Ted Lilly has located his strikeout pitch, and Alfonso Soriano has found his batting eye and power.

It was a strong combination Wednesday night, one that led the Chicago Cubs over the San Diego Padres 8-5.

Lilly fanned 11 in six innings to get his third straight win and Soriano had his second leadoff homer in as many nights.

“I don’t think I just stand out there and try to throw fastballs by guys,” said Lilly, who has consecutive double-digit strikeout games for the first time in his career.

“I have to mix my pitches and change speeds and locate the ball and things like that,” he said. “And at times, when I got my curveball going, I’m going to get some strikeouts on it. But I’m not going to say I’m a power pitcher.”

Backed by three RBIs apiece from Soriano and Geovany Soto, who also homered, Lilly (4-4) allowed four runs and six hits in six innings. After striking out 10 against Arizona in his previous start, he fanned eight in the first four innings. He left after throwing 102 pitches on a 46-degree night.

Cubs pitchers combined to strike out 15 against the Padres, whose 308 strikeouts are second in the major leagues behind Florida’s 326.

Soriano, who has three homers in as many games, is 10-for-19 over the last five games after a slow start that included a trip to the disabled list. He also had a key two-run single in the second inning after a wild pitch by Jake Peavy on a third strike to Lilly allowed the pitcher to reach. The single gave the Cubs a 3-0 lead.

“I feel great. I’m swinging the bat really well,” said Soriano, who was booed early in the 10-game homestand. “That’s part of the game. It motivates me to try to make myself a better player.”

Peavy (4-3) needed 87 pitches to make it through four innings. He gave up four runs and seven hits, struck out eight and walked two.

The wild pitch was costly.

“It would have been a different game. I still had the chance to make some pitches to Soriano there,” Peavy said. “I’d much rather get Ted Lilly out there than have to face Soriano, but I didn’t. I have to make better pitches. I’m obviously just frustrated. I have to do better than that. Having to get pulled after four is embarrassing.”

Jered Weaver looked nothing like a pitcher who had a 7.02 ERA over his previous six starts.

Weaver allowed one hit over seven innings, combining with two relievers on a three-hitter, and Mike Napoli hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth to lead the Los Angeles Angels to a 2-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

“I just went out there and tried to pitch like the old Jered, and it came out all right,” Weaver said. “It was just adjustments with mechanics in the bullpen between starts. Me and (pitching coach Mike) Butcher were able to clean some stuff up.

“The arm strength’s coming along,” he added. “The more innings I get, the better my arm strength is going to get. That’s the way it’s always been. I always seem to get stronger as the season went along. I guess the six days rest kind of helped, too.”

Manager Mike Scioscia couldn’t have been more pleased with the right-hander’s dramatic turnaround.

“That’s the best stuff Jered’s had in two years,” Scioscia said. “He maintained it and he finished strong. His pitch count got a little high, but the last couple of innings he regrouped and finished hitters off better. You can’t throw the ball much better than Weave did tonight. It’s very encouraging.”

A.J. Pierzynski’s leadoff single in the fifth was the only hit off Weaver, who pitched seven innings. He struck out six and walked one, coming out of the game after 109 pitches. He came in 1-4 since pitching seven scoreless innings of three-hit ball in a 2-1 win over Texas on April 5.

“He just missed our bats,” Jermaine Dye said. “I mean, he threw a lot of breaking pitches, a lot of changeups in hitter’s counts, and was able to get ground balls and flyballs.”

Chicago starter John Danks had a hard-luck no-decision, although he had to work hard for it. Pitching against the Angels for the first time in his career, he scattered seven hits and two walks over 6 1-3 innings, struck out five and never retired the side in order.

Danks departed with one out and the bases loaded in the seventh after walking Gary Matthews Jr. with his 99th and final pitch. Octavio Dotel struck out Erick Aybar and Vladimir Guerrero to escape the jam.

But Dotel (1-2) gave up a leadoff single in the eighth to Torii Hunter, who took third when Garret Anderson got the green light on a 3-0 pitch from Matt Thornton and singled to right field. Napoli’s delivered Hunter with a flyout to center, with Anderson alertly tagging up, and Robb Quinlan drove in the second run with a two-out single against Scott Linebrink.

