>>Illinois Hosts Penn State Tomorrow
(Champaign, IL) -- Illinois and Penn State meet tomorrow at the State Farm Center. Tip-off is at noon. The Fighting Illini are coming off a 79-71 loss at Minnesota last Saturday. Illinois is 13-and-8 overall and 3-and-5 in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions come in at 14-and-7 and 2-and-6.
>>UCLA Upsets Utah
Norman Powell scored 23 points to help UCLA remain unbeaten at home in Pac-12 play and knock off No. 11 Utah, 69-59.
The Bruins lost three players to the first round of the NBA draft in 2014 and haven't been able to replace the productivity that Kyle Anderson, Jordan Adams and Zach LaVine provided. They are in the midst of one of the worst seasons in recent memory, though
Thursday's upset over Utah was certainly a step in the right direction.
Bryce Alford had 14 points and seven assists and Isaac Hamilton scored 11 for UCLA, which exacted revenge from an embarrassing 71-39 loss to Utah on Jan. 4. Alford went scoreless on 0-for-10 shooting in that game.
UCLA (12-9, 4-4 Pac-12) snapped its two-game losing skid.
Delon Wright and Brandon Taylor gave 15 and 14 points, respectively, for the Utes (16-4, 6-2), who may have lost more than a game. Freshman center Jakob Poeltl, one of the best young 7-footers in college basketball, left the game with an apparent foot injury.
>>Ohio State Crushes No. 13 Maryland
Ohio State continues to pile up wins at home.
Thad Matta's Buckeyes and star freshman D'Angelo Russell beat another ranked opponent at Value City Arena.
Russell had 18 points, 14 rebounds and six assists as Ohio State easily knocked off No. 16 Maryland 80-56 on Thursday night for its 103rd win at home since 2009.
That's the most in the country by a healthy margin over national powerhouses Kentucky and Syracuse.
Russell continued to impress, making half of his 12 shots and four 3-pointers on the heels of being named Big Ten Player of the Week after scoring 55 points in wins over Northwestern and nationally-ranked Indiana.
Marc Loving led the Buckeyes (17-5, 6-3) with 19 points, making all five of his 3s, and Jae'Sean Tate scored 16.
Dez Wells scored 12 points to lead Maryland (18-4, 6-3) and Jake Layman had 10.
NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)
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#1 Kentucky Wildcats 69 Missouri Tigers 53
#3 Gonzaga Bulldogs 64 Portland Pilots 46
>>Duke Dismisses Sulaimon
(Durham, NC) -- Junior guard Rasheed Sulaimon is no longer a member of the Duke men's basketball team. Head coach Mike Krzyzewski said that Sulaimon has consistently not lived up to program standards. Sulaimon started 50 games in his first two seasons, and played in all 20 games so far this year. He was coming off the bench this season after the additions of freshmen Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow. Duke will visit second-ranked Virginia on Saturday.
