey Maggette added 32 points, six rebounds and five assists, and Stephen Curry had 26 points, 10 rebounds and six assists as Golden State ended the Bulls four-game winning streak. Ellis had eight assists and five rebounds.The Bulls couldn’t overcome their sluggish start and failed to wear down the banged-up Warriors.John Salmons scored 25 points and Luol Deng 20 for the cold-shooting Bulls who kicked off a seven-game road trip without starting guard Kirk Hinrich because of the flu. The Bulls were held to 36.5 percent from the floor.Golden State dressed only eight players for the second straight game because of injuries. The Warriors were down to four players late in a 113-104 loss to Milwaukee on Friday night.Maggette had his third 30-point game in his last four outings and fifth overall. Ellis shot 14 for 39, going 3 for 9 from long range. Ellis is the first Warriors player to take 39 shots since Rick Barry was 20 for 39 with 42 points on Feb. 22, 1975, against Boston.Curry hit a 3-pointer with 1:23 left in the third quarter and Ellis followed with a basket in transition, giving Golden State some momentum heading into the final 12 minutes. After that, the Warriors quickly began pulling away.Golden State signed forward and D-League call-up Anthony Tolliver to a 10-day contract on an injury exemption Saturday to give Nelson a little more depth — and Tolliver came out to start the second quarter.As luck would have it, he went down with an injury.Tolliver had six points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes before going out with 10:37 left after bruising his left knee in a hard fall.They got down to four players Friday after Curry was whistled for his sixth foul with four seconds left. Curry was allowed to return but Golden State was charged with a technical because of the shortage.The Warriors, playing a rare matinee game in front of a nearly full house despite miserable, wet weather outside, could use a boost with two games remaining on their season-long seven-game homestand.Golden State also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Bulls, who had won the last two at Oracle Arena. The Bulls held on for a 96-91 overtime victory at home on Dec. 11.Biedrins’ big day on the boards helped the Warriors to a 57-53 rebounding advantage and a season-high total. The Bulls had outrebounded their opponents in eight of the previous 10 games and led the NBA coming in with a 45.4 rebounding average per game. Golden State is 4-1 when outrebounding its opponent.The Warriors got off to a nice start by hitting nine of their first 14 shots for a 25-14 lead late in the opening quarter. But Golden State let the Bulls back in it in the second period and held a 54-53 halftime lead.Derrick Rose added 19 points.

NOTES—The Warriors held a book drive at Oracle among special activities for the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. … The Bulls are 1-5 on the road vs. Western Conference teams. … Golden State, along with the Oakland Black Firefighters Association, will collect donations during Wednesday’s and Friday’s home games for the Haitian earthquake relief efforts. Fans can donate in firefighter boots at the entrances to the arena and at various places inside.

SOUTH BEND—Wesley Johnson scored 22 points and Rautins added 21, including going 5 of 9 from 3-point range, and fifth-ranked Syracuse beat Notre Dame 84-71 on Monday night.The victory followed an 81-65 win at Rutgers and a 72-71 victory over then-No. 10 West Virginia.The Irish (14-5, 3-3) used an 8-1 run to close within 55-53 on two free throws by Tory Jackson after Rautins was called for an intentional foul for throwing an elbow. The Orange (18-1, 5-1) used a 6-0 run to go up 65-56.The Irish cut the lead to 67-62 when Tim Abromaitis, who scored 26 points, hit his second straight 3-pointer. But Syracuse, which has just two wins of seven points or less, put the game away with a 17-7 run.After shooting 54 percent in the first half, the Orange shot 44 percent in the second half. But the Orange were 20 of 25 from the free-throw line in the second half.Luke Harangody was credited with 29 points and 14 rebounds, although Notre Dame officials were reviewing a tape of the game to see if a basket attributed to Tyrone Nash should have been given to Harangody. Tory Jackson had 15 assists for Notre Dame, although he missed all seven shots from the field and finished with two points.Arinze Onuaku added 13 points for the Orange.Syracuse was 8 of 17 from 3-point range while the Irish were 8 of 30. The Orange finished 24 of 31 from the free-throw line compared to Irish going 11 of 13. Brey said he thinks Syracuse is the best team in the country.

