>>Illinois State Edges Loyal Chicago

Deonte Hawkins scored 11 points, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, and Illinois State held off a late run by Loyola of Chicago to win 48-45 on Saturday.

Daishon Knight scored nine points, Paris Lee had six steals, and Redbirds (14-8, 6-4 Missouri Valley) handed the Ramblers their fifth straight loss.

Montel James scored a career-high 22 points for Loyola of Chicago (13-9, 3-7), but made only 2 of 7 free throws, missing five of six in the final 48 seconds when the Ramblers trailed 46-45.

Illinois State led 26-19 at halftime, and pulled away 42-27 in the second half. The Ramblers gained ground on a 13-2 run and pulled within 46-45 after James made one of two free throws with 48 seconds left. Reggie Lynch hit two free throws for a 48-45 lead, but James missed all four of his free throw tries in the final 16 seconds.

>>Hill Lifts Illinois Past Penn State

Illinois forward Malcolm Hill scored 27 points Saturday including two on a layup with four seconds left in the game to deliver a 60-58 win over Penn State.

Hill was mobbed at midcourt by teammates when Penn State's last, desperate attempt to tie fell short.

The win was relief for an Illini team (14-8, 4-5) already depleted by injury that got more bad news just before game time. Coach John Groce suspended two of those injured players, Rayvonte Rice and Aaron Cosby, indefinitely for unspecified violations of team rules.

Kendrick Nunn added 10 points for Illinois. Leron Black had a game-high seven rebounds.

D.J. Newbill led Penn State (14-8, 2-7) with 20 points. Shep Garner added 14.

Penn State played without starting forward Brandon Taylor for the second straight game. He has a knee injury.

>>Illinois Suspends Rice, Cosby Indefinitely

Illinois coach John Groce wouldn't say why guards Rayvonte Rice and Aaron Cosby have been suspended. But he said both would have able to return to the lineup Saturday against Penn State if not for the disciplinary issues.

Rice has been out since early January with a broken hand and Cosby has been out since Jan. 18 with a torn retina.

Groce announced their indefinite suspensions just before Saturday's 60-58 win over Penn State.

Both players were with the team Saturday and the coach said they would practice Sunday. But he wouldn't say if they will play in Illinois' next game, Tuesday against Rutgers.

Illinois (14-8, 4-5 Big Ten) has been so depleted by injuries that it added manager Ryan Schmidt to the roster last week.

>>Indiana State Gets By Bradley

Brenton Scott scored 13 points to lead a balanced Indiana State attack to a 64-58 victory over Bradley on Saturday.

Scott added five rebounds, five assists and three steals to help Indiana State stay undefeated at home in six Missouri Valley Conference games.

Devonte Brown had 12 points, all in the second half, Tre' Bennett added 11 and Justin Gant 10 for Indiana State (11-11, 7-3). Brown, Scott and Bennett hit three 3-pointers apiece.

Indiana State hit four consecutive 3-pointers, two by Bennett, early in the second half to take a 43-37 lead.

Tramique Sutherland led Bradley (7-16, 2-8) with 17 points. Auston Barnes, Josh Cunningham and Anthony Fields had 11 apiece for Bradley.

Both teams shot under 40 percent for the game, but Indiana State held a 41-32 advantage on the glass.

>>Utah Hammers USC

Jakob Poeltl had 14 points and nine rebounds and the 11th-ranked Utes routed Southern California 67-39 on Sunday afternoon.

Delon Wright netted 11 points and Jordan Loveridge added 10 for Utah (17-4, 7-2 Pac-12), which bounced back in a big way following its 69-59 defeat at UCLA Thursday.

The Utes have won three of their last four games.

Malik Martin was the only double-digit scorer for USC (9-12, 1-8), finishing with 11 points.

NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)
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Florida State Seminoles 55, #23 Miami Hurricanes 54