AP TOP 25

Cardinals rise to defend ranking

Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng (left) is guarded by Connecticut’s Omar Calhoun in the Cardinals’ 73-58 victory over the Huskies.
Louisville’s Gorgui Dieng (left) is guarded by Connecticut’s Omar Calhoun in the Cardinals’ 73-58 victory over the Huskies.

— Louisville waited 20 minutes to prove the Cardinals deserved the No. 1 ranking.

It took the same amount of time for their guards to show they could be the best back court in the country even when they don’t spend all that much time together on the court.

Russ Smith had 23 points and Peyton Siva managed 11 in a foul-plagued 22 minutes and the Cardinals, playing just hours after they moved to the top of the poll, beat Connecticut 73-58 on Monday night.

The Cardinals (16-1, 4-0 Big East) won their 11th consecutive game and like the others they relied on their star back court and pressure defense.

Siva, the Big East preseason Player of the Year, picked up his second foul just 3:47 into the game. Not only did the Cardinals lose a veteran leader when the senior went out but Smith, the leading scorer at 18.7 points per game, had to assume more of a role in running the offense. It didn’t hurt his scoring much, though, as he had 15 points on 7-of-13 shooting as Connecticut took a 34-28 halftime lead.

Siva picked up his third foul with 14:21 to play and he returned to the bench. When he came back in the game with 10 minutes left, Smith went to the bench for treatment. Siva hit a three pointer 50 seconds later as part of the game-changing 19-5 run.

“We did a good job of weathering a Peyton Siva storm, with him out,” Louisville Coach Rick Pitino said. “Once he came back and we weathered that storm, we were able to play much better defense and much better offense.”

That is an understatement.

The pressure defense that drops into a match up zone forced Connecticut into turnover after turnover and when the Huskies did get to shoot it was almost always a miss.

Connecticut, which shot 53.8 percent from the field in the first half, had just three field goals in the opening 13 minutes of the second half as Louisville went ahead 60-44. The Huskies, who went nine minutes without a field goal at one stretch, had trouble moving the ball against the full-court pressure and 2-3 zone of the Cardinals. The Huskies had seven turnovers in the first 11 minutes of the second half, matching their total in the first half.

The only other time Louisville was ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press’ Top 25 was the final poll of 2008-2009. The Cardinals won the national championship in 1980 and 1986 but the AP does not conduct a post-NCAA Tournament poll.

NO. 4 KANSAS 61, BAYLOR 44

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Ben McLemore scored 17 points before leaving in the final minutes with a right ankle injury, and fourth-ranked Kansas rolled past Baylor.

McLemore hit a three-pointer and then scored an alley-oop dunk off a pass from Elijah Johnson to make it 61-42 with 2:44 remaining. The Jayhawks were back on offense when the freshman appeared to turn his ankle, lying on the court for several minutes while a trainer examined it.

McLemore eventually stood up and was helped to the Kansas locker room.

The injury was just about the only thing that didn’t go right for Kansas (15-1, 3-0 Big 12), which won its 14th consecutive game to match the fourth longest streak in the Bill Self era.

Freshman center Isaiah Austin had 15 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Bears (11-5, 3-1).

SWAC MEN ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 62, ALCORN STATE 52

LORMAN, Miss. - Lazabian Jackson scored 17 points and Davon Haynes added 16 as Arkansas-Pine Bluff overcame a 13-point, second-half deficit to defeat Alcorn State.

The Golden Lions (5-12, 4-1) trailed 31-23 at halftime and 38-25 following the Braves’ Anthony Nieves’ three-pointer with 17:09 to play. UAPB responded with a 20-2 scoring outburst that featured 3 three-pointers from Jackson and put the Golden Lions ahead 45-41.

Anthony Evans’ three-pointer cut the lead to 45-44, but the Braves (6-15, 4-2) then went over 4:00 without a field goal as UAPB extended the advantage to 55-46 with 2:28 remaining.

Jackson hit 5 of 12 from three-point range and helped the Golden Lions overcome a 29.3-percent showing (17 of 58) from the field.

Alcorn State shot 33.9 percent (19 of 56).

SWAC WOMEN ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 50, ALCORN STATE 41

LORMAN, Miss. - Christina Lasane scored 13 points to lead Arkansas-Pine Bluff to a victory over Alcorn State.

Cassidy Wright and Chi Chi Okwumbua each had 12 points for the Lady Lions (6-9, 2-4)

Tierra Frost led Alcorn State (1-14, 1-5) with 20 points. Carolinsia Crumbly had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Sports, Pages 19 on 01/15/2013

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