Uconn Pulls Rank On ‘Nova

Top 25/WCC

Ray Allen scored 29 points and Kirk King added a career-high 20 as No. 6 Connecticut beat No. 7 Villanova 81-73 Tuesday night in a matchup of Big East unbeatens at Storrs, Conn.

Allen scored 22 points in the first half and King had 12 in the second as the Huskies (13-1, 5-0 Big East) used tenacious defense to key a brilliant transition game and shut down Kerry Kittles for most of the game.

UConn, which led by as much as 61-43, nearly let Villanova (12-2, 4-1) back in the game. The Wildcats crept within six points six times in the final 5 minutes, the last time at 79-73 after a layup by Zeffy Penn with 17 seconds remaining.

(2) Kentucky 74, (12) Miss. St. 56

At Starkville, Miss., Derek Anderson had nine points in a game-turning 15-0 run as the Wildcats won their 11th straight and avenged their last Southeastern Conference loss, beating the Bulldogs (10-2, 2-1 SEC).

Kentucky (12-1, 3-0 SEC) converted five turnovers in the run, which featured two 3-pointers and a three-point play by Anderson.

(23) Michigan 83, (21) Illinois 68

In 20 years at Illinois, coach Lou Henson had never started 0-3 in the Big Ten. That changed at Ann Arbor, Mich. Maurice Taylor scored all but two of his 17 points in the second half as the Wolverines (12-4, 2-1 Big Ten) rallied for a win over the Fighting Illini (11-4, 0-3).

Saint Mary’s 88, Cal Poly-SLO 68

At Moraga, Calif., David Sivulich scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half to lead the Gaels (6-5) to a win over the Mustangs (8-6). Saint Mary’s broke the game open starting the second half with a 14-2 run, holding the Mustangs without a field goal for the first 4:06 to take a 19-point lead. Saint Mary’s, which never trailed in the game, had lost five of its last seven games.

Jumoke Horton recorded his fifth double-double in the last six games for Saint Mary’s with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

Snowed out

At Philadelphia, the Atlantic 10 conference game between No. 1 Massachusetts and St. Joseph’s was postponed until tonight because of travel problems caused by the massive East Coast snowstorm.

At Pittsburgh, the game between No. 5 Georgetown and Pitt was postponed and will be played tonight because the Hoyas were unable to leave snow-clogged Washington.