ST. LOUIS—Doug McDermott had 33 points and Antoine Young scored eight of his 14 in overtime as No. 25 Creighton survived an upset bid in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament final with an 83-79 victory over Illinois State on Sunday. ISU’s loss along with upstart Tennessee State’s close defeat to Murray State Saturday is a break for bubble teams like Northwestern. Grant Gibbs added a career-high 20 points for second-seeded Creighton (28-5), which won the conference tournament for the seventh time in 14 seasons and earned its first NCAA bid since 2007.The Bluejays were 3-0 against fourth-seeded Illinois State (20-13), which beat top-seeded and 15th-ranked Wichita State in the semifinals, the first two wins by nine and 28 points.Freshman Nic Moore had 20 points for ISU and drove the length of the court for a layup with 6.5 seconds to go in regulation that forced overtime. Young tried to duplicate that feat on the other end but missed with 2 seconds left and Gregory Echenique missed a tip-in at the buzzer.Jackie Carmichael added 17 points and nine rebounds for the Redbirds, who haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 1998. Tyler Brown had 16 points and John Ekey added 13. McDermott, the conference player of the year, was potent inside and out, making 12 of 18 shots with three 3-pointers while exhausting an assortment of defenders. He broke the school’s season scoring record set in 1968-69 in the first half and put Creighton on his back much of the second half, scoring 17 of the Bluejays’ 19 points in one stretch.The Bluejays led by nine points with 1:15 to go after Josh Jones’ fastbreak dunk. Coach Greg McDermott, Doug McDermott’s father, became the first Valley coach to win the tournament at two schools. He won in 2004 at Northern Iowa.Creighton won without much from Echenique, who was held to eight points and seven rebounds. Echenique had 20 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes in the semifinal win over Evansville.Creighton was 3 for 12 from 3-point range in the first half, a day after starting 8 for 11 from long range while building a 19-point lead against Evansville. Illinois State took advantage of the misfires, closing the half on a 15-3 run capped by Tyler Brown’s 3-pointer with 4.8 seconds to go that gave it the lead. Creighton had one basket over the final 6:47 after McDermott’s one-handed tip-in made it 27-16. Echenique was on the bench the final 3:11 after getting his second foul.

MADISON—Jordan Taylor scored 16 points in his final home game, helping No. 14 Wisconsin beat Illinois 70-56 on Sunday in both teams’ regular-season finale.Josh Gasser added 16 points and eight rebounds for the Badgers (23-8, 12-6), who have won three straight going into this week’s Big Ten tournament. The Badgers honored Taylor and fellow senior Rob Wilson in their final Kohl Center appearances.Brandon Paul had 22 points for Illinois (17-14, 6-12). The loss continued what has been a miserable collapse in the second half of the Big Ten season for the Illini, and coach Bruce Weber’s future at the school remains in doubt.Illinois had only three assists, a season-low. It was the 265th victory at Wisconsin for Badgers coach Bo Ryan, tying Harold “Bud” Foster for most wins in the program’s history. The Badgers noted Ryan’s achievement in a ceremony immediately after the game, before moving on to tributes for Taylor and Wilson.Wisconsin came into Sunday’s game allowing an NCAA-best 51.8 points per game, and they looked every bit like the nation’s top defensive team as they held the struggling Illini to only 18 points in the first half. Ilinois has lost its last seven road games. Overall, the Illini have lost 11 of their last 13 since beating Ohio State on Jan. 10. Fans in Wisconsin’s student section chanted “NIT! NIT! NIT!” in the closing minutes of the game. Winning the conference tournament is now the only path for the Illini to make the NCAAs.The Badgers took away whatever fight was left in the Illini early, hitting five of their first nine 3-point attempts as they charged to a 22-9 lead.The Illini got a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Paul at the end of the half, one of the few highlights of the opening 20 minutes, but still went into halftime trailing 31-18 — their lowest scoring output in a half all season. The Illini shot 6 for 24 from the field in the first half, with seven turnovers and only one assist.The Badgers weren’t particularly impressive on offense in the first half, but they didn’t have to be. Taylor had a team-high eight points at the half, going 2 for 3 from 3-point range. Illinois made something of a surge to start the second half, cutting the lead to nine on two free throws by Paul with 15:47 left. But after the teams traded baskets, Frank Kaminsky hit a 3-pointer for Wisconsin and a pass from Paul went off the hands of Meyers Leonard and out of bounds. Even with his team struggling and his own future in doubt, Weber was as intense and focused as ever, yelling and gesturing on the sidelines.Leading 42-32 with just over 11 minutes left, Wisconsin used a short scoring spurt to take control of the game. Wilson hit a long jumper, Jared Berggren blocked Paul on the other end and Mike Bruesewitz hit a jumper.After two free throws by Leonard, Gasser hit a 3-pointer to give the Badgers a 49-34 lead with 9 minutes left.The Illini will face Iowa in the Big Ten Tournament opening round Thursday in Indianapolis.

