Louisville Gets Own Sweet 16

Cincinnati’s reign as the dominant team in Conference USA may be over. Louisville’s may be just beginning.

Freshman Francisco Garcia scored a career-high 24 points and tied a school record with eight three-point baskets, and the No. 5-ranked Cardinals defeated the Bearcats, 77-71, Wednesday night at Louisville, Ky., to extend the nation’s longest active winning streak to 16 games.

“They are good. Very good,” Cincinnati Coach Bob Huggins said.

Reece Gaines had 17 points and seven assists and Marvin Stone grabbed 11 rebounds for the Cardinals (17-1, 7-0 Conference USA), who are off to the program’s best start since the 1955-56 team won 19 of its first 20 games.

The winning streak is the longest for Louisville since the 1985-86 squad won its last 17 games on the way to the program’s second NCAA championship.

“We needed a game like that because we’ve won so many in a row and won games by double-digits. Sometimes, you lose focus,” Stone said.

But Coach Rick Pitino said the Cardinals didn’t prove anything to him.

“We are not a dominating team. We could lose to anyone in the conference,” he said.

Jason Maxiell scored 21 points and Field Williams scored 14 for the Bearcats (13-6, 6-3).

Cincinnati has lost three in a row for only the fifth time in Huggins’ 14 seasons.

The Bearcats are in danger of not winning at least a share of the Conference USA regular-season title for the first time in the league’s eight-year history.

No. 9 Duke 83, North Carolina 74 -- Duke (15-3, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) scored on its final 11 possessions at Durham, N.C., to defeat the Tar Heels (11-10, 2-6) for the sixth consecutive time.

Duke’s Dahntay Jones scored 23 points and had 13 rebounds in front of a cheering section that included Grant Hill and Jay Williams, who had his No. 22 retired at halftime.

Raymond Felton scored 25 points for North Carolina, which lost its fifth in a row.

Seton Hall 78, No. 10 Notre Dame 72 -- Andre Barrett scored nine of his 24 points in the last 2 1/2 minutes at East Rutherford, N.J., and the Pirates (10-9, 5-4 Big East) ended a three-game losing streak against the Fighting Irish (18-4, 6-2).

Dan Miller had 21 points for Notre Dame, which had won four in a row overall and six consecutive games in the conference.

No. 11 Oklahoma State 63, Kansas State 55 -- Tony Allen scored 17 points and Andre Williams blocked seven shots to lead the host Cowboys (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) and give Eddie Sutton a victory in his 1,000th game as a Division I coach.

Matt Siebrandt had 17 points for Kansas State (11-9, 2-5).

No. 15 Marquette 68, Saint Louis 64 -- Sophomore Travis Diener scored a career-high 21 points and the Golden Eagles (16-3, 8-1 Conference USA) extended their home winning streak to 27 games.

The Billikens (8-11, 2-6) lost their eighth in a row on the road.

Virginia Tech 95, No. 18 Connecticut 74 -- Carlos Dixon scored 21 points at Blacksburg, Va., giving the Hokies (9-11, 2-5 Big East) their first first victory against a ranked team since the 1995-96 season.

The Huskies (13-5, 4-3) committed 19 turnovers.

They were playing for the first time this season without Coach Jim Calhoun, who took a leave of absence earlier in the week to have prostate cancer surgery.

Arkansas 81, No. 22 Alabama 70 -- Jonathan Modica scored 26 points at Fayetteville, Ark., and the Razorbacks (7-11, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) handed the Crimson Tide (13-6, 3-5) its fifth consecutive road loss.

No. 23 Mississippi State 82, Vanderbilt 60 -- The five starters for the Bulldogs (14-5, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) scored in double figures at Starkville, Miss., with Timmy Bowers leading the way with 14 points.

The Commodores (10-9, 3-5), who committed 21 turnovers, fell to 0-7 on the road.

No. 24 Purdue 78, Wisconsin 60 -- Willie Deane scored 19 points and Darmetreis Kilgore scored 17 at West Lafayette, Ind., and the Boilermakers (15-4, 7-1 Big Ten) won for the 10th time in their last 11 games.

Wisconsin (15-5, 5-3) had a five-game winning streak ended.

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Western Kentucky’s 7-foot-1 senior center Chris Marcus has left the team and plans to withdraw from school so he can focus on rehabilitating foot and ankle injuries.

Marcus had surgery in June for a stress fracture in his left ankle.

He is preparing to make himself available for the NBA draft in June.

WOMEN

Nicole Ohlde scored 28 points and No. 5 Kansas State (20-2, 7-1 Big 12) defeated Missouri, 68-52, for its 17th consecutive victory at home. The Wildcats held the Tigers to one field goal in the first seven minutes of the second half....Kristen Mann’s 17 points sparked No. 19 UC Santa Barbara (16-3, 9-1 Big West) to a 66-37 victory over Pacific (7-13, 4-5) at Santa Barbara....Katie Davis and Trish Juhline each scored 16 points to lead No. 22 Villanova (16-4, 6-3 Big East) over No. 23 Boston College, 75-61, at Villanova, Pa. Jessalyn Deveny scored 16 points for the Eagles (15-5, 7-2)....Lynn Classen’s career-high 23 points helped Texas A&M; (9-10, 2-6 Big 12) upset No. 24 Oklahoma, 69-61, at College Station, Texas. The Sooners (13-8, 4-4) committed 22 turnovers. The Aggies won for only the second time in 10 games.