No. 1 Illinois struggles to put away Missouri

Luther Head scored 20 points and No. 1 Illinois overcame foul problems, poor shooting and a second-half surge by Missouri for a 70-64 victory on Wednesday night in St. Louis.

Deron Williams added 19 points and five assists in a balanced attack for the Fighting Illini (11-0), who matched their season worst for shooting at 42.3 percent but won their fifth game since moving to No. 1.

The outcome was the closest call by far for the Illini after they entered the game with an average margin of victory of 22 points.

Linas Kleiza had 25 points, one off his career best, for the Tigers (6-5).

Illinois is the lone team to defeat Gonzaga.

(2) Kansas 73, Wisconsin-Milwaukee 62: At Kansas City, Mo., Keith Langford scored 21 points and Aaron Miles became the Big 12 Conference’s career assist leader as the Jayhawks (8-0) held off the Panthers (6-3). Miles had nine assists for the Jayhawks, giving him 800 for his career. Oklahoma State’s Doug Gottlieb held the previous record with 793 assists from 1998-2000.

(5) Wake Forest 81, New Mexico 64: At Albuquerque, N.M., Chris Paul scored 15 of his 23 points in the second half to lead the Demon Deacons (10-1) to a victory over the Lobos (10-2). Danny Granger had 24 points and nine rebounds for the Lobos.

(7) Syracuse 88, Rice 72: At Syracuse, N.Y., Gerry McNamara had 19 points, 10 assists and a career-high nine rebounds and Josh Pace equaled his career high with 22 points, leading the Orangemen (11-1) past the Owls (5-3). Michael Harris had 25 points and eight rebounds to lead Rice.

(8) Kentucky 92, William & Mary 47: At Lexington, Ky., Chuck Hayes scored 18 points and Kelenna Azubuike added 17 as the Wildcats (8-1) won their fourth straight game, routing the Tribe (3-5).

(9) Georgia Tech 90, Charleston Southern 48: At Atlanta, Isma’il Muhammad scored 16 points and Luke Schenscher added 14 to power the Yellow Jackets (8-1) past the Buccaneers (1-6).

(11) Connecticut 87, Central Connecticut 59: At Hartford, Conn., Marcus Williams had a school-record 16 assists and Josh Boone and Charlie Villaneuva each scored 20 points to lead the Huskies (6-1) to a win over the Blue Devils (2-5).

(15) Texas 97, Centenary 52: At Austin, Texas, Kenny Taylor scored 23 points and the Longhorns (8-2) used relentless defensive pressure to roll to a win over the Gents (2-7).

(18) Louisville 77, Austin Peay 49: At Louisville, Ky., Taquan Dean scored 16 points, and Ellis Myles had 12 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Cardinals (8-2) past the Governors (2-7) in the championship game of the Billy Minardi Classic.

(19) Alabama 76, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 54: At Tuscaloosa, Ala., Kennedy Winston had 24 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Crimson Tide (10-1) to a victory over the Islanders (7-2). Alabama closed the game with a 24-4 run.

(21) Mississippi State 95, Jacksonville State 53: At Jackson, Miss., Lawrence Roberts had 22 points and a season-high 20 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (11-2) to an easy win over the Gamecocks (4-7).

(22) Cincinnati 84, La Salle 63: At Cincinnati, James White led a second-half run that offset Steven Smith’s electrifying 35-point performance and sent the Bearcats (9-0) to a victory over the Explorers (1-7). Smith scored 23 points in the first half against a defense geared to stop him, but couldn’t single-handedly overcome Cincinnati’s 20-7 run that opened the second half and put it out of reach.

Women

Kathrin Ress and Jessalyn Deveny scored 15 points apiece to carry the 14th-ranked Boston College Eagles (8-1) to a 65-41 victory over the Saint Joseph’s Hawks (2-9) in Boston. Christine Roth paced the poor-shooting Hawks with 11 points. Saint Joseph’s shot 23.4 percent (15 of 64).