Billikens Stun Cardinals In Louisville
Top 25 basketball
Saint Louis ended a drought of road losses going back to Dec. 9, 1995, in an improbable place Thursday night, stunning No. 11 Louisville 64-62 in a Conference USA game in Freedom Hall.
The last road win for the Billikens (8-13, 2-6 Conference USA) wasn’t nearly as special, a double-overtime victory at Missouri-Kansas City. And the upset Thursday was the first win for Saint Louis over Louisville in 20 games.
“It means a lot to us,” said Saint Louis’ Jeff Harris, who led the Billikens with 19 points, including the game-winning layup with 7.7 seconds on the clock. “It’s a building block.”
Louisville (18-4, 5-2) trailed most of the second half but took a 62-61 lead on a layup by freshman Nate Johnson with 21.5 seconds left. After a timeout, Harris made the shot that put the Billikens ahead to stay on a feed from Ryan Luechtefeld.
(3) Kentucky 82, W. Carolina 55
At Lexington, Ky., Scott Padgett scored a career-high 23 points, including seven during a 19-2 spurt that sparked the Wildcats (21-3) to a victory over the Catamounts (10-11).
(5) Utah 85, Brigham Young 49
At Salt Lake City, Keith Van Horn scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half as the Utes (16-3, 8-1 Western Athletic Conference) sent the Cougars (1-18, 0-9) to their school-record 13th straight loss.
The 36-point margin was the most lopsided in a BYU-Utah game since the Utes won 62-25 in 1910.
(9) New Mexico 75, SMU 72
At Dallas, Charles Smith scored 22 points and Lamont Long hit two clinching foul shots with 2.6 seconds remaining as the Lobos (18-3, 7-2 Western Athletic Conference) held off the Mustangs (12-8, 4-6).
(12) Cincinnati 65, (21) Tulane 64
At Cincinnati, Danny Fortson, fresh off a one-game suspension, scored 34 points and made a layup with less than a second to play, giving the Bearcats (16-4, 5-1 Conference USA) a victory over the Green Wave (16-6, 7-1).
Fortson took a full-court inbounds pass from Bobby Brannen, drove down the right side of the key and scored with two-tenths of a second left for a 65-63 lead. The basket gave Cincinnati its first victory over a ranked team this season.
Several Cincinnati players piled up under the basket after the shot, and the Bearcats were called for a technical foul.
But Tulane wasted its chance when Jerald Honeycutt missed the first of two free throws. He made the second shot, then Tulane failed to score on its inbounds pass.
Wisconsin 58, (13) Michigan 53
At Madison, Wis., Paul Grant scored 19 points, including a key basket in the final minute, to lead the Badgers (12-7, 5-5 Big Ten) over the Wolverines (16-6, 6-4).
(20) N. Carolina 90, Florida St. 62
At Chapel Hill, N.C., Antawn Jamison broke out of his slump against the Seminoles (12-7, 3-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) in a big way, scoring 15 points and getting 15 rebounds as the Tar Heels (14-6, 4-5) rolled.
Rice 75, (22) Tulsa 58
At Houston, Bobby Crawford scored a career-high 29 points, including a school-record eight 3-pointers, to lead the Owls (11-8, 5-4 WAC) to an upset of the Golden Hurricane (17-6, 7-2).