BIG TEN ROUNDUP Illini make case for No. 1 ranking

Fifth-ranked Illinois was impressive in blowing out top-ranked Wake Forest.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- With about 21/2 minutes still left in the game, Illinois' rabid "Orange Krush" student section started chanting "WE'RE No. 1! WE'RE No. 1!"
No. 5 Illinois certainly made a case for the top ranking Wednesday night, turning No. 1 Wake Forest into a nonconference patsy with a 91-73 rout that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.
"They played infinitely better than we did. I don't know how much more clearly I can say it," Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser said.
Roger Powell Jr. scored 19 points, Dee Brown and Luther Head added 16 each and the Illini (5-0) beat Wake Forest (5-1) in every phase of the game. Illinois led by double-digits the last 28-plus minutes of the game, and were up by as much as 32 in the second half.
Wake's Chris Paul, the leading vote-getter on the AP's preseason All-America team, had 10 while Justin Gray, MVP of the preseason NIT, had 11.
North Carolina 70, Indiana 63
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Rashad McCants scored 19 points and Raymond Felton added 18 points as No. 9 North Carolina fought off Indiana in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.
It was the fifth straight win for the Tar Heels (5-1), who played their sixth game in 13 days.
Indiana (2-1) was led by Bracey Wright with 18 points and Robert Vaden with 16 points and nine rebounds.
Penn State 83, Rutgers 80
PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Freshman Geary Claxton scored 10 of his 17 points in the second half, including two decisive foul shots near the end, to help short-handed Penn State win over Rutgers.
Penn State (4-2), which has finished last in the Big 10 for three straight years and was picked to do so again this year, won its third straight while giving Rutgers (2-1) its first loss of the season.
Penn State's Travis Parker, who had 13 of his 15 points after intermission, made one of two free throws with 2.7 seconds left.
Virginia 48, Northwestern 44
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Elton Brown had 15 points and 12 rebounds to lead Virginia.
Brown scored the first eight points of the game for the Cavaliers (5-0), who held their fifth straight opponent to 60 points or less.
Northwestern (1-5) is off to its worst start since 1999-2000, when it opened with the same record.