Louisville Wins One for Crum

The Louisville Cardinals won one for the coach on Saturday.

Reece Gaines scored 23 points and Marques Maybin had 16 and a game-sealing breakaway dunk as Louisville defeated Memphis, 65-56, at Louisville, Ky., in Denny Crum’s final regular-season game. He will coach at least one more game at next week’s Conference USA tournament at Louisville.

The Cardinals (12-18, 8-8 in Conference USA) improved to 6-9 at home before a high-energy capacity crowd, the first at Freedom Hall since a two-point loss to Kentucky on Jan. 2.

Earl Barron scored 18 points to lead Memphis (16-13, 10-6), which missed a chance to clinch the league’s National Division.

Crum, who announced his retirement Friday after 30 seasons, received a minute-long standing ovation when the Hall of Famer walked onto the floor about five minutes before tip-off.

The Cardinal led throughout, but Barron’s three-point play with 2:40 left drew the Tigers within 55-51. Gaines made two free throws after a steal with 2:04 remaining and on Memphis’ next possession, Maybin stole the ball from Marcus Moody near midcourt and raced in for a one-handed dunk to put Louisville ahead, 60-51.

The Tigers got no closer than seven in the final minute as the crowd started chanting, “Denny! Denny!”

Afterward, a three-minute video chronicling Crum’s career was played on the scoreboard before Crum briefly addressed the crowd.

His voice cracked as he stood at midcourt and spoke, surrounded by a horde of cameramen.

“Thank you very much,” he said. “It’s been a wonderful ride and I don’t know if I have the words to express how I feel right now. What I’ve always known is I’ve got the best group of fans in the world, there’s no question about that.”

The victory was Crum’s 675th, which puts him 14th all-time among Division I coaches. Crum ended weeks of acrimony with athletic administrators by accepting a $7 million retirement package.

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In other Conference USA games, Kenny Satterfield scored 17 points and Steve Logan added 16 as Cincinnati (21-8, 11-5) won its sixth in a row with a 75-62 victory over DePaul (12-17, 4-12) at Chicago. The Bearcats secured at least a tie for the conference regular season title, their sixth in a row. . . . Rodney White and Jobey Thomas scored 17 points each to lead Charlotte (18-10, 10-6) to an 85-62 victory over Marquette (14-13, 9-7) at Charlotte, N.C.

OTHER GAMES

Atlantic 10--Lynn Greer scored 10 of his game-high 29 points in overtime, sparking the Owls (18-12, 12-4) to a 92-88 victory over George Washington (12-17, 6-10) at Washington, D.C.

Big East--Darius Lane’s off-balance three-point basket with 6.1 seconds to play at East Rutherford, N.J., lifted Seton Hall to a 65-63 victory over Connecticut (19-10, 8-8) and assured the Pirates (14-13, 5-11) of a berth in the conference tournament. . . . Erron Maxey scored 16 points, including the last four of the game, as Providence (21-8, 11-5) held off Rutgers, 69-66, at Piscataway, N.J. The Scarlet Knights (11-16, 3-13) had their season come to an end.

Big Ten--Ohio State overcame a 20-point halftime deficit to defeat Penn State, 93-87, at State College, Pa. Boban Savovic had 23 points for the Buckeyes (20-9, 11-5). Joe Crispin led the Nittany Lions (17-10, 7-9) with 29. . . . Kirk Haston had 22 points and 15 rebounds to lift Indiana (19-11, 10-6) to a 74-58 victory over Purdue (14-13, 6-10) at West Lafayette, Ind.

Mountain West--Center Nate Althoff scored 14 points at Albuquerque, N.M., as Utah (19-10, 10-4) held off New Mexico, 66-61, and earned a share of the conference title with Wyoming and Brigham Young. The Lobos fell to 17-11, 6-8. Trevor Diggs of Nevada Las Vegas scored 49 points as the Rebels (16-13, 7-7) stopped Wyoming, 106-102, at Las Vegas. Wyoming (19-8, 10-4) was led by Marcus Bailey’s 34 points. . . . Terrell Lyday’s two free throws with 5.8 seconds gave Brigham Young (21-8, 10-4) a 51-50 victory over Air Force (8-20, 3-11) at Air Force Academy, Colo.

Southeastern--Vincent Yarbrough scored 20 points as Tennessee (21-9, 8-8) earned its third consecutive victory by defeating Louisiana State, 78-71, at Knoxville, Tenn. Collis Temple III had 30 points for the Tigers (12-15, 2-14). . . . Arkansas made 10 of 16 three-point attempts during one stretch and the Razorbacks (19-9, 10-6) solidified their NCAA tournament credentials with an 82-67 victory over Georgia (16-13, 9-7) at Fayetteville, Ark.

Western Athletic--Demetrius Porter scored 22 points to lead Fresno State (24-5, 13-3) to an 84-77 victory over Tulsa (19-10, 10-6) at Fresno.