Connecticut loses two in row for first time in 30 years

The Connecticut women lost back-to-back games for the first time in three decades after the fourth-ranked Huskies were beaten 59-52 by Marquette on Wednesday night.

The Huskies, who were playing three nights after an 81-77 home loss to No. 1 South Carolina, lost consecutive games for the first time since March 1993.

“We knew we were the big-time underdogs,” Marquette coach Megan Duffy said. “We watched Connecticut lose on Sunday and we knew a buzz saw was coming in. We just kind of stayed together and fed off our home crowd and just continued to make big plays. I thought our defense was tremendous today.”

Chloe Marotta had 19 points and Jordan King added 18 for Marquette (16-8, 9-6 Big East), which beat Connecticut (21-4, 13-1) for the first time in 17 meetings.

No. 6 Tennessee men upset

Tyrin Lawrence made a three-pointer from the right corner at the buzzer as Vanderbilt stopped an 11-game skid against its in-state rival by upsetting sixth-ranked Tennessee 66-65.

Students rushed the court and joined the Commodores in celebrating easily the biggest win in coach Jerry Stackhouse’s fourth season. Then the Commodores (12-12, 5-6 Southeastern) celebrated by running along the courtside slapping high-fives.

Tennessee (19-5, 8-2) had a chance to finish off the win after Olivier Nkamhoua hit a 15-foot jumper with 50 seconds left for a 65-63 lead. Vanderbilt’s Liam Robbins missed a turnaround jumper with 27 seconds left, and Tennessee’s Zakai Zeigler grabbed the rebound.

Vanderbilt kept fouling until Santiago Vescovi went to the line with eight seconds left. He missed the first shot, and Lawrence grabbed the rebound. Stackhouse took a timeout with four seconds to go to set up the final play. Ezra Manjon found Lawrence in the corner for the winning bucket.

West Virginia 76, No. 11 Iowa State 71:

Kedrian Johnson tied a career high with 22 points and Emmitt Mathews added a seasonhigh 20 points for the Mountaineers (15-9, 4-7 Big 12), who have won five of seven. Jaren Holmes led the Cyclones (16-7, 7-4) with 18 points. Tamin Lipsey had a season-high 16 points and Caleb Grill added 13.