UConn cracks Top 25, squeezes past DePaul
Tyrese Martin scored 18 points, and No. 25 UConn beat DePaul 6053 in a men’s basketball game Monday night in Chicago.
The Huskies (7-1, 4-1 Big East) cracked the Top 25 for the first time since they were ranked 18th in the 2016-17 preseason poll, then got all they could handle from a struggling DePaul squad before pulling out their fourth straight win.
Connecticut scored the final eight points despite some shaky free throw shooting down the stretch, and improved to 12-1 against the Blue Demons (1- 4, 0- 4).
Tyler Polley and R. J. Cole each added 12 points for the Huskies. Cole hit a 3-pointer to start the game-ending run, and the Huskies came out on top despite shooting 5 of 18 from beyond the arc. Leading scorer James Bouknight missed his second consecutive game with an elbow injury.
DePaul lost its fourth straight. Darious Hall led the Blue Demons with 10 points.
UConn, which routed DePaul by 21 last month, trailed by four before Cole nailed a 3 and Martin made a layup to put the Huskies on top 52-51 with just under five minutes remaining.
After DePaul’s Nick Ongenda dunked, UConn’s Brendan Adams tied it by hitting 1 of 2 from the foul line. Adams then got blocked from behind on a fast break by Javon Freeman-Liberty before Martin and Polley each hit 1 of 2 at the line to put the Huskies on top 55-53.
Martin scored on a putback and drove for a layup to make it a sixpoint game with just over a minute remaining.
COLORADO 65, UTAH 58 >> D’Shawn Schwartz had 15 points and 15 rebounds, McKinley Wright IV tied the school career assists record, and the Buffaloes rallied from a 10-point halftime deficit on the road. Jabari Walker added 15 points and 10 rebounds for Colorado (9-3, 3-2 Pac12). Colorado’s last win at Utah was during the 2011-12 season.
Timmy Allen led Utah (4- 5, 1- 4) with 19 points.
Utah led 37-27 at halftime but didn’t make its first field goal of the second half until the 14:11 mark. Colorado scored 15 straight points during the drought for a 42-37 advantage.
COVID-19 ISSUES
• Today’s game between No. 13 West Virginia and No. 2 Baylor in Waco, Texas, has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues with the Mountaineers.
Women’s college basketball
NO. 25 WASHINGTON STATE EARNS 1ST
AP TOP 25 RANKING >> Kamie Ethridge was surprised to hear that Washington State had never been ranked before.
Now the Cougars coach can add that to the team’s list of accomplishments: They entered The Associated Press women’s college basketball poll at No. 25.
The ranking comes a day after Washington State (7-1) beat then-No. 7 Arizona 71-69 in overtime. The Cougars have won five of their first six Pac-12 games for the first time since the 2013-14 season.
While Washington State was enjoying its first ranking, Stanford tightened its grip on the No. 1 spot in the poll. The Cardinal received 29 of the 30 first-place votes from a national media panel. They were followed by Louisville, North Carolina State, UConn and South Carolina. The Wolfpack received the other No. 1 vote.
COVID-19 ISSUES
• Baylor (8-1) has had another game postponed because of COVID-19 issues. The Lady Bears will not be able to meet the Big 12 roster threshold to play Wednesday’s game at Kansas. Baylor hasn’t played since its 74-50 win at TCU on Jan. 2.
• San Jose State’s two games this week with Colorado State have been postponed because of COVID-19 issues within the Spartans’ program.
• Arizona State has postponed its games this week against Oregon State and No. 10 Oregon because of COVID-19 issues.
Tennis
KENIN FALLS IN ABU DHABI OPEN QUARTERFINALS >> Australian Open champion Sofia Kenin and secondseeded Elina Svitolina were eliminated from the season- opening Abu Dhabi Open.
Kenin lost to ninth-seeded Maria Sakkari 2- 6, 6-2, 6- 0 in the quarterfinals. Svitolina lost to unseeded Russian Veronika Kudermetova 5-7, 6-3, 7- 6 (3).
Sakkari will next face fourthseeded Aryna Sabalenka, who won her 13th straight match by beating Elena Rybakina 6- 4, 4- 6, 6-3.
Svitolina twice came back from a break down in the deciding set, including when Kudermetova served for the match at 6-5, but trailed 3- 0 in the tiebreak and couldn’t recover.
Soccer
CANADA TO PLAY IN 2021 SHEBELIEVES CUP >> Canada will play in next month’s SheBelieves Cup alongside Brazil, Japan and host United States, the country’s soccer governing body said on Monday.
Canada is participating in the SheBelieves Cup for the first time after 2019 champions England pulled out of the Feb. 18-24 tournament because of “uncertainties” around the pandemic situation in the U.S.