No. 2 Maryland Is Tripped Up by No. 5 Kentucky, 103-91

Maryland wasn’t quite ready for Kentucky’s taste of March Madness.

The No. 2-ranked Terrapins came into Rupp Arena at Lexington, Ky., full of the swagger of a 10-0 start. In the first 6:20 of Saturday night’s game against the No. 5 Wildcats, they attempted a trio of alley-oops, plus a tomahawk slam for good measure.

Only one was on target, though, and before the Terrapins knew what hit them it was the defending national champions who had sauntered off with a 103-91 victory.

“We’ve watched them,” said Heshimu Evans, who led Kentucky with a career-high 31 points. “We knew they were playing the best basketball in the country. It was a chance to beat a great team.”

Scott Padgett had 25 points, also a career-high, including four three-point baskets, and led Kentucky (9-1) with 13 rebounds.

The Wildcats were in control from 6:11 remaining in the first half, when a three-point basket by Padgett set them on a 21-8 half-ending run.

The win was Kentucky’s fifth in a row since a loss to Pittsburgh in the finals of the Puerto Rico Shootout. The Wildcats’ 103 points were the most they had scored since beating North Carolina Asheville, 105-51, on Dec. 23, 1996.

No. 1 Connecticut 70, No. 20 Pittsburgh 69--Khalid El-Amin ran down an errant inbounds pass, then drove the lane for the winning basket with two seconds remaining as the Huskies staged a frantic finish and defeated the Panthers at Pittsburgh.

The Huskies (8-0, 1-0 in Big East) scored five points in the last nine seconds on Albert Mouring’s 22-foot three-point basket and El-Amin’s shot in the lane to snatch away a victory.

Pittsburgh students were surrounding the court for a postgame celebration when Vonteego Cummings threw the inbounds pass away immediately after Mouring’s basket and El-Amin ran it down in the backcourt.

El-Amin then sliced through the middle of the Panthers’ defense for the winning points.

Pittsburgh (7-4, 0-2) has lost four of five since beating Xavier and Kentucky on consecutive days in the Puerto Rico Shootout.

No. 3 Duke 108, Michigan 64--Trajan Langdon scored 24 points, the Blue Devils (9-1) shot 59% at Durham, N.C., and handed the Wolverines (5-6) the most lopsided defeat in school history.

The Blue Devils’ swarming defense forced 19 turnovers that led to 29 points.

No. 4 Cincinnati 91, Southwestern Louisiana 65--Melvin Levett scored 22 points and led a late 25-5 spurt as the Bearcats wore down the Ragin’ Cajuns at Cincinnati.

The Bearcats (6-0) substituted liberally and went soft in the second half, when Southwestern Louisiana (3-3) cut a 25-point deficit to 11 before fading.

No. 7 North Carolina 75, North Carolina Charlotte 73--The Tar Heels (10-1) got their second scare in a row from the 49ers, needing a late second-half rally and an overtime follow at the buzzer by Brendan Haywood to salvage a victory at Chapel Hill, N.C.

North Carolina had to go to overtime to beat the 49ers (6-3) in the second round of the NCAA tournament last season.

No. 9 Purdue 80, La Salle 59--Mike Robinson scored 23 points to lead the Boilermakers (10-1) to a victory over the Explorers (2-5) at West Lafayette, Ind.

No. 11 Indiana 81, Bowling Green 55--A.J. Guyton scored 21 points and Luke Recker added 13 as the Hoosiers (10-2) won the Indiana Classic at Bloomington, Ind.

Seton Hall 80, No. 13 Syracuse 64--Rimas Kaukenas scored 21 points and Gary Saunders added 16 as the Pirates (6-3, 2-0 in the Big East) used their long-range shooting to subdue the Orangemen (7-3, 0-2) at Syracuse, N.Y.

No. 17 Clemson 73, North Carolina Asheville 64--Vincent Whitt had a career-high 18 points, including four consecutive free throws in the final minute, and the Tigers (8-1) survived a late charge by the Bulldogs (1-6) at Clemson, S.C.

No. 18 St. John’s 95, Virginia 68--Ron Artest scored 20 points and Tyrone Grant dominated the undersized Cavaliers (6-4) with 19 points and 16 rebounds as the Red Storm (8-2) cruised to victory at Charlottesville, Va.

No. 19 Oklahoma State 88, Arkansas-Little Rock 41--The Cowboys (5-2) handed Wimp Sanderson the worst loss of his college coaching career at Oklahoma City. Sanderson sat four of his Trojan (4-2) starters because of an ongoing internal investigation into alleged wrongdoing by a booster.

No. 24 Minnesota 72, Eastern Michigan 53--Kevin Clark score 22 points and Quincy Lewis added 20 as the Golden Gophers (6-0) raced to a 14-0 lead and defeated the Eagles (0-6) at Minneapolis.

Texas 73, No. 25 Utah 68--Kris Clack scored 18 points to lead the Longhorns (2-5) past the Utes (5-4) at Austin, Texas.

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OTHER GAMES

North Carolina State withstood a second-half Houston rally at Raleigh, N.C., and pulled away to a 100-73 victory in a game marred by four technical fouls, a flagrant foul and ejections for Cougar Coach Clyde Drexler and player Tega Moceanu. . . . Brian Williams scored 20 points to lead Alabama (7-2) to a 59-42 victory over South Alabama (2-6) at Birmingham. Antonio Reynolds Dean scored 20 points and Lamar Odom had 12 rebounds to go with his 18 points as Rhode Island (5-4) controlled the rebounding and beat Ohio (4-2), 85-73, at Athens, Ohio. . . . Shawnta Rogers’ three-point basket with 2.6 seconds left completed a 27-point performance and lifted George Washington (4-3) to a 92-89 victory over Old Dominion (8-2) at Washington, D.C. . . . John Celestand made an 18-foot jump shot with 33 seconds left, then made good on two free throws with 8.8 seconds remaining, as Villanova (7-2, 1-1) defeated West Virginia (4-4, 1-1), 79-75, in a Big East game at Villanova, Pa.

Chris Porter had 24 points and 13 rebounds and Mamadou N’Diaye blocked five shots and pulled down 12 rebounds in the second half as Auburn came from behind to defeat Alabama Birmingham, 77-64, at Birmingham. Auburn is 9-0, its best start since the 1958-59 season. The Blazers fell to 7-2. . . . Robert O’Kelley scored 22 points, and Wake Forest (7-2) held Virginia Tech (3-3) scoreless in the final 3:39 and defeated the Hokies, 52-47, at Blacksburg, Va. . . . Dean Oliver scored 20 points and J.R. Koch added 14 to pace Iowa (7-1) to its fifth win in a row, a 74-54 victory over Iowa State (6-3) at Iowa City. . . . Missouri (7-1) ended a 23-game road losing streak with a 66-55 victory over Southern Methodist (1-4) at Dallas. . . . Freshman guard Dinno Daniels scored 10 points in overtime to lead Memphis (6-2) to a 78-72 overtime victory over Mississippi (7-2) at Memphis, Tenn.