COLUMBUS—Oh well, Illinois still has a chance to be Bowl eligible. They need two more win and don’t have to play No. 13 Ohio State any more. The Buckeyes took care of business by pounding Illinois 55-14 on Saturday night.Now the Buckeyes can finally talk about the game of the year in the Big Ten next week at Michigan State. The Spartans ended a 24-game Ohio State win streak with a 34-24 victory in last year’s conference title game. ”The dream was ripped away from us, ripped away by a very good team,” Ohio State coach Urban Meyer said. He added that his team wouldn’t require any rah-rah speeches in the coming days. ”We’re going to face a very good team that we have a lot of respect for. It’s all about the most prepared team; that’s (who’s) going to win this game,” he said. ”We’ll do our part about motivation. But this is a motivated team.” Curtis Samuel ran for two touchdowns and J.T. Barrett hit Devin Smith on two scoring passes – all in the first half – as the Buckeyes put first things first in the easy win over the Illini.It extended their Big Ten win streak to a record-tying 20.The Buckeyes (7-1, 4-0, No. 16 CFP) won their sixth in a row – five by lopsided scores.No. 8 Michigan State (7-1, 4-0, No. 8 CFP) has also won its last six. The Spartans will be coming off a bye week. ”It was right when we got in the locker room,” linebacker Darron Lee said. ”We usually have our coaches talk about who was good on O, D and ST. We skipped that. We know what’s coming up this week. It’s on. Honestly.” Unlike a week ago, when the Buckeyes rolled to a 17-0 halftime lead at Penn State only to struggle before pulling out a 31-24 victory in double overtime, this one was a landslide early.Barrett, nursing a sprained medial collateral ligament in his left knee and wearing a brace, left at halftime with the Buckeyes up 31-0. He completed 15 of 24 passes for 167 yards, his touchdown throws to Smith covering 32 and 8 yards.Barrett gave way to Cardale Jones, who lofted a picture-perfect 27-yard TD pass to Dontre Wilson and also hit Michael Thomas on a 19-yard scoring pass. Jones was 5 of 9 for 82 yards passing.Samuel ran for 63 yards on nine carries, his TDs coming on runs of 23 yards and 1 yard, and Ezekiel Elliott had 69 yards on nine rushes for the Buckeyes, who have won the last six meetings.The Buckeyes substituted heavily in the second half while a crowd of 106,961 left early as the score mounted. The game was played in windy conditions with temperatures in the mid-30s.The 20th consecutive Big Ten regular-season win matched the mark set by Ohio State teams from 2005-07.The Buckeyes relied on the Illini’s largesse in the opening half.Illinois threw two interceptions – both of which were off receivers’ hands – and also lost a fumble. The Buckeyes failed on two fourth-down runs deep in opposition territory, punted once – and scored on the other five possessions.O’Toole was intercepted by Darron Lee nine plays after the opening kickoff, with the Buckeyes taking just three plays to cover 38 yards. Samuel – who got the start in place of leading rusher Elliott – covered the final 23 yards untouched.

IOWA CITY—Mark Weisman and Akrum Wadley combined for 200 yards rushing and four touchdowns, leading Iowa to a 48-7 win over Northwestern on Saturday.The Hawkeyes, who have had a few injuries in the backfield, also got their first 100-yard rusher in 11 games. ”If we’re going to be any good, we have to run the ball effectively,” Ferentz said. ”The run game is all about detail and execution. I think we took a step forward today.” The Hawkeyes (6-2, 3-1 Big Ten) raced to a 24-0 lead in the first quarter and scored their most points in a conference game in almost nine years.Northwestern (3-5, 2-3) dropped its third straight game after being held to a season-low 180 yards of offense.Weisman and Wadley jolted Iowa’s running game that ranked 10th in the Big Ten entering Saturday’s game.Weisman rushed for a season-high 94 yards and three touchdowns. It was the senior’s fifth straight game with multiple scores. The bruising back’s 29 career touchdowns rank third on Iowa’s all-time list. ”It’s a mindset thing,” said Weisman, a Chicago native. ”We came out fired up and kept it going.This team has had the potential to do this kind of stuff all year, but we just weren’t executing. Today, we definitely executed.” Wadley ran for 106 yards and a touchdown in his first career game. The freshman was Iowa’s first 100-yard rusher in 11 games.Wadley provided an unexpected boost with Iowa’s Jordan Canzeri and LeShun Daniels sidelined due to injuries. The Hawkeyes lost a third running back, Jonathan Parker, on the opening kickoff. ”I’ve been having dreams about it, so when (Ferentz) told me to go in, I was like, `Wow, that’s crazy,”’ said Wadley, the first Hawkeyes player to rush for 100 yards in his debut since Brandon Wegher in 2009. Iowa quarterback Jake Rudock threw for 239 yards, including a pretty 31-yard fade to Tevaun Smith in the end zone.The Hawkeyes led 24-0 just 12 minutes into the game, using a stifling defense and an offense that clicked after being inconsistent the first half of the season.Iowa’s defense was simply too much for Northwestern, which had won six of the last nine in the series.The Hawkeyes recorded five sacks, scored off a blocked punt and recovered a fumble.

LeBron James scored 36 points and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat Derrick Rose and the Bulls 114-108 in overtime on Friday night.The first meeting between two teams expected to challenge each other for supremacy in the Eastern Conference was as tight as advertised, with several swings down the stretch and a superstar carrying his team in the end.James was at his best after struggling the previous night. He scored eight points in the extra period, and the Cavaliers gave coach David Blatt his first win after opening with a loss at home to New York. ”It was an opportunity to go out and redeem ourselves and I was happy with the outcome,” James said. Derrick Rose scored 20 points, but his first meaningful home game in about a year was spoiled by a sprained left ankle and a dominant performance by the Cavaliers’ megastar. Rose, sidelined for most of the past two seasons by knee injuries, came up hobbling in the first half and headed to the locker room in the fourth quarter. ”The gods, they’re testing me right now, man,” said Rose, who did not think the injury was serious. Cleveland rallied from five down in the closing minute of regulation after blowing a nine-point lead to start the fourth quarter.James took over in OT, flipping in a wild reverse layup and scoring Cleveland’s first eight points in the extra period.The Cavaliers were still clinging to a 106-104 lead after Kirk Hinrich hit two free throws with 46.8 seconds left. But Tristan Thompson iced it moments later with a hard dunk after rebounding James’ jumper to make it a four-point game with 24 seconds left. Thompson tied a franchise record with 12 offensive rebounds.James, back with the Cavaliers after leading Miami to two championships, dominated after a rough opener.He had eight rebounds, four steals and just three turnovers after going 5 of 15 from the floor and coughing the ball up eight times against the Knicks.Irving scored 23.Thompson, who was hoping to land a contract extension before the deadline, finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds.Kevin Love added 16 points and 16 rebounds, and the Cavaliers pounded the Bulls 52-42 on the boards. Hinrich came on strong down the stretch to finish with 20 points. Pau Gasol scored 15 and Mike Dunleavy Jr. added 14 points. ”They’re a very good team,” Hinrich said. ”Obviously, they’re as talented as anybody one-two-three. Their bigs are very good at getting little things and complementing their other guys. I know they’re gonna be a tough out, no question.”