Kentucky Upsets Michigan State

A win over fifth-ranked Michigan State was a dream come true for Kentucky guard J.P. Blevins.

“I can remember when LSU came in here with Shaquille and Chris Jackson, I remember the noise that was made that game,” Blevins said, recalling a famous 1990 upset pulled by Rick Pitino’s first Kentucky team. “I said, ‘One day, I’m going to be in there, playing in front of 24,000 roaring fans.’ ”

On Thursday night, it was Blevins keying another Kentucky upset, 60-58 over the Spartans (8-3). This time, the Rupp Arena roar was for the sophomore from the tiny town of Edmonton, Ky.

Coming off the bench, Blevins’ defense rallied the Wildcats (6-4) from 15 points down. He scored all nine of his points on three-point shots, with the last putting Kentucky ahead to stay, 50-49, with 7:18 left.

The Wildcats widened the margin to as much as 58-51 before Michigan State rallied on a three-point basket by A.J. Granger and two field goals by Charlie Bell.

The Spartans got to 60-58 and had the ball for a final shot, but Andre Hutson’s baseline shot was blocked by Tayshaun Prince and Morris Peterson’s rebound tip-in attempt was no good as time expired.

Jamaal Magloire led Kentucky with 18 points and 11 rebounds and Prince added 17 points.

No. 2 Connecticut 84, Fairfield 60--Freshman Tony Robertson had a career-high 22 points as Connecticut overcame a sluggish start at Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies (8-1) increased their series edge to 25-5 by winning their 15th in a row over the Stags.

Connecticut pulled away in the second half for its eighth consecutive victory despite a one for 13 shooting night by junior point guard Khalid El-Amin, who finished with four points.

Jermaine Clark and Jeremy Logan each had 13 points for the Stags (2-6) and Darren Phillip had 16 rebounds.

Louisville 97, No. 6 North Carolina 80--Nate Johnson scored a career-high 31 points and Louisville forced North Carolina into 21 turnovers at Louisville, Ky.

The Cardinals (7-3) harassed the larger, slower Tar Heels (8-4) and refused to be intimidated in the paint.

Louisville, which lost to unranked Kentucky by 30 points on Saturday, committed only six turnovers and collected 13 steals to North Carolina’s two.

Max Owens led the Tar Heels with 22 points. Joseph Forte added 16 and Jason Capel 13, and Brendan Haywood had 10 points and 10 rebounds.

North Carolina, still smarting after Tuesday’s 82-73 loss to No. 20 Indiana, fell victim to the Cardinals’ quickness and athleticism from the game’s opening moments.

A 7-2 run put Louisville up, 29-22, with 8:45 remaining in the first half. The Cardinals then blitzed North Carolina with a 10-0 run over the final 2:30, including two thundering dunks by Marques Maybin on back-to-back turnovers, to take a 50-35 lead at halftime.

No. 8 Florida 80, North Carolina Wilmington 53--Mike Miller matched his season high with 20 points at Gainesville, Fla., to give the Gators their first seven-game winning streak in 11 seasons.

Playing for the third time in five nights, the Gators (9-1) had as much difficulty getting their game going as they did in handling North Carolina Wilmington (6-2), which broke the Florida trap and kept the pace slow through the first half.

Florida pulled away four minutes after halftime when Miller and Teddy Dupay sandwiched three-point baskets around a dunk by Kenyan Weaks for a 45-30 lead.

Tulsa 88, No. 11 Tennessee 68--Greg Harrington matched his career high with 22 points and Tulsa used solid defense and balanced scoring to win the championship game of the Puerto Rico Classic at Bayamon, Puerto Rico.

The Golden Hurricane (11-1) opened the second half with a 13-4 run, taking a 57-35 lead on a three-point basket by Harrington with 16:05 to play.

The Volunteers (11-1) got within 65-57 with 5:57 left but Tulsa had enough left to pull away again.

The Volunteers were off to the third-best start in the school’s history and were trying to match the second best which was set by the 1915-16 team.

Tony Heard had 17 points for Tulsa, which shot 60% from the field, while Brandon Kurtz and Charlie Davis had 11 each and Marcus Hill added 10.

Vincent Yarbrough had 20 points for the Volunteers, who finished 21 for 69 from the field (30%), and Jon Higgins added 13.

No. 24 DePaul 82, Northern Illinois 61--Quentin Richardson scored 20 points and Bobby Simmons added 19 points and 11 rebounds for the Blue Demons at Chicago.

DePaul (8-3) was aided by the return of starting point guard Rashon Burno, who injured his right knee nine days ago.

Showing no noticeable limp, Burno finished the game with three points and five assists in 23 minutes.

T.J. Lux scored 20 to lead Northern Illinois (7-3), which had won three in a row.