Outmatched Illinois crushed
Bryn Forbes scored 17 points to help No. 5 Michigan State rout Illinois 79-54 on Thursday in East Lansing, Michigan.
The Spartans (15-1, 2-1 Big Ten) were without Denzel-Valentine for a fourth consecutive game. Valentine participated in pregame warmups and might play at Penn State on Sunday, nearly three weeks after having surgery on his left knee.
The Illini (8-8, 0-3) didn’t have leading-scorer Kendrick Nunn, who stayed in Illinois for the birth of his child.
“As the father of three kids, I felt like he needed to be there,” Illinois coach John Groce said.
Maverick Morgan had 15 points and Malcolm Hill scored 10 for Illinois. The Illini made barely more than one-fourth of their shots in the first half and allowed the Spartans to connect on 61 percent of their shots before halftime.
The short-handed Illini called timeouts, trying to slow down the Spartans, and one of their bangedup players had a lot to say to his teammates in the huddle during one of the second-half breaks.
Tracy Abrams, who is out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon, shouted at his teammates to keep playing hard even though they trailed by 30 points.
“Mentally, we just weren’t very good,” Groce said. “I thought they tried to play hard and they were physical. But when you play Michigan State, especially here, effort is not enough. I didn’t think we played very smart.”
Notre Dame 82, Boston College 54
Demetrius Jackson scored eight of his 17 points during a 21-4 key run in the first half that carried visiting Notre Dame (10-4, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) past Boston College (7-8, 0-2).
Bonzie Colson added 16 points, Zach Auguste had 15 and Steve Vasturia added 13 for the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame shot 62.3 per- cent in the game, hitting 11 of 17 on three-point attempts.
Purdue 87, Michigan 70
A.J. Hammons scored 17 points and had four blocks while Rapheal Davis added 16 points to lead No. 20 Purdue past Michigan in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Boilermakers (14-2, 2-1 Big Ten) have won eight of 10 and are 10-1 at home this season.
Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman scored a career-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting as Michigan (12-4, 2-1) had its six-game winning streak snapped.
UCLA 87, Arizona 84
Bryce Alford scored 25 points, hitting a go-ahead three-pointer with 1.8 seconds left that gave UCLA (10-6, 1-2 Pac-12) a victory over No. 7 Arizona (13-2, 1-1) for the Bruins’ first Pac-12 win after opening league play with consecutive road losses.
Former NU coach Foster dies
Former Northwestern coach Bill Foster, who guided Duke to the 1978 NCAA championship game, died Thursday at 86.
Foster coached the Wildcats from 1986-1993, succeeding Rich Falk. He finished his career at Northwestern with a 54-141 record (13-113 in the BigTen) and served as interim athletic director until 1994.