Louisville’s Streak Is Ended by St. Louis

Louisville was off to its best start since the 1955-56 season, but the Cardinals ran into trouble Wednesday night at St. Louis.

Marque Perry scored five of his 25 points in the final 13 seconds and maneuvered inside for the game-winning layup with 3.2 seconds to play as St. Louis upset No. 2-ranked Louisville, 59-58.

Louisville (18-2, 8-1 Conference USA) had won 17 in a row since a two-point loss to Purdue on Nov. 30. The loss also ended the Cardinals’ 17-game winning streak in conference play.

In the 1955-56 season, Louisville started 19-1 on its way to a 26-3 record and National Invitation Tournament championship. The school record for consecutive victories is 18 by the 1979-80 NCAA championship team.

“Everything’s been falling our way and we won some games we should have lost,” Louisville Coach Rick Pitino said. “Now this is a game we should have won and they made plays down the stretch. You can’t gripe about it.”

It was St. Louis’ biggest victory since defeating No. 1-ranked Cincinnati in the first round of the conference tournament in 2000.

“It’s so big I can’t really explain it,” Perry said. “Coach told us if we’re real close at the end, you never know what can happen.”

The Billikens (9-12, 3-7) were defeated by the Cardinals, 73-54, on Jan. 11 at Louisville.

“I would have been happy to beat Hazelwood Central [High] tonight, because we really needed a win,” Coach Brad Soderberg said. “I’ll go on record and say we outworked them.”

No. 4 Florida 74, Mississippi 55 -- The Gators (20-3, 9-1 Southeastern Conference) reached the 20-win mark for the fifth consecutive season by smashing the Rebels (12-9, 3-7) at Gainesville, Fla.

No. 7 Pittsburgh 82, West Virginia 46 -- Donatas Zavackas had 15 points at Pittsburgh to help the Panthers (17-3, 7-2 Big East) to a rout of the Mountaineers (12-9, 3-6). Pittsburgh’s 36-point margin of victory was its largest in the 164-game rivalry.

No. 11 Marquette 73, DePaul 60 -- Steve Novak scored a career-high 17 points as the Golden Eagles (18-3, 9-1 Conference USA) handed the Blue Demons (12-8, 4-5) only their second loss at Rosemont, Ill.

No. 12 Creighton 70, Southwest Missouri State 67 -- Michael Lindeman made two free throws with 2.3 seconds left in overtime at Omaha, Neb., as the Bluejays (22-2, 12-1 Missouri Valley Conference) rallied from a 15-point deficit to defeat the Bears (13-8, 9-3).

No. 13 Oklahoma State 77, Nebraska 70 -- Victor Williams scored 25 points at Lincoln, Neb., to help the Cowboys (19-3, 8-1 Big 12) past the Cornhuskers (9-13, 1-8).

No. 16 Maryland 74, Florida State 72 -- Drew Nicholas scored 20 points at Tallahassee, Fla., to help the Terrapins (15-6, 7-3 Atlantic Coast) edge the Seminoles (11-10, 2-8).

Texas A&M; 73, No. 21 Missouri 71 -- Bernard King scored a season-high 29 points at College Station, Texas, as the Aggies (12-8, 4-5 Big 12) surprised the Tigers (14-6, 5-4).

OTHER GAMES

In Big Ten games, Bracey Wright scored 21 points at Bloomington, Ind., as Indiana (15-8, 5-5) ended a five-game losing streak with a 63-49 victory over Michigan (14-9, 7-3).... Aaron Jennings had a career-high 20 points at Evanston, Ill., as Northwestern (10-11, 2-8) held on for a 78-67 victory over Purdue (15-6, 7-3).... Moe Hargrow scored 17 points at Minneapolis as Minnesota (14-7, 6-4) cruised to a 77-64 victory over Iowa (12-8, 4-5).... Brent Darby scored 27 points at State College, Pa., as Ohio State (12-10, 5-6) rolled to a 76-67 victory over Penn State (5-15, 0-9)....

Andre Emmett scored 25 points at Ames, Iowa, to help carry Texas Tech (16-6, 4-5 Big 12) to an 88-73 victory over Iowa State (12-8, 2-7).... Freshmen Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton scored 21 points each at Chapel Hill, N.C., to lead North Carolina (13-10, 4-6 ACC) to an 81-67 victory over Virginia (14-8, 5-5).... Levi Watkins scored 18 points at Raleigh, N.C., as North Carolina State (13-7, 6-4 ACC) edged Georgia Tech, 63-57. The Yellow Jackets are 12-9 and 5-5....

Ron Slay scored 23 points at Fayetteville, Ark., to power Tennessee (14-6, 6-3 SEC) to a 70-62 victory over Arkansas (7-13, 2-7).... Collis Temple III scored 19 points at Baton Rouge, La., to lead Louisiana State (14-8, 3-7 SEC) to a 79-60 victory over Vanderbilt (10-11, 3-7).... Dayton (17-4, 9-1 Atlantic 10) remained unbeaten at home with an 87-58 victory over George Washington (8-13, 2-8).