Auriemma, Hatchell reach 1,000 wins
UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Geno Auriemma won his 1,000th game as topranked Connecticut beat Oklahoma 88-64 on Tuesday night in the Hall of Fame women’s Holiday Showcase.
Auriemma became the fourth women’s coach to reach the 1,000-win mark, joining Pat Summitt, Tara VanDerveer and Sylvia Hatchell, who earned her milestone victory earlier Tuesday. Mike Krzyzewski is the only men’s coach to have won 1,000 games.
Auriemma is the fastest to achieve the mark, doing so in his 1,135th game.
The Hall of Fame coach has gone 500-36 since winning his 500th game in 2003. That includes winning 100 of his last 101 contests.
UConn (9-0) led 48-33 at the break before Oklahoma (5-6) cut its deficit to seven midway through the third quarter, shocking the crowd. The Huskies responded with a 13-3 run to close the period that was capped by a steal off an inbounds play for a layup by Katie Lou Samuelson to give UConn a 64-47 advantage headed into the fourth quarter. Hatchell gained her 1,000th career victory as North Carolina (10-2) defeated Grambling State (3-6). Hatchell, who battled leukemia and was declared cancer-free in 2014, is 1,000-376 during a 43-year career that started with 11 seasons at Francis Marion. Hatchell is 728-286 with the Tar Heels, and another milestone could come later this season. She’s 11 wins shy of former Virginia coach Debbie Ryan’s record for most victories at an Atlantic Coast Conference women’s program.
Men
Kerem Kanter had 16 points and 13 rebounds and host Xavier (11-1), playing the second half without three starters, held off Marshall (8-4). Xavier didn’t have starters J.P. Macura (blurred vision) and Kaiser Gates (dizziness) the entire game as both were being held out for precautionary measures. Freshman Naji Marshall, who was moved into the starting lineup, took a hard fall near halftime and did not play the second half.
Freshman Trae Young had 26 points and tied an NCAA Division I record with 22 assists as host Oklahoma (9-1) rolled past Northwestern State (3-7). Young’s 22 assists tied the major-college record set by Tony Fairley of Charleston Southern vs. Armstrong in 1987 and matched by Southern’s Avery Johnson against Texas Southern in 1988 and Syracuse’s Sherman Douglas against Providence in 1989. Cane Broome matched his season high with 17 points Tuesday night as host Cincinnati(10-2) rolled over Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-13), extending the nation’s longest home-court winning streak. The Bearcats have won 32 straight home games, a streak spanning two courts. They’re playing this season at BB&T Arena at Northern Kentucky University in Highland Heights, Kentucky, while their on-campus arena is renovated. They went 18-0 at Fifth Third Arena last season.