A Big East wakeup call
Louisville coach Rick Pitino had joked that watching Villanova on tape made him sick.
Seeing the third-ranked Wildcats (10-0, 1-0 Big East) zip by his ninth-ranked Cardinals 76-67 on Thursday night at Louisville made Pitino dizzy and his players believers about what lies ahead in the Big East.
“I don’t think anyone in Louisville (11-2, 0-1) knew how tough the Big East and Villanova was before tonight, now they all know,” Pitino said. “Villanova was just a better basketball team.”
Randy Foye scored 24 points and Allan Ray added 17 as the Wildcats welcomed Louisville to the Big East by featuring the kind of speed and depth the Cardinals rarely faced during their days in Conference USA.
(6) Illinois 60, (7) Michigan St. 50: At Champaign, Ill., Dee Brown scored a career-high 34 points and the Illini (15-0 1-0 Big Ten) held the Spartans (12-3, 0-1) to nearly 33 points less than their average.
(18) Ohio St. 104, Penn St. 69: Ron Lewis scored 26 points and J.J. Sullinger added 18, and they combined to hit 18 of 19 shots from the field as the Buckeyes (11-0, 1-0 Big Ten) whipped the Nittany Lions (8-4, 0-1) at Columbus, Ohio.
(24) West Virginia 57, South Florida 53: Mike Gansey scored 18 points and Kevin Pittsnogle had 16 to lead the Mountaineers (9-3, 1-0 Big East) over the Bulls (6-8, Big East 1-0) at Tampa, Fla.
Women
(2) Duke 87, Florida State 68: Monique Currie had 21 points, 12 rebounds and 11 assists to become the second player in school history with a triple-double since Katie Meier in 1987, leading the Blue Devils (13-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) past the Seminoles (9-5, 0-1) at Durham, N.C. … (6) Maryland 67, (19) Boston College 64 (OT): Shay Doron nailed a 3-pointer and a pair of free throws in the final minute of overtime and Crystal Langhorne scored 24 points to lift the Terrapins (14-1, 1-0) to a win in Boston (12-3, 0-1), spoiling the Eagles’ inaugural ACC game. … (10) Ohio State 82, Northwestern 54: Jessica Davenport scored 22 points, Kim Wilburn added 15 off the bench and Brandie Hoskins had 10 to lead the Buckeyes (10-2, 2-1 Big Ten) over the Wildcats (4-9, 0-3) in Evanston, Ill. … (11) Michigan St. 75, Penn St. 53: Liz Shimek scored 22 points, leading the Spartans (11-3, 2-0 Big Ten) over the Nittany Lions (6-8, 0-3) at East Lansing, Mich. … (14) Purdue 61, Indiana 56 (OT): Katie Gearlds scored 19 points to lead the Boilermakers (11-2, 3-0 Big Ten) to a win over the Hoosiers (8-6, 2-1) in Bloomington, Ind. … (15) Minnesota 73, Wisconsin 67: Kelly Roysland had 19 points and seven rebounds to lead the Gophers (9-2, 2-0 Big Ten) over the Badgers (6-8, 1-2) in Minneapolis. … (16) Stanford 80, Oregon St. 60: Jillian Harmon scored 22 points and the Cardinal (9-4, 4-1 Pac-10) got off to a fast start in a win over the Beavers (6-5, 0-3) at Corvallis, Ore. … (17) Georgia 84, Mississippi 70: Tasha Humphrey had 29 points and Megan Darrah added 18 to lead the Bulldogs (10-3, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) over the Rebels (10-4, 0-1) in Oxford, Miss. … (21) New Mexico 59, (22) Utah 42: Brandi Kimble scored 16 points and the Lobos’ (11-3, 1-0 Mountain West) defense halted Utes (9-3, 0-1) scoring leader Kim Smith’s streak of double-figure scoring at Albuquerque, N.M.