Second-Half Spurt Keys Louisville Win
Top 25 men
Eric Johnson scored 10 points during a 20-5 run that sparked No.9 Louisville to a rugged 81-70 victory over No. 8 Cincinnati on Thursday night in Louisville, Ky.
Louisville (18-2, 5-1 Conference USA) made 34 of 45 free throws as Cincinnati committed 34 fouls. Cincinnati (14-4, 3-1) also turned the ball over 22 times, which the Cardinals converted to 18 points.
Johnson, a sophomore from Cincinnati, started the spurt with a 10-foot baseline jumper to pull Louisville to 50-49 with 11:38 left.
Cincinnati, which entered the game on a four-game winning streak, got no closer than 71-66 on Bobby Brannen’s layup with 1:45 left as Louisville made 10 of 12 free throws down the stretch.
(4) Utah 74, Texas-El Paso 51
Keith Van Horn, coming off the bench after getting into early foul trouble, keyed a second-half run that sent the visiting Utes (15-2, 7-0 WAC) past the Miners (8-9, 2-6). Van Horn scored 11 points in a decisive 15-2 run that gave the Utes a 24-point advantage with less than 5 minutes remaining.
(7) Clemson 70, Georgia Tech 57
Terrell McIntyre scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half as the Tigers (17-3, 6-2 ACC) ended a two-game losing streak with a victory over the visiting Yellow Jackets (8-10, 2-6). Greg Buckner scored 17 points for Clemson, which rose to No. 2 but lost to Wake Forest and North Carolina last week.
Ohio State 73, (17) Indiana 67
Damon Stringer scored 18 points including four free throws in the final 21 seconds as the Buckeyes (8-9, 3-5 Big Ten) upset the Hoosiers (17-5, 4-4) in Columbus, Ohio.
Ohio State was missing starting center Jermaine Tate and backup Sean Tucker. Tate is undergoing testing after complaining of heart palpitations. Tate sustained a knee injury in practice Wednesday.
(21) Tulsa 69, SMU 49
Shea Seals scored 14 points and reached the 2,000-point mark in career scoring as the Golden Hurricane (16-5, 6-1 WAC) routed the Mustangs (12-6, 4-4) in Tulsa, Okla.
(24) Marquette 71, S. Florida 36
Chris Crawford scored 22 points and the Golden Eagles (14-3, 5-1 in Conference USA) held the Bulls (6-12, 0-7) to 21.8-percent shooting in a victory in Tampa, Fla.