>>Illinois QB Bailey Transferring
Illinois says backup quarterback Aaron Bailey is transferring.
Spokesman Kent Brown said Bailey made the decision after meeting Thursday with coach Tim Beckman. Brown said he doesn't know Bailey's destination.
Beckman recently said that last season's primary starter, Wes Lunt, would keep that job.
Bailey, who is from Bolingbrook, Illinois, was considered a dual-threat quarterback. But in limited playing time he showed he was more polished runner than passer. In 14 games over two seasons, he completed 13-of-27 passes for 122 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Brown said Beckman agreed to the transfer provided Bailey doesn't move to another Big Ten school or a school Illinois plays in the next three seasons.
>>Illinois Receivers Coach Suspended
Illinois assistant football coach Mike Bellamy will sit out one game next season after the NCAA ruled that he improperly helped a recruit get an associate's degree.
Sports information director Kent Brown confirmed Thursday that Bellamy will miss the 2015 season opener against Kent State under an NCAA-imposed suspension. Bellamy coaches Illinois' wide receivers.
Brown said Illinois self-reported the violation to the NCAA.
The unidentified junior college recruit enrolled at Illinois for the spring 2014 semester but the school later realized he had done so without completing his associate's degree. The student dropped out of Illinois and Bellamy in January 2014 visited officials at the community college to arrange for him to take an online class to complete the degree.
>>Illinois Meets Michigan State Tomorrow In East Lansing
(East Lansing, MI) -- The Illinois Fighting Illini meet the Michigan State Spartans tomorrow afternoon in East Lansing. The Illini have won two in-a-row following Tuesday's 66-54 victory over Rutgers. Illinois is 15-and-8 on the season and 5-and-5 in Big Ten play. Michigan State sits at 15-and-7 and 6-and-3.
>>Cincinnati Upsets SMU
Jermaine Sanders scored 15 points and Farad Cobb added 14 off the bench to help Cincinnati to a 62-54 road victory over No. 23 SMU on Thursday night.
Sanders also pulled down a team-high nine rebounds and Troy Caupain also supplied 14 points for the Bearcats (16-6, 7-3 AAC), who have won five of their last six.
Cincinnati took a 56-50 win over SMU at home on Jan. 3.
Cannen Cunningham paced the Mustangs (18-5, 9-2) with 14 points and Sterling Brown had 12. Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy were held to 15 points combined on 4-of-17 shooting, with Moore going 1-for-8 from the floor in the setback.
SMU was denied its ninth straight win, which would have been its first nine-game run since 1997-98.
NCAA Top-25 Men's Basketball ("USA Today" Rankings)
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#2 Gonzaga Bulldogs 77, Santa Clara Broncos 63
>>Iowa Trounces Michigan
Jarrod Uthoff scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds as the Iowa Hawkeyes defeated the Michigan Wolverines, 72-54, in a Big Ten Conference tilt at the Crisler Center.
Mike Gesell added 14 points for the Hawkeyes (14-8, 5-4 Big Ten). Aaron White contributed 13 points and five rebounds and Adam Woodbury had 11 points with six assists. Peter Jok chipped in with 10 points as Iowa ended a three-game losing streak.
As for the Wolverines (13-10, 6-5), Aubrey Dawkins scored 16 points while Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 11 points. Spike Albrecht chipped in with 10 points and five assists in the loss.
>>UCLA Takes Down Stanford on Road
Norman Powell netted 20 points and pulled down eight rebounds to lead his UCLA Bruins to a narrow 69-67 victory over the Stanford Cardinal in Pac-12 Conference action at Maples Pavilion.
Isaac Hamilton and Bryce Alford each chipped in with 18 points for UCLA (14-9, 6-4 Pac-12). Tony Parker contributed eight points and eight boards in the win, which was the third in a row for the Bruins.
Anthony Brown scored 19 points and grabbed nine rebounds to pace Stanford (15-7, 6-4), which dropped its second straight decision. Chasson Randle and Rosco Allen both scored 13 points for the Cardinal, and Stefan Nastic tallied a double-double of 10 points
and 11 rebounds in the loss.
>>Michigan Picks Up Houston QB Transfer
Houston quarterback John O'Korn announced on Thursday via his Twitter feed that he plans to transfer to Michigan.
O'Korn, who was a true sophomore in 2014, will need to sit out next season per NCAA transfer rules. He'll have two seasons of eligibility remaining starting in 2016.
O'Korn began last season as the starting QB for Houston, but was benched after a poor start to his campaign. In six games for the Cougars, he completed just 52 percent of his passes for 951 yards with six touchdowns and eight interceptions.
"Can't wait to play for @CoachJim4UM @CoachJeddFisch in the BIGHOUSE! #GoBlue," O'Korn tweeted on Thursday.
In his first year under center in 2013, the Fort Lauderdale, Florida native completed better than 58 percent of his passes for 3,117 yards with 28 touchdowns and just 10 picks.
