Cardinals take down No. 12 Tar Heels
Louisville went from suffering a confidence-jarring loss to handing Roy Williams his worst home loss in 16 seasons with North Carolina.
“We never really got into the game,” Williams said after Saturday’s 83-62 defeat to the Cardinals. “I’d like to give you a brilliant answer as to why, but I can’t give you that brilliant answer.”
It was as mystifying a performance from the No. 12 Tar Heels as it was a strong effort from Louisville following Wednesday’s loss.
Coach Chris Mack said there was “some soul searching” after that setback. The Panthers had lost by 25 points at home to the Tar Heels a few days earlier.
Louisville (11-5, 2-1) jumped on North Carolina early and turned a 43-34 halftime lead into a rout.
“I’ve been around the game enough to know you can be humbled on any given night and then erase a bitter feeling a few nights later,” Mack said. “I don’t know how football coaches do it, they get one game a week.”
Connecticut transfer Steven Enoch had season highs of 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Cardinals, causing all kinds of matchup problems with his 6-foot-11 frame and strength to post up deep in the paint. Dwayne Sutton added 17 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to flirt with a triple double, helping the Cardinals shoot 52% while hitting 11 three-pointers.
No. 1 Duke 80, at No. 13 Florida State 78: Freshman Cam Reddish made a threepointer with 0.8 seconds left to lift the Blue Devils to their ninth straight win. Two freshmen carried the load for Duke (14-1, 3-0 ACC) as RJ Barrett scored 32 points on 10 of 19 shooting and Reddish finished with 23 points on nine of 15 shooting. Mfiondu Kabengele came off the bench to record his third career double-double, tying a career-high with 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Seminoles (13-3, 1-2).
No. 3 Tennessee 78, at Florida 67: Grant Williams scored 20 points, Jordan Bowden added 17 off the bench, and the Volunteers (14-1, 3-0 SEC) rallied for their 10th consecutive victory. Admiral Schofield, who sat out much of the second half with four fouls, provided the biggest bucket with a three-pointer from the corner with 41.3 seconds remaining. Jalen Hudson misfired on the other end, and the Gators were forced to foul in the waning seconds. Schofield’s shot came after Williams appeared to get away with a travel in the lane. Williams made eight of 11 shots to go along with nine rebounds and four assists. KeVaughn Allen had 18 points and Noah Locke added 16 for the Gators (9-6, 1-2).
No. 4 Virginia 63, at Clemson 43: The Cavaliers turned up their defense and won their ninth straight against the Tigers. Kyle Guy had 13 points and De’Andre Hunter scored 12 for Virginia (15-0, 3-0 ACC), which remained the only unbeaten team in the conference. Marcquise Reed (14 points) was the only double-figure scorer for Clemson (10-6, 0-3), but he shot just three of 14 from the field and missed his five three-point tries.
No. 7 Kansas 73, at Baylor 68: Lagerald Vick scored 18 points with six threepointers before a couple of late turnovers as the Jayhawks (14-2, 3-1 Big 12) held on for the win. Kansas held a double-digit lead for most of the second half until the Bears (9-6, 1-2) scored eight consecutive points in the final minute, when Vick had two turnovers.
No. 8 Texas Tech 68, at Texas 62: Matt Mooney scored 22 points for the Red Raiders, who notched their first win in Austin since 1996. Texas Tech (15-1, 4-0 Big 12) led 61-51 on Brandone Francis’ three-pointer with 3:37 left, his only basket of the game. Texas (10-6, 2-2) cut the lead to four, but lost a chance to get within one possession in the final minute when Jase Febres threw the ball away on a fastbreak.
Mississippi 81, at No. 14 Mississippi State 77: Freshman Blake Hinson scored a career-high 26 points and Breein Tyree added 19 as the Rebels rallied for a win. The Bulldogs (12-3, 0-2) tied the score 77-77 on a three-pointer by Nick Weatherspoon, but the Rebels went ahead for good when Tyree made a driving layup with about 50 seconds left. Mississippi (13-2, 3-0 SEC) won its 10th straight, continuing its surprising run under first-year coach Kermit Davis.
at Iowa 72, No. 16 Ohio State 62: Luka Garza scored 16 points, Tyler Cook had 15 points with eight rebounds, and the Hawkeyes handed the Buckeyes their third straight loss. Iowa (14-3, 3-3 Big Ten), used a 9-0 run early in the second half to seize control. Andre Wesson had 13 points for Ohio State (12-4, 2-3), which committed a season-high 21 turnovers. streak to 19. The Bulls (15-1, 3-0 Mid-American Conference) won despite their leading scorer, C.J. Massinburg, hitting only two of seven shots, and an offense that missed 12 of its final 13 shots over the final 10:49 of the first half. The difference was Dontay Caruthers coming off the bench in the first half and shutting down Nike Sibande, the leading scorer for the RedHawks (8-8, 0-3). Sibande finished with 18 points, seven coming before Caruthers entered the game.