champaing, ill. ? Dee Brown said draining three-pointers against Northwestern on Wednesday night was like playing a game of “H-O-R-S-E.”

“I hit my first two, and that confidence just kept building. I felt like I could shoot anywhere,” Brown said after he dropped six threes and finished with 20 points to lead top-ranked and unbeaten Illinois to an 84-48 victory that clinched a share of the Big Ten title.

One of his five first-half three-pointers was shot midway between the circles, about 28 feet from the basket.

“When he stands still, it’s automatic,” Northwestern’s T.J. Parker said.

The Illini never trailed en route to their 24th straight Big Ten victory and their 20th in a row at Assembly Hall.

Brown was 6-of-8 from three-point range. The barrage included consecutive baskets that started a 16-6 run that gave Illinois a 28-13 lead with 9:37 left in the first half. A 4:46 drought later in the half sealed Northwestern’s fate and the Illini led 45-22 at halftime.

Illinois (28-0, 14-0) clinched at least a share of the Big Ten title for the second consecutive season. It can win the championship outright with a victory in either of its last two games — Purdue and Ohio State — or a loss by second-place Michigan State.

“Now we’re down to a week,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said. “We win two more games, we go undefeated in the regular season, which only one other team has done in the Big Ten.

“There’s a lot of things on the line, and I hope it keeps them motivated.”

No. 23 Villanova 76, No. 3 Boston College 70

Villanova, Pa. — Randy Foye scored 23 points, and the Wildcats survived a nine-minute stretch without a field goal for their third home win over a ranked team.

Curtis Sumpter scored 18 of his 20 points in the first half for Villanova (18-6, 8-5 Big East).

Craig Smith had 18 points for Boston College (22-2, 11-2).

The Wildcats led 57-47 with 13:15 left when the Eagles started their run.

No. 5 Kentucky 81, Auburn 73

Lexington, Ky. — Kelenna Azubuike had career-highs of 30 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats, who clinched a share of the SEC East for the sixth straight year.

Kentucky (21-3, 12-1 Southeastern Conference) didn’t pull away until the final minutes against Auburn (12-14, 3-10), the last-place team in the SEC West.

Freshman guard Toney Douglas led Auburn with 21 points.

No. 6 Wake Forest 88, Longwood 47

Winston-Salem, N.C. — Taron Downey scored 13 points in Wake Forest’s rout.

Eric Williams added 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Demon Deacons (23-4), who led by as many as 40 points.

No. 7 Duke 60, Georgia Tech 56

Atlanta — Lee Melchionni hit two late three-pointers, and Duke continued its dominance of Georgia Tech.

The Blue Devils (20-4, 10-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) have won 18 of the last 19 games in the series, including nine straight at Alexander Memorial Coliseum.

No. 15 Syracuse 83, St. John’s 69

Syracuse, N.Y. — Hakim Warrick emerged from a slight slump to score a career-high 35 points, and the Orange broke a two-game losing streak.

West Virginia 70, No. 18 Pittsburgh 66

Pittsburgh — Kevin Pittsnogle scored all but two of his 22 points in the second half, and West Virginia rallied from 14 points down in just over nine minutes to beat Pittsburgh for the second time this season.

No. 21 Charlotte 80, Memphis 77

Charlotte, N.C. — Eddie Basden scored 24 points, including two free throws with 1.8 seconds to play, for Charlotte.