No. 15 Creighton knocks off No. 1 Uconn
OMAHA, NEB. >> Steven Ashworth scored 16 of his 20 points in the first half as Creighton built a doubledigit lead, and the No. 15 Bluejays knocked off Uconn 85-66 Tuesday night for the program’s first win over a No. 1-ranked team.
Creighton (20-7, 10-6 Big East) led by 23 points with 10 minutes left but saw its lead cut to 10 before holding the Huskies scoreless on five straight possessions, rebuilding their cushion and prompting students to leave their seats to prepare to storm the court — which they did as soon as the buzzer sounded.
Uconn (24-3, 14-2) had its 14-game win streak end three days after it beat thenno. 4 Marquette by 28 points for one of the most impressive victories of the season — and one day after it was voted as the first unanimous No. 1 this season in the AP poll.
NO. 5 TENNESSE 72, MISSOURI 67
Tennessee coach Rick Barnes asked the young guys on his bench at halftime, when the fifth-ranked Volunteers were losing to struggling Missouri, what they needed to turn things around over the final 20 minutes.
“They said, ‘I think we need more effort,’” Barnes recalled.
Dalton Knecht provided that, scoring 15 of his 17 points after the break, and a bigger lineup Barnes used out of the locker room paid off as Tennessee rallied from a seven-point deficit to beat the Tigers.
Tobe Awaka had 18 points and 10 rebounds, Jonas Aidoo added 14 points and Zakai Zeigler 10 for the Vols (20-6, 10-3), whose fifth straight win at Mizzou Arena allowed them to close within a half game of No. 13
Creighton’s Steven Ashworth shoots a 3-pointer against Uconn’s Alex Karaban during the first half Tuesday in Omaha, Neb.
Alabama in the SEC race.
“We knew they were going to come in and fight and it’s hard to do that when you’ve had the kind of conference season they’ve had,” Barnes said, “but they came in and fought. I thought in the first half they played with a greater sense of urgency.”
Sean East II scored 24 points and Noah Carter had 20 for the Tigers (8-18, 0-13), who have lost 15 of their last 16 overall.
“They’re well-balanced. They have everything you need that’s a characteristic of a national championship team,” Missouri coach Dennis Gates said. “They have inside play, they have depth, they have shooting.”
The Vols also drew a lot of fouls, which Gates said his own team was “terrible” at doing — while dropping a four-letter word that begins with “F” and he pointedly asked reporters not to “bleep out” while transcribing his comments.
The Vols and Tigers combined for a single point — Carter’s free throw for Missouri — over the first fourplus minutes, missing the first 10 field-goal attempts and turning the ball over seven times in a sloppy and disjointed start to the game.
The Tigers didn’t make a field goal until Tamar Bates
hit a 3-pointer with 10:55 left in the first half.
Tennessee was unable to take advantage, though, because a team that has struggled to get off to good starts the past six weeks had an even tougher time scoring. Knecht missed his first eight shots, the Vols started 0 for 9 from the 3-point arc and they had nearly as many turnovers (eight) as field goals (nine) over the first 20 minutes.
Women
NO. 23 OKLAHOMA 95, CINCINNATI 87
Skylar Vann scored 22 points, and Lexy Keys and Sahara Williams each added 17 points to help No. 23 Oklahoma beat Cincinnati.
Oklahoma (19-7, 13-2 Big 12) bounced back after losing for the first time since Jan. 10, ending a nine-game winning streak on Saturday against No. 24 West Virginia.
Oklahoma scored the opening seven points of the game and never trailed against Cincinnati — leading by as many as 22 points with 4:22 left in the third quarter.
Oklahoma was ahead 9374 with 3:15 left, but Cincinnati scored the next 13 points to force the Sooners to bring back their starters.