Indiana Overcomes Kentucky -- Finally

Indiana Coach Mike Davis hopped around, stomped his feet, argued with officials and then, finally, rewarded his players with hugs.

Davis overcame his most difficult obstacle as a head coach, beating Kentucky, with a perfect script.

Marco Killingsworth had 23 points and 11 rebounds, A.J. Ratliff had a career-high 21 points, and the 18th-ranked Hoosiers used a relentless defensive effort to rout No. 15 Kentucky, 79-53, on Saturday at Indianapolis -- ending Davis’ five-game drought against the rival Wildcats.

“It feels good because when the scores come on, I don’t have to turn it to the Oxygen channel or something,” Davis said. “My wife knows and everyone knows that, in the past, I don’t have the TV on anything that has basketball scores on.”

That’s because the Kentucky game has been more like a nightmare than a game for Davis, but on Saturday he had all the right answers for his Hoosiers (5-2).

Ratliff delivered a big-time game in his first start of the season, and Killingsworth showed he could find open teammates quicker when Kentucky (6-3) tried to double team him. The combination put the Wildcats on their heels from the opening tip, and Indiana responded with its most lopsided victory in the 49-game series.

“They were obviously hungrier, more aggressive than we were,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said.

The Hoosiers scored 25 points off Kentucky turnovers and the Wildcats missed their first 20 three-point shots.

“When they beat you, they’re always bragging,” Killingsworth said. “One of their guys said ‘It’s about time you all beat us.’ I said, ‘You can say whatever you want, but you’ve got to go home five hours with a loss.’ ”

Indiana took control early, using a 12-2 run to build a 16-8 lead, followed that flurry with a 9-0 run that made it 25-12 and closed the half by scoring the final five points to take a 35-19 lead.

Rajon Rondo was the Wildcats’ top scorer, finishing with 21 points.

No. 4 Villanova 90, Longwood 77 -- Randy Foye scored 27 points and Allan Ray had 20 to lead the Wildcats (6-0) over the Lancers (2-7) at Atlantic City, N.J.

No. 5 Louisville 111, Akron 85 -- Taquan Dean scored 22 points to lead five players in double figures as the Cardinals (5-0) routed the Zips (3-2) at Louisville, Ky.

No. 7 Memphis 97, Providence 89 -- Darius Washington scored 20 points, including 15 in the second half, and Rodney Carney had 17 to lead the Tigers (7-1) over the Friars (3-4) at Providence, R.I.

No. 8 Oklahoma 57, Coppin State 47 -- Kevin Bookout scored 19 points and Taj Gray had 18, but the Sooners (5-1) struggled at Norman, Okla., to put away the Eagles (0-7), who are in the midst of playing their first 14 games of the season on the road.

No. 11 Illinois 89, Oregon 59 -- Dee Brown had 26 points and seven assists as the Fighting Illini (10-0) cruised over the Ducks (4-3) at Portland, Ore.

No. 14 Michigan State 83, Wichita State 64 -- Maurice Ager scored 21 points to lead the Spartans (7-2) to their sixth consecutive victory after a defeat of the Shockers (7-2) at Auburn Hills, Mich.

No. 19 George Washington 102, Morgan State 75 -- Pops Mensah-Bonsu had 18 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks to lead the Colonials (7-0) over the Golden Bears (0-9) at Baltimore.

Temple 68, No. 22 Alabama 58 -- Dustin Salisbery made four three-pointers and scored 20 points to lead the Owls (5-2) over the Crimson Tide (4-3) at Philadelphia for their first win over a ranked team in three years.

No. 24 Arizona 73, St. Mary’s 61 -- Hassan Adams led a second-half charge, scoring 18 of his season-high 27 points after the break and the Wildcats (4-3) had 15 steals in defeating the Gaels (1-3) at Tucson.

No. 25 North Carolina State 92, Appalachian State 68 -- Andrew Brackman came off the bench for the first time this season and scored 16 points to lead the Wolfpack (6-1) over the Mountaineers (3-5) at Raleigh, N.C.

OTHER GAMES

Ben Devoe scored 21 points and Utah Valley State (5-4) used a 12-3 run to close the game in a 75-71 upset victory over Arizona State (4-2) at Tempe. Utah Valley State is in its third season as a four-year Division I school after playing as a junior college for 30 years.... Brandon Rush scored eight points during a 24-6 run opening the second half and Kansas (4-4) rolled to a 69-56 win over California (6-2) at Kansas City, Mo.... Lester Abram scored 18 points to help Michigan improve to 7-0 for the first time since 1996-97 after a 68-47 win over South Florida (4-3) at Tampa.... Carl Krauser missed only two shots and scored 20 points to lead Pittsburgh (7-0) to a 91-54 rout of visiting Penn State (4-3), the Panthers’ largest margin of victory in the 145-game series.