NEW YORK—Justin Burrell scored 11 points and 11 St. John’s players scored as the Red Storm routed DePaul 67-47 on Sunday.Justin Brownlee added 10 points and leading scorer D.J. Kennedy (15.8 points a game) had eight points in 25 minutes as St. John’s (12-5, 2-3 Big East) won its second straight game.The Red Storm used a 10-0 first-half run to take a 27-15 lead on Brownlee’s layup with 3:23 left and shot 50 percent from the field (11-for-22) to take a 31-20 halftime lead. St. John’s scored the first two baskets of the second half for a 35-20 lead, and after DePaul (7-10, 0-5) scored, the Red Storm put the game away with an 18-2 run and a 53-24 lead with 10:20 to play.Anthony Mason Jr. had eight points and 10 rebounds for St. John’s, which outrebounded DePaul 46-26.Will Walker led DePaul with 14 points and Mike Stovall added 11 points.

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DES MOINES—Josh Young scored 18 points and Adam Templeton finished with 17 points and 14 rebounds as Drake defeated Illinois State 69-59 Sunday night. The Bulldogs (8-11, 3-4 Missouri Valley) took command of the game early then held on in the closing minutes.Osiris Eldridge scored 26 points, all in the second half, to lead the Redbirds (13-5, 4-3).Drake, which never trailed, took a 16-6 lead on a 3-pointer by Templeton with 7:31 left in the first half and led by double digits the rest of the way. The Bulldogs were up 35-15 at halftime and then scored the first five points of the second half for their largest advantage, 40-15.ISU put together runs of 10-1 and 9-3 in the second half but couldn’t get any closer than 12 until the final minute.Ryan Wedel added 14 points for Drake.

DETROIT — The Blackhawks had a lot of fun and picked up two points.Jonathan Toews, Marian Hossa and Patrick Sharp scored in the shootout to give the Hawks a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Sunday.Troy Brouwer had a goal and an assist and Patrick Kane and Sharp also had goals for Chicago, the top team in the Western Conference, which has won eight of its last 10. Antti Niemi stopped 35 shots.It was a back-and-forth contest between the two storied rivals — both played Saturday — and Detroit rallied from 2-0 and 3-2 deficits to tie it. Sharp got the shootout winner in the fourth round.Hossa was booed each time he touched the puck in his second game at Joe Louis Arena since leaving Detroit to sign a 12-year, $62 million contract with the Blackhawks. Howard stopped him on prime scoring chances three times and Hossa was wide on a 2-on-1 just before the five-minute overtime period ended.Niccklas Lidstrom and Henrick Zetterberg had a goal and an assist and Patrick Eaves also scored for Detroit, which is in ninth place in the West — just short of the eighth and final playoff spot. Pavel Datsyuk had two assists and Jimmy Howard made 26 saves. Datsyuk and Todd Bertuzzi scored for Detroit in the shootout. Both came on creative moves.Datsyuk made a few moves and wound up to Niemi’s left then just flipped the puck toward the net, scoring off of Niemi’s arm. Bertuzzi’s turned completely around just before he got to the crease and put a backhand shot over Niemi.Eaves tied it at 3 with 9:50 left in regulation on a wrist shot from the top of the left circle along the boards. It was Eaves’ sixth goal.Sharp gave the Hawks a 3-2 lead with 8:50 left in the second period when he tipped in Duncan Keith’s slap pass for his 16th goal. Howard got a piece of the shot. Zetterberg’s power-play goal tied the game at 2 for the Red Wings 8:45 into the middle period. Zetterberg scored from the bottom of the left circle, shooting through Niemi’s legs for his 12th goal.Brouwer opened the scoring 7:55 into the game when his shot from the top of the left circle went in off the inside of Howard’s pad. Brouwer’s 14th goal came off a rebound after Niemi stopped Justin Abdelkader and then Brad May on a two-on-none rush.Kane’s power-play goal with 5:15 left in the opening period made it 2-0. His wrist shot from the high slot went in off of Howard.Lidstrom put Detroit on the board with 48 seconds left in the first period with his third goal. He beat Niemi from the bottom of the left circle. It was the Red Wings’ first goal against the Blackhawks in 148:36, dating to Oct. 8. the Hawks shut out Detroit by 3-0 scores on Dec. 20, and again on Dec. 23.

NOTES—There were enough Blackhawks’ fans at the game for the cheer to be audible after a visitor goal….Two unusual combatants, Detroit’s Eaves and Kris Versteeg, fought with 42 seconds left in the first period and traded impressive punches. Eaves has 8 penalty minutes this season and Versteeg 20. Eaves said it was carried over from the earlier games between the teams….Brent Sopel left the ice bent over and holding his left wrist or hand after colliding with Abdelkader, Niemi and the goal post about seven minutes into the third period.