Scot Shields (2-0) pitched one inning for the win and Francisco Rodriguez got three outs for his major league-leading 16th save.

The Angels stranded a runner in scoring position in four of the first five innings. Hunter grounded out with a man on third base to end the first, Guerrero hit into a double play to end the third, Casey Kotchman flied out to end the fourth, and Aybar grounded out to end the fifth.

“We left way too many runners in scoring position,” Scioscia said. “We stranded a lot of guys and were 1-for-12 with guys in scoring position. So it was a night we needed to pitch well, and we did. We scratched out a couple of runs late and held on.”

Chicago manager Ozzie Guillen flip-flopped Paul Konerko and Dye in his lineup, dropping the slumping Konerko to fifth and putting Dye in the cleanup spot for the fourth time this season following his four-hit performance on Monday night. But they didn’t get a runner past first base until Carlos Quentin doubled off the center fence with one out in the ninth.

“We haven’t been scoring too many runs lately, but our pitchers have been going out there and giving us a chance,” Dye said. “We just have to try and bear down a little bit more and get some runs across for them early.”

Carlos Zambrano switched to longer sleeves after three innings, not so much to combat the cold—as would be expected—but to cover a scab on his pitching arm.

Big Z was plenty ready for the elements on a 41-degree night in mid-May and showed his sense of humor Monday night after pitching and batting the Chicago Cubs to a 12-3 win over the San Diego Padres.

“It’s OK for me. I’m from Alaska,” Zambrano said, drawing laughs at his postgame news conference.

“No, it’s tough man, especially for me. I’m from South America, Venezuela. It is not this cold. Not even close,” he said.

“As a starting pitcher … don’t worry about the cold factor, just try to hit your spots and try to do the best you can to keep the inning quick.”

But the Cubs made sure the Padres couldn’t get off the field soon enough, scoring six runs in the fifth—started by Zambrano’s double—and adding five more in the sixth, when he added a single. They had 13 hits and made the most of nine walks issued by the Padres.

Pitching with an extra day’s rest after his start Sunday was scratched because of rainy conditions, Zambrano (6-1) allowed six hits and three runs in seven innings. And he was part of a batting order that was on base all night.

“I think we have a very good lineup, very balanced,” said Alfonso Soriano, who homered in the fifth and is 7-for-14 during the Cubs’ four-game winning streak. “Be more aggressive and, at the same time, selective at home plate. That’s what I try to do because I know when I swing at a strike, I know that I hit the ball very hard.”

The Cubs’ first eight batters reached in the fifth on six hits and two walks. Randy Wolf (2-3) didn’t retire a batter in the inning and in four-plus innings, he gave up eight hits, seven runs and five walks.

“In the fifth inning, there is really no way to candy coat it,” Wolf said. “I was bad. I didn’t make the pitches I needed to. They capitalized on it. You get behind and you don’t locate. Those are two recipes for something bad to happen.”

Jody Gerut’s first homer in nearly three years gave the Padres a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, but the Cubs quickly responded.

Zambrano drove a ball off the wall in right-center for a leadoff double and Soriano followed with a drive to left-center that just cleared the fence for his fourth homer, putting Chicago up 3-2.

Ryan Theriot walked, Derrek Lee singled and Aramis Ramirez had an RBI single before Kosuke Fukudome worked a walk to load the bases. Geovany Soto’s two-run single through the middle made it 6-2 and finished Wolf. Mark DeRosa then greeted reliever Sean Henn with an RBI single.

“He couldn’t make a pitch to get himself out of it,” Padres manager Bud Black said of Wolf.

In the sixth, the Cubs batted around again. They loaded the bases for the third time in the game on Soriano’s double and walks to Theriot and Ramirez before Fukudome drew his third walk of the game to force in a run.

It got worse for the Padres, who have the worst record in the majors at 14-25.

