CHICAGO - Arizona keeps winning without coach Lute Olson. Jerryd Bayless made six free throws in the final 31 seconds of overtime, and the 22nd-ranked Wildcats pulled out a 78-72 victory over Illinois on Saturday, two days after learning their Hall of Fame coach would not return this season.

Taking an important step on the thorny path to closing the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the White House plans to announce Tuesday that the government will acquire an underutilized state prison in rural Illinois to be the new home for a limited number of terrorist suspects held at Guantanamo.

The new edition of Arizona State looked a lot like the one that won 25 games and made the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Gov. Rod Blagojevich was thrown out of office Thursday without a single lawmaker rising in his defense, ending a nearly two-month crisis that erupted with his arrest on charges he tried to sell Barack Obama's vacant Senate seat.

WASHINGTON - President-elect Barack Obama on Wednesday joined others calling for Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich to resign, distancing himself further from the unfolding scandal over allegations that the governor schemed to barter Obama's vacant Senate seat for personal gain.

CHICAGO - A married woman from Illinois whose disappearance on Christmas Eve prompted a costly search returned to the area Friday evening and spoke with investigators, authorities said.

ST. LOUIS - This is the way it's supposed to be: the two best teams in the country playing for the national championship. Rarely does it work out, of course. There's usually those annoying little upsets along the way in the NCAA tournament, messing up the No. 1-vs.-No. 2 matchup.

March 13, 2005

ROSEMONT, Ill. - Keep the bus running and point it toward St. Louis. Thanks to a jaw-dropping comeback, Illinois' journey has another leg left: the Final Four. Trailing 75-60 with four minutes left, Illinois showed why it was No. 1 most of the season.

July 23, 2004

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Ted Nugent says Gov. Rod Blagojevich is more than welcome to visit him backstage before his Aug. 11 performance at the Illinois State Fair.

No. 22 Arizona State (2-0) at Illinois (2-0), 7 p.m. Saturday (Big Ten Network)