Perhaps prematurely looking ahead to its marquee weekend, Northwestern nearly stumbled into a crushing midweek upset.

The Wildcats needed several clutch baskets Wednesday night to overcome a second-half deficit and defeat Chicago State 68-64.

Vic Law led Northwestern (8-2) with 18 points, Sanjay Lumpkin had 11 rebounds, and the Wildcats edged the Cougars for their fifth straight victory.

“Every time we started to get a little momentum, they came right back at us,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said. “Every time we threw a punch, they came with a counterpunch.”

Fred Sims Jr. and Trayvon Palmer led Chicago State (3-7) with 22 and 18 points, respectively. They sparked a 20-6 run that left the Cougars ahead 52-50 with 8:06 remaining.

Northwestern, which led by 14 at one point, jumped back ahead 54-52 with 6:07 remaining on Bryant McIntosh’s jumper, giving the Wildcats a lead they would not relinquish.

The victory capped a perfect five-game homestand for the Wildcats, whose next game will be at the United Center as part of the State Farm Chicago Legends. Illinois, BYU and Dayton are the other participants.

“I don’t want to say we disrespected them because we didn’t,” Collins said when asked whether his team overlooked Chicago State. “We prepared. But was our energy the same as it’s been in other games? I think we had some critical breakdowns tonight.”

Anthony Eaves’ 3-pointer with 46 seconds remaining moved Chicago State within 3, but Northwestern scored on its next possession to secure the victory.

“When you play a seasoned team, they’re going to find a way to win,” Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy said. “And we just haven’t gotten there. When they needed a basket, they got that basket.”

The Cougars converted a season-best 13 3-pointers and outrebounded Northwestern 40-33. McIntosh finished with 14 points and 7 assists, and Scottie Lindsey scored 13 points.

Northwestern is 11-0 all time against Chicago State. The Wildcats set a season-high with 27 3-point attempts.

The Wildcats, who ranked among the Big Ten’s leaders with a plus-2.4 turnover margin entering the night, held a 12-0 halftime advantage in that category but was minus-4 in the second half.

UIC 80, DePaul 75:

Kyle Guice came off the bench to hit four 3-pointers, the last breaking a tie with 54.6 seconds left, and Illinois-Chicago (5-5) defeated host DePaul (5-4).

Following a Blue Demons turnover, Marcus Ottey drove the left baseline and when he got to the basket he fired the ball to Guice in the right corner for the big shot.

After both teams made 2 free throws, DePaul had three chances, missing 2 shots in the final 12 seconds and then turning the ball over on an inbounds pass under the basket with 5.9 seconds left.

Tai Odiase, a 48 percent free-throw shooter who made the steal, sealed the game with 2 from the line.

Odiase and Tarkus Ferguson had 12 points apiece UIC and Ottey had 11.

DePaul, which led 43-35 at the half but shot 30 percent in the second half, got 27 points from Eli Cain and 26 from Billy Garrett.

There were 14 ties and 15 lead changes.

Wisconsin 73, Green Bay 59:

MADISON, Wis. — Nigel Hayes scored 24 points and No. 14 Wisconsin defeated Green Bay. Zak Showalter added 16 points, including a career-high four 3-pointers, and Ethan Happ had 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers (10-2).

The Badgers were a little lethargic to start and trailed Green Bay 12-11 almost nine minutes into the game. But they reeled off a 20-4 run that included a nearly five-minute scoreless drought for Green Bay (4-6).

Green Bay cut the lead to 7 early in the second half, but Wisconsin responded with a 25-8 run that blew the game open.

Rutgers 82, Fairleigh Dickinson 69:

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Corey Sanders and Mike Williams had 15 points each and Rutgers (10-1) defeated Fairleigh Dickinson (2-8).

C.J. Gettys had 12 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists for the Scarlet Knights, who won their fourth straight and continued their best start since 1975-76. Candido Sa added 11 points, Nigel Johnson had 8 points and 7 assists, and Deshawn Freeman had 6 points and 13 rebounds before leaving late in the game after getting hit in the face.

NIU 95, Olivet Nazarene 69:

DEKALB — Marin Maric scored 22 points on 11-of-12 shooting and grabbed 9 rebounds to help Northern Illinois (5-5) defeat Olivet Nazarene.

Aaric Armstead added 16 points, Levi Bradley 12, Justin Thomas 11 and Dontel Highsmith and Eugene German 10 each for the Huskies, who shot 58.8 percent in their first home game since Nov. 26 to snap a two-game losing streak.

The NAIA Tigers, playing the game as an exhibition, shot 50 percent and were led by Tyler Crater with 12 points.

Minnesota 76, LIU Brookln 66:

MINNEAPOLIS — Dupree McBrayer scored 21 points and Nate Mason added 19 points and 7 assists for the Minnesota Gophers, who pulled away late to defeat LIU Brooklyn.

Jordan Murphy added 13 points for Minnesota (11-1) as the Gophers won their fifth straight game. Eric Curry had 11 points and a team-high 8 rebounds off the bench as Minnesota used its size advantage to outscore the Blackbirds (7-4) 38-20 in the paint.

SIU 70, Saint Louis 55:

CARBONDALE — Armon Fletcher scored a career-high 21 points, Sean O’Brien had a double-double, and Southern Illinois (6-5) pulled away from Saint Louis (3-7).