When DeRosa hit a grounder to third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff, he tried to race to the bag for a force, but Ramirez beat him there. Kouzmanoff then threw wildly to first for an error and three runs ended up scoring on the play as the Cubs went up 11-2. Reed Johnson later added an RBI single.

Fukudome’s three walks were a big part of the Cubs’ offense.

“The guy knows how to play baseball,” Zambrano said. “He came to the U.S. ready to play. One thing I see in Fukudome is he can handle it with all the media and all the fans.”

Lee’s double into the right-field corner scored Theriot, who singled, in the first to put the Cubs ahead 1-0. Tadahito Iguchi hit an RBI single in the third to tie it.

Daryle Ward was so sure he would play in the majors that he practiced his signature as a kid. He may get a few autograph requests after his latest big hit.

Ward delivered a pinch-hit, two-run double in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied again to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 Sunday after the anticipated showdown between Carlos Zambrano and Randy Johnson got wiped out.

“I love the game of baseball,” Ward said. “It’s something I knew that I was going to do when I was about 3 years old.”

Carlos Marmol (1-0) struck out two in a perfect eighth and Kerry Wood pitched the ninth to earn his seventh save in 10 chances and finish off Chicago’s three-game sweep of the NL West leaders.

Heavy rain and temperatures in the mid-40s delayed the start of the game by 58 minutes, and Zambrano and Johnson were spectators when it finally began. By the time the game ended, the Cubs had used another late rally to beat Arizona, the team that swept them in the playoffs last year.

Reed Johnson tied it at 4 with a two-run homer off Juan Cruz with one out in the seventh after Mike Fontenot walked. Cruz then walked Ryan Theriot before Tony Pena (0-1) got Derrek Lee to hit into a double play, but the Cubs struck again in the eighth.

Pena intentionally walked pinch-hitter Alfonso Soriano to load the bases with one out and set the stage for Ward, who drove the ball to right-center to make it 6-4.

“Well, I’m not going to let Soriano beat us right there,” Arizona manager Bob Melvin said. “We’ve got to have a chance for a double-play ball and we’ve got (Ward) hitting (.174) up there. That’s really not that tough of a decision.”

Ward also tied it with a pinch-hit RBI single in Chicago’s 7-2 victory over Arizona on Saturday.

Most days, Ward follows a heavy regimen of stretches and massages in case he gets called.

“Sometimes, you’re a little bit lazy and say, ‘I don’t want to do it,”’ said Ward, third among active players with 74 pinch hits. “But you have to. I feel like I’m making a good example for some of the younger guys that are playing on the bench. They do some of the same things I do, and it’s been working for all of us.”

It’s a lot of effort for about a minute of activity.

“Was it even a minute?” he asked on Sunday.

No one was sure, exactly. They just knew his timing was perfect, as was Reed Johnson’s.

Stuck in a 4-for-34 slump over the previous 11 games, he drove his first homer through a driving wind about halfway up the bleachers.

“The last week or so, we really haven’t been playing that well so I think this was a good confidence boost,” said Johnson, signed to a one-year deal in late March after Toronto released him.

Arizona’s Edgar Gonzalez was in line to get the win until Johnson went deep.

Recently booted from the rotation, Gonzalez allowed two runs and five hits before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the sixth. One of those hits was a solo homer by Lee that gave Chicago a 2-1 lead in the third.

Cubs starter Sean Gallagher carried the lead into the fifth but couldn’t make it out of the inning. Reliever Chad Fox wasn’t much help, either, walking in two runs that inning.

Gallagher allowed four runs and five hits over 4 1-3 innings in his first major league start and likely will get another one against Pittsburgh this week. The 22-year-old right-hander had made two appearances this season after posting an 8.59 ERA in eight relief outings while splitting time between the majors and minors last year.

If the Cubs caught a break by missing Randy Johnson, who’s 12-0 against them, it was tough to tell.

Lee’s homer aside, they did little against Gonzalez.

“He did a pretty good job of keeping the ball down and got a lot of groundballs,” Arizona catcher Miguel Montero said. “He got ahead in the count, which I thought was a big key for him.”

