Brandon Paul shook off a poor shooting game to score 18 points, including two free throws with 45 seconds left that gave Illinois the lead in a 42-41 victory over ninth-ranked Michigan State last night in Champaign, Ill.

Branden Dawson had 12 points for the Spartans (17-5, 6-3 Big Ten), who shot 24.1 percent (14 of 58) from the field.

Paul had two chances to extend the lead for the Illini (16-6, 5-4), but he missed the front end of 1-and-1s with 26 seconds and 11 seconds to play.

Michigan State’s Derrick Nix had a chance to tie the score at 42 with 14 seconds left, but he made one of two free throws. Keith Appling missed a driving shot with two seconds left.

Paul finished 6 of 17 from the field, and Illinois shot 32.6 percent (15 of 46).

Men’s highlights

No. 19 Wisconsin 52, Penn State 46 — Jordan Taylor scored 18 points, including a key three-pointer from the top of the key with 1:44 left, to help Wisconsin (18-5, 7-3) hold off Penn State (10-13, 2-8) in the Big Ten.

No. 1 Kentucky 69, Tennessee 44 — Freshman Anthony Davis had 18 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots and Kentucky (22-1, 8-0) stopped Tennessee (10-12, 2-5) in the Southeastern Conference to extend its home winning streak to a nation-best 48 games.

The Wildcats made their first 11 shots.

No. 16 Virginia 65, Clemson 61 — Mike Scott scored 23 points, including four free throws in the final 16.8 seconds, to help Virginia (18-3, 5-2) rally past Clemson (11-10, 3-4) in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Cavaliers used a 19-3 second-half run to take command in reaching 18 victories before the end of January for the first time since 1981-82.

Arkansas 82, No. 25 Vanderbilt 74 — Ricky Scott scored 18 points and Arkansas (16-6, 4-3) made nine three-pointers to beat Vanderbilt (16-6, 5-2) in the SEC.

Kent State 67, Central Michigan 60 — Randal Holt scored 23 points and Kent State (15-6, 5-3) used an early second-half surge to defeat Central Michigan (7-14, 2-6) in the Mid-American Conference.

The Golden Flashes have won 27 straight against MAC West Division opponents.

Women’s highlights

No. 2 Notre Dame 71,

No. 13 Rutgers 41 — Skylar Diggins scored 18 points to help Notre Dame (22-1, 9-0) beat Rutgers (17-5, 6-3) in the Big East.

Trailing 9-8 early on, the Irish went on a 22-6 run over the next seven minutes to take control.

DePaul 86, No. 14 Louisville 61 — Anna Martin scored 19 points and DePaul (17-6, 5-4) opened the game with a 17-2 run to upset Louisville (17-5, 6-3) in the Big East.