EVANSTON—Northwestern’s purple-clad fans raced to the middle of the floor Saturday with a reason to jump up and down and celebrate — the Wildcats finally beat a ranked team at Welsh-Ryan Arena.Drew Crawford hit two clutch 3-pointers and made a three-point play in the second half to lead a 72-64 win over No. 6 Purdue.Northwestern (13-4, 2-3 Big Ten) lost earlier at home to ranked teams Butler, Michigan State and Wisconsin but was able to send the Boilermakers to their third straight defeat by doing some storming of their own. They crashed the boards with a 42-23 rebounding advantage.The last time the Wildcats beat a team ranked as high as sixth on their home floor came in 1979, when they defeated then-No. 4 Michigan State 83-65. E’Twaun Moore led the Boilermakers with 24 points.Purdue (14-3, 2-3) has its first three-game losing streak since dropping five straight in 2006 at the end of coach Matt Painter’s first season.The Boilermakers’ performance on the boards Saturday was hurt by foul problems for 6-foot-10 JaJuan Johnson.Crawford’s first 3-pointer with just under seven minutes left put the Wildcats up 51-50 and they never trailed again.He hit another 3-pointer with 2:04 left to push the Wildcats ahead by four. And after a Purdue miss, he drove through the middle for a layup and was fouled. His three-point play with 1:32 to go put NU up 64-57.Two free throws by Luka Mirkovic gave the Wildcats a 10-point lead with 54 seconds to go.Robbie Hummel’s 3-pointer with 33.4 seconds left cut the deficit to six before the Wildcats ran out the victory when Jeremy Nash made two free throws.Juice Thompson, who played despite stomach problems, led Northwestern with 20 points. Mirkovic finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Crawford had 15 points, 11 in the second half.Purdue now plays at Illinois before starting a three-game homestand.Boilermakers guard Chris Kramer ended up on the court writhing in pain following a scramble for the ball with 5:37 left in the first half. He limped off the court, got treatment and was able to return, making a key steal and layup that got the Boilermakers within one at the end of the half.Ninety seconds after Kramer was hurt, Hummel headed to the locker room holding a towel to the side of his head to stop bleeding after apparently being hit by an elbow. He re-entered the game with 3:47 to go in the half and seconds later hit his first basket of the game, a jumper from the baseline.Hummel was already playing with a dislocated left pinkie, an injury he sustained late in Purdue’s 70-66 loss to Ohio State four days ago when he scored a career-high 35 points with eight 3-pointers. He had the injured finger taped to another one and managed five first-half points before finishing with 20.

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EAST LANSING—Tom Izzo put Kalin Lucas on the bench a couple of minutes into Saturday’s game.The Michigan State coach heard what he wanted from his star player, then liked what he saw.Lucas shook off a slow start and scored 20 points, leading the seventh-ranked Spartans to a 73-63 victory over Illinois that broke a first-place tie in the Big Ten.Lucas hasn’t always done that this season.When Izzo didn’t like how Lucas was leading the team last month, he held him out of a practice and didn’t start him a game.Lucas’ lackluster start Saturday put him next to Izzo after two missed shots led to the defending Big Ten champions trailing by six points.Lucas bounced back well enough to help Michigan State go from a six-point deficit with six minutes left in the first half to a 64-41 lead with eight minutes to go in the game.The Spartans (15-3, 5-0) are good enough to be alone atop the conference.Demetri McCamey scored 15 points for the Fighting Illini (12-6, 4-1) and didn’t get much help.Illinois has four players averaging at least 10 points, but didn’t have a second player in double figures until freshman Tyler Griffey made a 3-pointer late in the game. Griffey had 12 points and junior Mike Davis scored in the final seconds to finish with 11.Mike Tisdale was held to two points — 18 fewer than the junior was averaging in Big Ten play — and missed his only attempt from the field. Freshman D.J. Richardson missed all eight of his shots and finished with two points, nine less than his average.The Illini, who were ranked as high as No. 20 this season, had their first 4-0 start in the Big Ten since 2005. Next, they host No. 6 Purdue.Lucas’ first and only basket in the first half gave Michigan State its first lead 4½ minutes before halftime and Illinois couldn’t come back.The Spartans closed the first half with an 18-5 run — taking a 36-29 lead — and scored the first seven points after halftime.Illinois pulled within eight, then Lucas was dominant with six straight points and a three-point play that put the Spartans up 54-35.The Illini cut their deficit to 11 with 2½ minutes left, then Lucas made a layup on the ensuing possession.Michigan State’s Delvon Roe fouled out with 15 points. Raymar Morgan had 14 points and 10 rebounds as a reserve. Draymond Green provided his usual spark for the Spartans off the bench with all-around play, adding seven points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.Like anyone who has seen Green play lately, Weber raved about the sophomore forward.Michigan State, which has lost only once since falling Dec. 1 at North Carolina in a rematch of the national championship game, is 11-0 at home.