Derrek Lee already has as many homers in the first month of this season as he did in the entire first half a year ago.

Lee’s early surge continued Wednesday night as he and Carlos Zambrano carried the Cubs to a 12-3 victory over slumping Cincinnati—the Reds’ fifth straight loss under former Chicago manager Dusty Baker.

Lee homered among his three hits and Zambrano also went 3-for-4 while pitching seven strong innings. The Cubs jumped out early with 10 runs by the third inning and made it easy for their ace.

Cubs manager Lou Piniella knows how much Zambrano enjoys hitting—he’s been used as a pinch-hitter occasionally—and had teased the big right-hander about his slow start, telling him he was a batting practice hitter.

“Lou was telling me, `When are you going to get a hit this year?”’ said Zambrano, who was 0-for-8 entering Wednesday’s game after batting .247 last season.

“I said, `I don’t know.’ I was hitting .000 before the game and now I’m hitting .250.”

Lee raised his average to .393 and after hitting only 22 homers last season, he’s already connected for six—the same number he had before the All-Star break a year ago.

“We got contributions throughout the lineup, especially our third hitter. He’s really in a nice groove,” Piniella said. “He’s zoned in. The ball just jumps off his bat.”

The Cubs scored four runs in the first and six in the third to give Zambrano an early cushion on another blustery night at Wrigley Field with the wind gusting out at 20 mph.

Zambrano (2-1) allowed eight hits and two runs. Chicago, meanwhile, hit Josh Fogg (1-2) hard. He gave up seven hits and was charged with nine runs in two-plus innings.

“When you give Big Z a 10-run lead by the third, you might catch up but your odds aren’t real good,” Baker said. “We didn’t get to use that wind out there. They hit us around the ballpark pretty good.”

Fogg said the wind was difficult but that’s not necessarily why he pitched so poorly.

“It’s a factor. For me today it wasn’t a very big factor because I didn’t pitch very well, so it didn’t matter,” he said. “Zambrano did a pretty good job pitching in it, so it’s not like it was impossible. You just have to make quality pitches and I wasn’t able to do that.”

Adam Dunn did homer for the Reds, off reliever Kevin Hart in the eighth. That’s when fans at Wrigley Field not only threw one ball back—as is a tradition after an opponent’s homer—they littered the field with 15 baseballs, momentarily halting play.

“I was surprised. I didn’t know that many people hit a home run today,” Cubs right fielder Kosuke Fukudome said through a translator.

Chicago didn’t miss leadoff hitter Alfonso Soriano, who went on the 15-day disabled list Wednesday with a strained right calf, an injury he sustained in the first inning of Tuesday night’s 9-5 win when he caught a fly ball.

Bases-loaded doubles by Fukudome in the first and Geovany Soto in the third were key hits Wednesday night. Zambrano had the third three-hit game of his career—two singles and a double—and an RBI.

Lee’s solo shot started the six-run third.

Fogg then loaded the bases for the second time in three innings as the Cubs had two walks and a single before Soto delivered a two-run double for a 7-1 lead. Reed Johnson greeted reliever Mike Lincoln with a sacrifice fly, Zambrano had an RBI single and a sixth run scored on a wild pitch.

In the first, Fogg gave up a double to Ryan Theriot and a single to Lee before hitting Aramis Ramirez with a pitch to load the bases. Fukudome doubled past first for a 2-0 lead and Mark DeRosa followed with another two-run double.

The Reds had a big inning working in the top of the second when Dunn walked with one out and Edwin Encarnacion blooped a single to left. Joey Votto then hit a high, wind-blown fly to left that DeRosa—playing in place of Soriano— misjudged. The ball hit the warning track and went for a ground-rule RBI double.

But with runners at second and third, Zambrano grabbed Javier Valentin’s hard comebacker and was able to catch Encarnacion off third. He was tagged out in a rundown. Cubs shortstop Theriot then saved another run by going behind second on a high bouncer by Fogg to throw him out and end the inning.

Jeff Keppinger doubled in a run in the seventh for the Reds.

