Sports: Michigan beats Illinois; Take on Wisconsin

Big Ten Tournament

Aubrey Dawkins scored 18 points and Michigan beat Illinois 73-55 Thursday in the second round of the Big Ten tournament.  Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman added 15 points and eight rebounds. Zak Irvin scored 14, and the ninth-seeded Wolverines (16-15) advanced in the tournament after dropping eight of 11 games. Michigan will meet No. 6 Wisconsin, the top seed, in the quarterfinals today at noon at the United Center in Chicago.

Three-seed Michigan State begins their run in the conference championship tonight in Chicago against Ohio State.  The Buckeyes beat Minnesota 79-73.   We’ll have the MSU/OSU game tonight, right after High School Basketball on WBCK.  The winner of tonight's game will face either seven-seed Indiana or two-seed Maryland in the semifinals tomorrow.

Red Wings

The Red Wings lost to the Columbus Blue Jackets 3-1 last night at Joe Louis Arena.  Justin Abdelkader had the lone goal for the Red Wings. Jimmy Howard made 23 saves. Detroit heads to Philadelphia to play the Flyers on Saturday afternoon.

MAC College Basketball     

No. 4 Toledo beat Eastern Michigan 78-67 Thursday to advance to Friday's semifinal against top-seeded Central Michigan in the Mid-American Conference tournament. Tip-off is at 6:30 tonight in Cleveland.

Tigers Spring Training

Justin Verlander allowed one hit in three scoreless innings for the split-squad Detroit Tigers in a 6-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday.  Verlander hasn't permitted a run in five innings this spring and has given up only two hits.  Tigers reliever Joe Nathan was roughed up for six runs while getting just two outs. He gave up five hits and walked one.  The 40-yar-old Nathan has a 9.82 ERA this spring. J.D. Martinez homered and doubled for Detroit. Tiger’s outfielder Yoenis Cespedes left Thursday's game with tightness in the front of his left thigh

The Houston Astros beat a Detroit Tigers' split squad 4-3 in 10 innings.  Anthony Gose drove in two runs with a double and triple for the Tigers. Acquired from Toronto in November, he is hitting .579 in seven games. Detroit rookie right-hander Drew VerHagen allowed one run and three hits in three innings.

The Tigers play the Braves today at Disney World.

Pistons

The Pistons play in Portland tonight and finish the 4-game trip in Utah on Saturday.

Girls' Basketball Regionals

Homer beat Galesburg-Augusta 60-43.  Homer moves on to play Ypsilanti Arbor on Tuesday.

Boys District Basketball

Delton plays Harper Creek tonight.   St. Phillip takes onBellevue.  Broadcast time is 5:45pm on WBCK.

Lions Sign DL Walker

The Detroit Lions' website says the team has agreed to a one-year deal with defensive lineman Tyrunn Walker on Thursday night. The 24-year-oldWalkerplayed the last two seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He made one start in 2014, finishing the season with 2 1/2 sacks.  The Lions lost star defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh to free agency, but they've already added a couple defensive players in the last few days.Detroit acquired defensive lineman Haloti Ngata in a trade with Baltimore, and now the Lions have reached a deal with Walker.

Michigan OL Miller to Skip Final Season

Michigan offensive lineman Jack Miller is passing up his final season of eligibility. A team spokesman says Miller wants to focus on his studies and pursue business opportunities. Miller would have been a fifth-year senior for the Wolverines. He started all 12 games forMichiganlast season and was considered the Wolverines top offensive lineman.