Loyola reaches 20 victories

Cameron Krutwig led a balanced attack with 17 points to go with nine rebounds, and Loyola broke open a close game in the second half en route to a 72- 57 victory Wednesday against Drake in Missouri Valley Conference action at Gentile Arena.

Clayton Custer added 14 points, Ben Richardson 11 and Aundre Jackson 10 for the Ramblers ( 20- 5, 10- 3), who led only 32- 28 at halftime before shooting 57 percent in the second half and pulling away.

Nick McGlynn and Reed Timmer scored 16 points apiece to lead Drake ( 13- 13, 7- 6), which shot 34 percent.

Creighton 76, DePaul 75

Marcus Foster scored 29 points, including a go- ahead three pointer with 14.4 seconds left, and the Bluejays ( 18- 6, 8- 4) slipped past the Blue Demons ( 9- 14, 2- 9) in Big East play at Wintrust Arena.

Marin Maric scored 23 points and Eli Cain 18 for DePaul, which had a chance to win in the closing seconds but turned the ball over just before time expired.

Ohio State 64, Purdue 63

Keita Bates- Diop scored on a rebound with 2.8 seconds left to boost the No. 14 Buckeyes ( 21- 5, 12- 1) to an upset of the No. 3 Boilermakers ( 23- 3, 12- 1) in a Big Ten thriller in West Lafayette, Indiana. Purdue had won 19 consecutive games.

Bates- Diop scored 18 points to lead Ohio State, which overcame a 28- point effort by Carsen Edwards.

St. John’s 79, Villanova 75

Shamorie Ponds scored 26 points, and the Red Storm ( 12- 13, 1- 11) earned their second victory in five days against a top- five team by shocking the No. 1 Wildcats ( 22- 2, 9- 2) in Big East action in Philadelphia.

St. John’s ended an 11- game skid with an 81- 77 victory Saturday against then- No. 4 Duke in New York.

Sun- Times wires