No. 2 UConn takes down no. 1 Carolina
STORRS, CO NN.» With the shot clock about to expire and her team ahead by a single point in overtime, Paige Bueckers threw up a long 3-pointer that hit the back of the rim and bounced high into the air.
There was no doubt in Bueckers’ mind that the ball would come down through the net.
UConn’s freshman star scored 31 points, including her team’s final 13, to lead the No. 2 Huskies to a 6359 overtime victory Monday over top-ranked South Carolina.
Bueckers scored all of the Huskies’ nine points in overtime, including that improbable 3-pointer with just over 10 seconds left. There were 13 seconds on the clock when it left her hand.
“It bounced straight up, so I was like, ‘Man, it’s got to go in,’” she said. “It looked good. It felt good, but, yeah, I would say that was a really nice bounce.”
The Gamecocks’ Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson missed 3-pointers in the final seconds.
The thriller came just hours after the Gamecocks and Huskies earned the top two spots in The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll.
Aliyah Boston had 17 points and 15 rebounds for South Carolina (15-2), which overcame a sevenpoint deficit in the fourth quarter.
A layup by Aubrey Griffin had given the Huskies (14-1) a 50-43 lead with just over 8 minutes left, before South Carolina turned up the defense and went on an 11-0 run.
Victaria Saxton’s layup over Olivia Nelson-Ododa gave the Gamecocks a 5250 lead, and Boston’s jumper extended that to 54-50 with just under 2½ minutes to play.
But Bueckers hit two straight jumpers to tie the game at 54 with 46 seconds left in regulation.
“She’s that player,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “She’s that player that comes along that people talk about — ‘Hey did you see that kid from Connecticut?’ She’s that kid.”
Men
kansas 78, nO. 23 OklaHOMa state 66.
L AWRENCE, K A N.» David McCormack scored all but two of his 23 points after halftime, Marcus Garrett had 17 and Kansas rolled past Oklahoma State in the Jayhawks’ first game since their Top 25 run ended at 231 consecutive weeks.
Christian Braun added 15 points, Jalen Wilson had 11 and Ochai Agbaji 10 for the Jayhawks (13-7, 7-5 Big 12), who climbed to No. 3 early in the season but had lost five of their last seven to fall out of the poll for the first time since Feb. 2, 2009.
The Jayhawks forced Oklahoma State star Cade Cunningham into committing seven turnovers while committing four fouls, and the Cowboys (12-6, 5-6) finished with 18 turnovers as a team in a haphazard effort on both ends of the floor.
nO. 4 OHiO state 73, MaRYlanD 65.
COLLEGE PA RK, MD.» Kyle Young and Duane Washington Jr. each scored 18 points, and Ohio State used a relentless defensive effort to wear down Maryland.
The Buckeyes (16-4, 10-4 Big Ten) limited Maryland to 40% shooting and a 5for-19 performance from beyond the arc. That, along with 10 3-pointers on the offensive end, was enough to get Ohio State its fifth straight victory.