ROSEMONT—Jamie Crockett scored 21 points, Jeremiah Kelly added 15 in his final home game, and DePaul defeated Seton Hall 86-58 on Saturday.The Blue Demons (12-18, 3-15 Big East) broke a nine-game losing streak and denied Seton Hall (19-11, 8-10) the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament. That goes instead to West Virginia, which defeated South Florida on Saturday.Herb Pope had 16 points and Jordan Theodore 10 for the Pirates, who have lost three of their last four games and defeated DePaul by 21 points earlier this year.DePaul will be the No. 16 seed in the Big East tournament. Seton Hall fell into a tie for ninth in the conference with Connecticut, and the schools split two games this season.Seton Hall shot only 5 of 16 from 3-point range. Crockett was 5 of 7 from behind the arc, with DePaul going 10 of 26 as a team.

IOWA CITY—Drew Crawford scored 18 points as Northwestern beat Iowa 70-66 on Saturday, boosting the Wildcats’ hopes for their first NCAA tournament bid.Iowa’s Josh Oglesby missed a 3-pointer from the wing with 4 seconds left that would have given the Hawkeyes the lead.Northwestern (18-12, 8-10 Big Ten) needed this win after losing two of its last three games. The Wildcats overcame an early 15-point deficit and held on in their last game before the Big Ten tournament.Alex Marcotullio’s two free throws with 2 seconds left sealed the win for Northwestern.Senior Matt Gatens scored 17 points to lead Iowa (16-15, 8-10).You can say NU really won the game with a 17-0 run late in the first half to lead 42-35 at halftime. Iowa failed to hit a field goal in the last seven minutes of the half. The Hawkeyes shot 53 percent in the first half, but committed 13 turnovers.

ST. LOUIS—Tyler Brown made two free throws with 6.4 seconds left and finished with 25 points as Illinois State upset No. 15 Wichita State 65-64 in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament on Saturday. Jackie Carmichael added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the fourth-seeded Redbirds (20-12), who rallied from 13 points down early in the second half. ISU, which lost at home to the Shockers by 13 points on Feb. 22, snapped a 24-game losing streak against ranked teams, dating to 1987. The Redbirds head into the tournament championship game on Sunday seeking their first NCAA tournament berth since 1998.Joe Ragland had 17 points for Wichita State (27-5), which had won nine in a row and 17 of 18. Now they must wait to learn if they will receive an at-large bid and get into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2006.The Missouri Valley Conference has sent only one team to the tournament the past four years. Ben Smith had 14 points and 13 rebounds, and Toure’ Murry had 15 points. Leading scorer Garrett Stutz, who averages 13.8 points, was in foul trouble throughout and was held to six points and five rebounds.Wichita State got two chances to win it at the finish, with Murry missing from the key with about 3 seconds to go. Stutz misfired from the wing at the buzzer.Illinois State had won just two of five before the tournament.Neither team shot well, Illinois State finished at 33.9 percent, and Wichita State at 34.9 percent.Brown, who totaled 21 points in the two regular-season meetings against Wichita State, missed his career high by a point. He has made 36 of 39 at the free throw line in the last 10 games. Carmichael has a pair of double-doubles in the tournament.Stutz drew a personal foul and a technical with 11:59 left, giving him four fouls. Illinois State’s John Wilkins was whistled for his second technical after jostling underneath the Wichita State basket.Illinois State went 12:12 between baskets in the first half and shot just 29 percent, but stayed in range by going 12 for 14 at the line. Murry had 10 points in the half, six in a 14-0 run that put Wichita State up by 10 with 6 1/2 minutes to go. The Shockers led by as many as 13 before Nic Moore made a 3-pointer with 2:42 to end Illinois State’s drought.

CLEVELAND—Luol Deng scored a season-high 24 points and Derrick Rose added 19 as the Bulls won their fifth straight, 112-91 on Friday night over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who were without rookie guard Kyrie Irving. Up by 12 at halftime, the Bulls built a 24-point lead in the third quarter and coasted to its 12th win in 14 games to stay on Miami’s heels for the best record in the Eastern Conference.Carlos Boozer added 13 points and 11 rebounds as the Bulls won their seventh straight over Cleveland.Irving has been fighting a flu bug for several days and missed his fourth game. The Cavs sorely missed their leading scorer and playmaker while dropping their fourth straight.Antawn Jamison scored 22 for Cleveland, 0-3 since the All-Star break.

OTTAWA—Marian Hossa scored the go-ahead goal midway through the second period and the Blackhawks held on to defeat the Ottawa Senators 2-1 on Friday. Bryan Bickell also scored for the Blackhawks, while Ray Emery, making his first appearance in Ottawa since having his contract bought out in 2008, made 25 saves.Milan Michalek scored the lone goal for the Senators, while Robin Lehner, making his third straight start for injured goalie Craig Anderson, stopped 37 shots.The third period featured end-to-end action as both Lehner and Emery, playing in his 200th NHL career game, needed to make some big saves.