After needing the equivalent of three games merely to win twice in Pittsburgh, what a relief this regulation game was to the Chicago Cubs. Almost as big as the relief Jon Lieber gave them.

Geovany Soto and Mike Fontenot hit two-run homers in Chicago’s five-run sixth inning and the Cubs finished off a three-game sweep of Pittsburgh, winning 7-3 Thursday night to run their winning streak to five games.

Soto had three extra-base hits, including two doubles, among his second career four-hit game, and Derrek Lee also drove in two runs despite not getting a hit as the Cubs won their sixth in a row over the Pirates dating to last season.

Lieber (2-1) got the decision by pitching 4 1-3 scoreless relief innings after starter Rich Hill needed 72 pitches to get through three innings, allowing three runs and three hits and walking four. Lieber pitched 7 1-3 scoreless relief innings in the series, three of them during a 10-8, 12-inning win Monday in the Pirates’ home opener.

“Without Lieber, we really would have had problems,” manager Lou Piniella said. “We were looking for innings. … (Hill) was all over the place. There was no use keeping him in there. It wasn’t going to get any better.”

The Cubs certainly didn’t need to look for innings earlier in the series.

After going 12 and 15 innings to win the first two games—the first time in 81 years they’ve needed that many innings to win consecutive road games—the Cubs won this with one big inning against the pitching-thin Pirates, who dropped their fifth in six games.

“I’m glad it didn’t go (extra innings),” said Soto, who went 8-of-17 while catching all 36 innings in the series—apparently with no effect on his offense.

The Cubs withstood two Pirates homer-driven comebacks to win 6-4 in 15 innings on Wednesday night.

“I think any situation like that, if anybody can go in there and do that, it’s definitely huge,” Lieber, a converted starter, said of propping up the bullpen. “You want to give those guys a break down there, especially after last night’s ballgame.”

Soto had a chance to hit for the cycle, but he didn’t think of trying to stretch a double into a triple in the seventh. He grounded out in the ninth.

“I already hit my one (triple) for the year. I’ll take them if they come, but I don’t want to get greedy,” Soto said. “I’m not a triple-type guy.”

After emptying their bullpen in consecutive games, the Pirates needed a lot of innings from starter Matt Morris (0-1), who lasted seven but gave up 11 hits and seven runs, four earned.

“I tried to avoid thinking about that all day—the obvious thing is (to think), ‘I’ve got to go 8, I’ve got to go 9, I’ve got to go 7, whatever it is,’ and as soon as you start thinking like that, you can barely get out of the first,” Morris said.

Morris led 3-2 going into the sixth, but quickly fell behind when Kosuke Fukudome walked and Soto followed with a drive into the center field shrubbery for his second homer.

“I had the game in front of me but, all of a sudden, the home run just changed everything and it snowballed,” Morris said.

Morris might have gotten out of the inning with only two runs scoring, but Ryan Theriot, who had singled, was safe at third on a steal attempt when third baseman Jose Bautista dropped Ronny Paulino’s throw that arrived well ahead of the runner.

Theriot scored on Reed Johnson’s single, and Fontenot made it 7-3 with a two-run, two-out drive into the right field seats, the third homer off Morris in two starts.

Prior to Wednesday’s game with the Twins, Ozzie Guillen was asked about umpire Phil Cuzzi and the fact that he’s been responsible for Guillen’s last two ejections. As usual, the White Sox manager pulled no punches.

“I don’t like that guy behind the plate,” Guillen said. “And I’m going to let him know. I don’t like him. He don’t like me, I don’t like him. It’s one reason is, if you don’t like me as a man and what I do, I respect that. But if you don’t like me, and all of a sudden you’re going to take it out on my players, you’re wrong. That’s unprofessional.

“And I just let him know I don’t like him the first day I see him, and I think he feels the same way about me. And we have to move on. Every time he’s behind the plate, we might have a problem. We might. We have. I think the last couple times behind the plate, we have a problem. And he tried to be smart with me, and I do what I have to do, and he does what he has to do. But I don’t like him, and he don’t like me. And I got a good sleep last night. I will spend all my money for him. I don’t care. But obviously, we don’t like each other.”

