COLUMBUS, Ohio - Aaron Craft slashed through the lane for a career-high 21 points on Sunday - more than he had scored in the last three games combined - to lead No. 18 Ohio State (20-7, 10-5) to a 68-60 victory over fourth-ranked Michigan State (22-6, 11-4).
The loss crippled the Spartans' hopes of catching up with top-ranked Indiana, which now leads the Big Ten race by two full games with four remaining.
Deshaun Thomas added 12 of his 14 points in the second half for the Buckeyes. Evan Ravenel added 10 points and a crucial block in the final minute.
• No. 6 Duke 89, Boston College 68: In Durham, N.C., Freshman Rasheed Sulaimon scored a season-high 27 points and No. 6 Duke routed Boston College.
Mason Plumlee added 19 points and 15 rebounds for the Blue Devils (24-3, 11-3). They shot nearly 54 percent and outscored BC (12-15, 4-10) 48-17 during the 15Ω minute span that put this one out of reach by halftime.
• No. 7 Michigan 71, Illinois 58: In Ann Arbor, Mich., Trey Burke had 26 points and eight assists to help Michigan (23-4, 10-4) bounce back from a slow start to beat Illinois (20-9, 7-8) .
The Wolverines shook off a sluggish first half with a strong second half to win consecutive games for the first time in nearly a month.
• No. 20 Pittsburgh 63, St., John's 47: In New York, Tray Woodall scored a season-high 25 points, including two huge three-pointers in the second half, and Pittsburgh (21-7, 9-6) snapped a two-game losing streak with a victory over St. John's (16-11, 8-7).
Lamar Patterson had 11 points for the Panthers, who have won five of their past seven road games.
• No. 25 Notre Dame 62, Cincinnati 41: In South Bend, Ind., Jerian Grant scored 13 points to lead Notre Dame (22-6, 10-5) to a win over Cincinnati (19-9, 7-8).
The Irish had four players score in double figures. Tom Knight scored 12, followed by Jack Cooley and Eric Atkins with 11.
Women
• No. 5 Duke 75, No. 8 Maryland 59: In College Park, Md., Elizabeth Williams scored 16 points and No. 5 Duke (26-1, 16-0) beat No. 8 Maryland (22-5, 13-3) to clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season title.
• No. 2 Notre Dame 84, DePaul 56: In Chicago, Skylar Diggins finished with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists, and Notre Dame (25-1, 13-0) won its 20th straight with a victory over DePaul (18-9, 7-6).
• No. 7 Penn St., 68, Michigan 57: In State College, Pa., Maggie Lucas scored 21 points and Penn State (23-3, 13-1) held off a late Michigan (19-8, 8-6) charge to clinch at least a share of its second straight Big Ten regular-season title.
• LSU 77, No. 9 Kentucky 72: In Baton Rouge, La., Jeanne Kenney hit all five three-pointers she attempted and finished with a career-high 22 points to lead LSU (17-10, 8-6) past Kentucky (23-4, 11-3).
• Vanderbilt 61, No. 10 Texas A&M 51: In Nashville, Tenn., Tiffany Clarke scored 22 of her career-high 30 points in the second half to help Vanderbilt (18-9, 8-6) beat Texas A&M (21-7, 11-3).
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