It’s an Inside Job for UConn

Top-ranked Connecticut dominated No. 11 West Virginia inside at Morgantown, W.Va., and the Huskies bounced back from a loss at Villanova earlier in the week with an 81-75 victory over the Mountaineers Saturday at Morgantown, W.Va.

The Huskies, 23-2 overall, 10-2 Big East, took over sole possession of second place from the Mountaineers (18-7, 9-3). The Huskies are one-half game behind No. 4 Villanova, which plays host to No. 17 Georgetown today.

“Anytime your team comes off a loss, your game needs to step up another notch,” said Connecticut’s Hilton Armstrong, who had five of the Huskies’ nine dunks and finished with 15 points.

Armstrong credited Marcus Williams’ lob passes over West Virginia’s zone defense. Williams finished with 10 assists.

No. 3 Memphis 105, Tulane 65 -- The Tigers (24-2, 10-0) improved to 10-0 on the road, clinched a first-round bye in the Conference USA tournament, and reached their best record after 26 games in school history.

The Green Wave (9-15, 4-7) lost its third in a row.

No. 7 George Washington 64, Richmond 51 -- The Colonials (22-1, 12-0 Atlantic 10) overcame the host Spiders’ deliberate pace for their NCAA-leading 14th consecutive victory. The loss was the sixth in a row for host Richmond (11-14, 4-7).

Alabama 92, No. 8 Tennessee 79 -- Thanks in part to a 28-for-30 performance at the free-throw line, the host Crimson Tide (15-9, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) had no trouble ending the Vols’ eight-game winning streak.

Tennessee (19-4, 10-2) was trying to win nine in a row in league play for the first time since 1981-82.

Marquette 84, No. 9 Pittsburgh 82 -- After Aaron Gray missed two free throws with 24.7 seconds left, the visiting Panthers (20-4, 9-4 Big East) fouled Steve Novak, a 98.5% free-throw shooter. Novak made both to give the Golden Eagles (18-8, 8-5) an 83-80 lead with 11.2 seconds left.

Arkansas 85, No. 10 Florida 81 -- Ronnie Brewer made a three-point basket with 54 seconds to play in overtime and batted away a pass as the Gators tried to tie the score in the closing seconds to preserve the victory for the Razorbacks (17-8, 6-6) at Fayetteville, Ark. The Gators (22-4, 8-4) are 5-4 since starting the season 17-0.

No. 12 Ohio State 61, Northwestern 52 -- The Buckeyes (19-4, 8-4 Big Ten) got off to a slow start at Columbus, Ohio, but opened the second half with a 13-2 run to beat the Wildcats (12-12, 4-8) for the 12th consecutive time.

No. 16 Michigan State 90, Michigan 71 -- The Spartans (19-7, 7-5 Big Ten) improved to 11-0 at home by beating the Wolverines (17-7, 7-6) for the 13th time in the last 15 meetings, including eight straight at home.

Minnesota 74, No. 18 Iowa 61 -- Erek Hansen’s dunk with 3:41 to play at Minneapolis pulled the Hawkeyes (20-7, 9-4 Big Ten) to within 61-58, but they wouldn’t get any closer as the Golden Gophers (13-10, 4-8) scored nine of their final 11 points on free throws.

No. 19 Oklahoma 83, Iowa State 82 -- Michael Neal made three free throws during the final 8.4 seconds to lift the Sooners (17-6, 8-4 Big 12) over the visiting Cyclones (14-11, 4-8), who haven’t won at the Lloyd Noble Center since 1996.

Oklahoma rallied from seven points down in the final 72 seconds to win for the eighth time in 10 games.

No. 21 North Carolina State 70, Virginia Tech 64 -- The visiting Wolfpack (21-5, 10-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which led by as many as 22 points early in the second half, went the final 6:19 without a basket, allowing the Hokies (13-12, 3-9) to get close. But it made nine of 10 free throws in the final minute, including eight by Cameron Bennerman.

No. 22 Kansas 79, Missouri 46 -- In their second game since the resignation of coach Quin Snyder, the Tigers (11-12, 4-8 Big 12) did not attempt a free throw in the first half and missed 17 of their first 18 shots from the field in the second half at Lawrence, Kan. It was the biggest win for the Jayhawks (19-6, 10-2) over their archrivals since 1986.

No. 25 Louisiana State 65, Auburn 61 -- Tasmin Mitchell scored his only two points of the game with 30 seconds left, breaking a 61-61 tie. Darrell Mitchell made two free throws down the stretch to give the visiting Tigers (18-7, 10-2 SEC) their third straight win.

Auburn (10-13, 2-10) had two chances to tie it after Mitchell’s shot, but Quantez Robertson missed a three-pointer with seven seconds left and Ronny LeMelle missed a jumper three seconds later.

OTHER GAMES

Draelon Burns made two free throws with 12 seconds left to give DePaul (10-13, 3-9 Big East) a 52-48 victory over St. John’s (11-13, 4-9). Eugene Lawrence’s layup with 19 seconds left brought the Red Storm to within 49-48.... Kentucky (17-9, 7-5 SEC) defeated host South Carolina, 79-66, to sweep the regular-season series from the Gamecocks (14-11, 5-7) for the 12th time in their 15 years in the conference.