LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Louisville guard Andre McGee stripped the ball from Marquette's Jerel McNeal, darted toward the basket and — seeing nobody giving chase — decided to go for it.

It takes a lot for the 5-foot-10 McGee to get to the rim. But in a senior season dwindling down to precious few games, the decidedly grounded McGee opted to take flight. He slammed home a rare two-handed dunk, the defining moment in No. 6 Louisville's gritty 62-58 victory over No. 8 Marquette yesterday.

"I can jump pretty good, but I'm getting old," McGee said with a laugh. "My legs are getting tired."

They didn't look it.

McGee finished with a season-high 16 points in 28 minutes as the Cardinals (23-5, 14-2 Big East) kept their hopes for a conference title alive by suffocating the Golden Eagles (23-6, 12-4), who hung tough despite playing without injured star guard Dominic James, out with a broken left foot.

Louisville survived behind the play of McGee and forward Terrence Williams, who had 14 points, eight rebounds and seven assists.

Wesley Matthews led the Golden Eagles with 19 points.

The Cardinals harassed Marquette into a season-low 34 percent shooting and survived a couple of runs by Marquette, who never led in the second half but never let Louisville get comfortable.

"We've been fighting a lot," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said.

No. 9 Michigan State 74, No. 20 Illinois, 66: The Spartans (23-5, 13-3) won the Big Ten regular season championship, holding off a late charge by the host Illini (23-7, 11-6).

Kalin Lucas led the Spartans with 18 points. Mike Tisdale led the Illini with 15 points, all but two in the second half.

No. 15 Kansas 90, No. 11 Missouri 65: Sherron Collins scored 25 points and dished out key assists during an early 18-1 run, and the host Jayhawks (24-5, 13-1 Big 12) stretched their nation-leading home court streak to 40 straight wins by beating the Tigers (24-5, 11-3).

Leo Lyons had 20 points and DeMarre Carroll had 16 for Missouri.