Saint Joseph’s Easily Stays Perfect
Saint Joseph’s had an easy time extending its school-record winning streak to 20 games, routing La Salle, 89-63, Saturday behind 22 points from Delonte West and 20 from Jameer Nelson in the Palestra at Philadelphia.
The No. 3-ranked Hawks (20-0, 9-0 Atlantic 10 Conference) and No. 2 Stanford (20-0) remain the only unbeaten teams in Division I.
Saint Joseph’s has seven regular-season games left, all against conference opponents, and only three more games against teams with winning records.
La Salle (8-13, 3-5) kept this one close for a while, playing some of its best basketball this season in the first 13 minutes.
Steven Smith scored 11 of La Salle’s first 19 points -- including a four-point play -- to tie the score, 19-19. But the Explorers couldn’t keep pace.
The Hawks went on a 10-2 run to take the lead for good. Pat Carroll converted a four-point play with 2.5 seconds left for a 46-32 halftime lead.
West and Nelson continued their strong backcourt play, breaking down the defense by attacking the basket off the dribble. They combined to make 15 of 23 shots with 10 assists and only three turnovers.
No. 4 Pittsburgh 66, Notre Dame 58 -- The Panthers (22-1, 8-1 Big East) overcame a 13-point first-half deficit to end a five-game losing streak at South Bend, Ind.
The Fighting Irish (10-9, 4-5) have lost three in a row, six of their last eight and are within a loss of .500 in February for the first time since the 1998-99 season, John MacLeod’s last season as coach.
No. 5 Connecticut 88, West Virginia 58 -- The Huskies (19-3, 7-1 Big East), who had a five-point lead at the half at Storrs, Conn., used runs of 13-4 and 20-9 in the second half to take control.
The Huskies dominated inside, outscoring the Mountaineers, 54-20, in the paint. They scored 23 points off 12 turnovers by West Virginia (12-8, 4-5).
The game featured two of the nation’s top shot blockers in Connecticut’s Emaka Okafor (4.8 per game) and D’Or Fischer, who is averaging just under four. Fischer matched Okafor with six blocks but was outscored, 23-10.
No. 6 Louisville 73, Alabama Birmingham 55 -- The Cardinals (17-3, 7-2 Conference USA), who held the Blazers (13-6, 6-2) to 31.5% shooting and forced 18 turnovers at Louisville, Ky., won despite shooting a season-low 31.9% (22 for 69). They shot 29.6% in the second half (eight for 27).
No. 7 Mississippi State 80, Mississippi 56 -- The Bulldogs ran away from the Rebels in the second half at Starkville, Miss. It started with a 13-2 run, capped by Lawrence Roberts’ follow slam of Winsome Frazier’s miss that gave them a 44-33 lead with 14:20 left.
Mississippi State (19-1, 8-1 SEC) has won six in a row against Mississippi (11-9, 3-6) and six in a row overall.
No. 9 Kentucky 65, No. 25 South Carolina 64 -- The Wildcats (16-3, 6-2 SEC) picked up their third one-point victory in conference play this season -- they defeated Mississippi State, 67-66, and Tennessee, 69-68, in overtime.
Antwain Barbour, making his first start of the season, completed a three-point play with 1:09 left at Lexington, Ky., to give Kentucky a 65-63 lead. Carlos Powell made one of two free throws with 57.1 seconds left to pull the Gamecocks within a point.
The victory moved Kentucky past South Carolina (19-4, 6-3) into first place in the SEC East division. The Wildcats have won 15 of 16 against the Gamecocks.
No. 10 Cincinnati 54, Houston 51 -- Jason Maxiell scored 11 of the final 15 points for the Bearcats (16-3, 7-2 Conference USA) at Houston and almost single-handedly ended the upset hopes of the Cougars (8-12, 2-7), who held Cincinnati to its lowest point total of the season.
After Marcus Oliver’s layup put Houston ahead, 51-50, with 1:52 left, Maxiell’s dunk off Tony Bobbitt’s missed shot with 1:25 remaining gave the Bearcats the lead for good. He then made two free throws with seven seconds left.
No. 13 Oklahoma State 88, Iowa State 67 -- The Cowboys (17-2, 7-1 Big 12) kept their composure after the Cyclones (13-6, 4-4) took an early eight-point lead and came up with a dominating performance in handing them their first loss in 13 home games.
Quicker and more athletic, the Cowboys shot 67% (18 for 27) in the first half and 63% for the game. They were so efficient that Iowa State was shooting 58.5% with six minutes left and still trailed by 13 points.
John Lucas, a transfer from Baylor, scored 21 points for Oklahoma State, which has won its last seven games by an average margin of 10.4 points.
No. 15 Georgia Tech 77, Tennessee 62 -- Marvin Lewis scored 24 points and B.J. Elder had 20 to lead the Yellow Jackets (17-5) past the Vols (11-8) at Knoxville, Tenn.
The Yellow Jackets took control in the second half with a 13-2 run started by two three-point baskets by Lewis. Elder capped the run with a three-pointer and a pull-up jumper that made it 54-38.
No. 17 North Carolina 79, No. 16 Wake Forest 73 -- The Tar Heels (14-6, 4-5 ACC) bounced back from their toughest home loss of the season with their first conference road victory.
North Carolina, which lost to No. 1 Duke, 83-81, in overtime Thursday night, rode the hot shooting of Melvin Scott early and the inside dominance of Sean May late to end a five-game losing streak to Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons (13-6, 4-5) lost for the sixth time in eight games since opening the season 11-0.
No. 23 Providence 74, No. 18 Syracuse 61 -- The Friars (15-5, 6-3 Big East) ended a two-game skid that included a season-low 46 points against Seton Hall. The Orangemen (14-5, 4-4) have lost four of their last five. Donnie McGrath and Sheiku Kabba each made two three-point baskets during a 22-7 second-half run, giving the Friars a 55-36 lead with less than 11 minutes left at Providence, R.I.
No. 20 Kansas 96, No. 19 Texas Tech 77 -- At Lawrence, Kan., the Jayhawks (15-4, 6-1 Big 12) set a season scoring high in handing the Red Raiders (17-5, 5-3) their third loss in four games.
The Jayhawks outshot Texas Tech, making nine of 20 three-point shots. They shot 51% (36 for 71) and held Texas Tech to 38% (23 for 60).
During one stretch in the second half, the Red Raiders went nine minutes without a field goal.
No. 21 Florida 81, Vanderbilt 71 -- Matt Walsh and Anthony Roberson each scored 25 points at Gainesville, Fla., to help the Gators (14-6, 5-4 SEC) get past the Commodores (14-5, 3-5), who have lost 13 consecutive conference road games.
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Winning Starts
Stanford and Saint Joseph’s won Saturday to improve their records to 20-0. Nevada Las Vegas was the last Division I team to enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record, going 30-0 in 1990-91. UNLV won four tournament games, then lost to Duke in the national semifinals. A look at the Division I winning streaks to start a season after 1990-91 by teams that would reach the NCAA tournament with one or two losses:
*--* Streak Team Season Team That Ended Streak, NCAA Score Showing 26 MASSACHUSETTS 1995-96 George Washington, 86-76 Final Four 22 KANSAS 1996-97 at Missouri, 96-94, in Round of 16 overtime 20 STANFORD 2000-01 UCLA, 79-73 Second round 18 STANFORD 1997-98 Arizona, 93-75 Final Four 17 DUKE 1991-92 at North Carolina, 75-73 National champion
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