Rex Grossman signed a one-year contract Saturday with the Chicago Bears and will compete for the starting quarterback job.

Grossman, a 2003 first-round draft pick, started the Super Bowl for the Bears after an up-and-down season in 2006. He struggled again last year and was benched following the third game. He returned for five more games before injuring his left knee.

Grossman passed for 913 yards with three touchdowns and one interception for an 80.2 passer rating when he returned. In the first three games, his 45.2 rating with one TD and six interceptions contributed to the Bears’ 1-2 start.

“Rex has won a lot of football games for us around here,” coach Lovie Smith said. “You look at how he played at the end of the football season until he came up with that injury, he is playing good football.”

Grossman has started 30 games with 489 completions in 900 attempts (54.3 percent) for 5,907 yards with 31 touchdowns and 33 interceptions. His career passer rating is 70.9.

“We wanted him because we feel like he gives us the best opportunity to be the best team we can be going into this next season,” general manager Jerry Angelo said.

Angelo confirmed Grossman will battle Kyle Orton for the starting quarterback spot and that there could be two other quarterbacks on the roster next season. Angelo did not include veteran backup Brian Griese in those plans, and it’s possible Griese will be cut in early March before he is due a $300,000 roster bonus.

“It’s an open competition,” Smith said. “It’s not like we promised Rex a starting position, or any of the guys a starting position. They’re coming to Chicago because they feel good about competing for the starting job.”

Angelo said stabilizing the quarterback position is the team’s biggest priority, but Grossman’s contract doesn’t help much because he would be a free agent after the 2008 season without a contract extension.

“With one-year deals you’re not solving anything,” Angelo said. “You’re still in the hunt, so to speak. We certainly feel good about the people who are contending at the position, but it’s not solved yet.”

The Bears hope signing Grossman provides leverage to bring wide receiver Bernard Berrian back to the team. He becomes a free agent Friday.

“We’re using everything we possibly can,” Smith said. “Bernard has been a big part of what we’ve done. He’s come up through the ranks with us.

“We’d like to see him finish it at our place. Hopefully, signing guys like Rex will help.”

Agent Drew Rosenhaus said Saturday he expects Berrian and fellow client Lance Briggs to enter free agency rather than sign a contract with the Bears.

“I would say at this time I would project that those guys would at least get to free agency, or at least the beginning of it” Rosenhaus said at the NFL scouting combine. “But the Bears are going to be in the mix as we continue to talk with other teams.

“We’re going to have a good, healthy dialogue with them.”

Indiana has received a list of alleged violations from the NCAA and is expected to make it public Wednesday.

University trustees president Stephen Ferguson told The Associated Press on Tuesday night that school officials this week reviewed a report, which stems from impermissible phone calls made by basketball coach Kelvin Sampson and his staff during 2006 and 2007.

The NCAA is not expected to make its ruling until this summer

There won’t be a hearing till this June,” Ferguson said. “It’s just been reviewed, and I think everyone is analyzing it now.”

Ferguson would not detail what is contained in the report.

It comes in response to October’s announcement that a university investigation found Sampson made more than 100 impermissible phone calls while still on NCAA probation for infractions he committed during his tenure at Oklahoma.

Sampson was found to have made 577 impermissible calls from 2000 to 2004 and was punished by the NCAA in May 2006, less than two months after taking the Indiana job. Sampson was banned from calling recruits and making off-campus visits for one year.

Among the restrictions imposed on Sampson was a provision that did not allow him to participate in three-way calls. But the university found Sampson was involved in at least 10 three-way calls, most patched through by then assistant coach Rob Senderoff.

Sampson said in October he was unaware he was participating in a three-way conversation on nine occasions. He also explained Senderoff was helping recruits reach Sampson, in part because Sampson’s cell phone signal often dropped. Recruits then, Sampson said, would call back Senderoff seeking assistance.

NCAA rules do not prohibit three-way calls, although Sampson’s sanctions did.

