UConn women stay perfect with victory over Louisville
North Carolina men stop Notre Dame
STORRS, Conn. — Katie Lou Samuelson scored 26 points and top-ranked UConn used an early run to beat No. 4 Louisville 69-58 on Monday night.
Napheesa Collier added 14 points and Gabby Williams had 12 points and 15 rebounds for the Huskies (25-0), who won their 76th consecutive home game and ended Louisville’s 13-game road winning streak.
Louisville (25-2) scored the first three points and UConn rattled off 19 straight.
Samuelson had seven points during that game-changing burst. By the time Jazmine Jones’ reverse layup went in just before the end of the first quarter, the Cardinals were down 22-6, much to the delight of the sellout crowd of just over 10,000 fans. It didn’t get much better for the Cardinals in the second quarter as they trailed 42-22 at the half. UConn’s star junior had 19 points at the break.
No. 13 MISSOURI 84, ARKANSAS 58: In Fayetteville, Ark., Sophie Cunningham scored 18 points with four 3-pointers, Jordan Frericks had 15 points and eight rebounds and Missouri (20-5, 8-4 Southeastern Conference) routed Arkansas (12-13, 3-9)
Top 25 men
No. 14 NORTH CAROLINA 83,
NOTRE DAME 66: In Chapel Hill, N.C., Theo Pinson scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime to go with 10 rebounds, helping UNC pull away late to beat Notre Dame for its third win in five days.
Things certainly look different from 10 days ago for the Tar Heels (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who were coming off their first three-game losing streak in four years. But they beat Duke at home on Thursday then won Saturday at North Carolina State in a pair of emotional rivalry games.
This time, UNC needed a 13-0 burst in the final 5½ minutes to finally get some separation against a team that just kept hanging around. Martinas Geben and John Mooney each scored 18 points for the Fighting Irish (15-11, 5-8), with Mooney going 6 of 6 from 3-point range.
No. 20 WEST VIRGINIA 82,
TCU 66: In Morgantown, W.Va., Teddy Allen scored 16 points, giving West Virginia a needed spark off the bench in a victory over TCU.
James “Beetle” Bolden added 14 points, Daxter Miles Jr. scored 13 and Wes Harris had 11 points for West Virginia (19-7, 8-5 Big 12). Desmond Bane had 16 points for TCU (17-9, 5-8).
AP POLL: A loss didn’t prevent Virginia from climbing to No. 1 in AP men’s basketball poll for the first time in more than 35 years after all.
The Cavaliers rose a slot to sit atop Monday’s AP Top 25 despite an overtime home loss Saturday to Virginia Tech, part of an upset-filled week that allowed for plenty of uncertainty in the poll. The Cavaliers (23-2, 12-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) earned 30 of 65 first-place votes to outdistance No. 2 Michigan State and rise above the turmoil that included last week’s top three teams all losing.
Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers had been at No. 2 before this season, but this is the first time the program has reached No. 1 since December 1982 — the senior season of 7-foot-4 great Ralph Sampson.
Michigan State (24-3, 12-2 Big Ten) climbed two spots after a weekend win against Purdue in a top-5 matchup. Next came Villanova (23-2, 10-2 Big East), who fell to third after a fiveweek stay at No. 1. Xavier (23-3, 11-2 Big East) inched up a spot to fourth. This is Xavier’s highest ranking in its histor.