The university then imposed its own sanctions on Sampson — forfeiting a $500,000 pay raise and one scholarship next season. Senderoff also was punished by forfeiting any bonuses or salary increases for one year and later resigned.

The university now has until May to respond to the report, before going before the NCAA in June.

“The report came out in October, the university filed its response and there’s really not been anything happening (on the board) in the last five months,” Ferguson said. “There have not been any discussions.”

Sampson’s Hoosiers have ignored the potential distractions from the investigation, posting a 20-3 mark and earning the No. 13 ranking in the latest AP poll. Indiana, at 9-1 in the Big Ten currently trails only No. 19 Purdue in the conference title chase.

Surveying the Big Ten schedule prior to the season, it seemed probable that the conference’s best team would be on the floor at Mackey Arena on Tuesday night.

Few would have guessed that team would be Purdue.

The 19th-ranked Boilermakers (19-5, 10-1) look to win a 10th straight game for the first time in nearly 12 years Tuesday when they face No. 10 Michigan State, which dealt Purdue its lone Big Ten loss.

The last time the Boilermakers won 10 in a row was during the 1995-96 season, when they won 11 straight conference games on their way to their third consecutive Big Ten title.

Michigan State (20-3, 8-2) was the popular pick to win the conference in 2007-08, and the Spartans looked like a solid bet to do so Jan. 8 when they beat Purdue 78-75. In that game, coach Tom Izzo’s team shot a season-high 61.0 percent en route to its 11th straight victory.

The Boilermakers, however, haven’t lost since. They defeated then-No. 8 Wisconsin 72-67 on the road Saturday for their first win over a top 10 team since knocking off then-No. 2 Duke 78-68 on Nov. 29, 2003.

Purdue finds itself alone atop the Big Ten.

“(When) they pick you eighth or ninth in the league, it’s tough to publicly talk about winning a championship. It really is,” coach Matt Painter said.

Freshman Robbie Hummel, who had 17 points in a win over Penn State on Tuesday, scored a season-high 21 at Wisconsin and was named Big Ten player of the week.

Hummel is one of four freshmen who average at least 6.0 points for the Boilermakers. Freshman E’Twaun Moore, who leads the team with 11.2 points per game, was the player of the week immediately before Hummel.

Six of the team’s top seven scorers are freshmen or sophomores.

“Everybody still talks about us as the Baby Boilers,” said sophomore Chris Kramer, who had 12 points against the Badgers. “I think we use that as motivation, that we have something to prove still. We’re still not getting any credit for the stuff we’ve accomplished.”

Purdue has never beaten top 10 teams in back-to-back games, but will get its fifth chance to do so when it faces Michigan State.

The Spartans have won six of eight since their first meeting with the Boilermakers, but both losses were alarming ones that came against a pair of lower-tier Big Ten squads.

Michigan State allowed a season high in points in an 85-76 loss at Penn State on Feb. 2, and recorded its lowest point total in nearly 57 years in a 43-36 defeat at Iowa on Jan. 13.

Their previous low in the shot clock era came in their most recent trip to West Lafayette, a 62-38 loss to Purdue on Feb. 7, 2007.

Michigan State is coming off a 70-55 win over Northwestern on Saturday, its 18th straight home victory. Preseason Big Ten player of the year Drew Neitzel tied a season-high with 21 points, rebounding from a six-point, 2-of-10 shooting effort against the Nittany Lions.

“I just wanted to be patient and not force shots at the beginning,” Neitzel said after not taking a shot for the first 12 minutes Saturday. “But that won’t work next week at Purdue … I’ll have to be more aggressive and carry the team at times.”

Sophomore Raymar Morgan did his part to carry the Spartans earlier in the season, and he leads the team with 15.8 points per game. He’s been less of a factor lately, scoring 10 points or fewer in five of his last eight games.

Michigan State is the best rebounding team in the Big Ten (38.9 per game) and is led by Goran Suton with an 8.4 average, while Purdue is second-to-last (32.8). The Spartans outrebounded the Boilermakers 34-26 in their first meeting.