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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Louisville upsets Marquette, 71-57

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Marquette's Maurice Acker, right, and Louisville's Earl Clark, left, fight for the ball in the second half in Milwaukee.

DARREN HAUCK | Associated Press

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MILWAUKEE — Jerry Smith felt right at home, and Louisville's stifling defense made Marquette look uncomfortable in its own gym.

Smith scored 12 points and thwarted a second-half run as the Cardinals locked up the Golden Eagles again, winning 71-57 last night to snap No. 16 Marquette's 14-game home winning streak.

Smith, from the Milwaukee suburb of Wauwatosa, made the winning 3-pointer in Louisville's two-point victory last year at Marquette.

"We would rather not get to the last shot," said Smith, whose cheering section behind the bench included his parents, grandmother, uncle and a few friends. "It was great that we were able to come away with a victory, especially on the road. I'm really happy with the way everything went."

Marquette still hasn't figured out Louisville's defense.

The Golden Eagles (16-5, 6-4 Big East) shot 32 percent from the field. In their previous matchup last month, Louisville dominated 71-51 in Freedom Hall by holding Marquette to 30.4 percent shooting.

"It's knowing what they like to do," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "We've been playing against each other so long, we run the same stuff. We know each other very well. We have a better inside attack than they do."

Louisville (17-6, 7-3) didn't have nearly as tough a time as last season, looking well rested after the easiest win in its short Big East history, 87-50 over Rutgers on Saturday.

The Cardinals jumped all over their former Conference USA rival from the start thanks to Edgar Sosa, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the first half.

"I didn't plan on coming out and scoring like that," Sosa said. "This is a team that has kind of become our rival. We take a lot of these games personal."

NO. 4 KANSAS 90, MISSOURI 71

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Darrell Arthur scored nine points in a second-half surge that carried the Jayhawks (22-1, 7-1 Big 12) past the Tigers (13-10, 3-5), giving Kansas its 20th straight home victory and a season sweep of its archrivals.

NO. 25 SAINT MARY'S 89, GONZAGA 85

MORAGA, Calif. — Todd Golden hit his sixth 3-pointer of the night with 1:19 left in overtime to help the Gaels (19-3, 6-1 WCC) beat the Bulldogs (17-6, 6-1).

WAC MEN

FRESNO STATE 70, LOUISIANA TECH 58

FRESNO, Calif. — Kevin Bell scored 18 points and Eddie Miller added 17 as Fresno State (11-12, 4-5 WAC) beat Louisiana Tech (3-17, 0-8).

WOMEN'S TOP 25

NO. 3 N. CAROLINA 93, NO. 11 DUKE 76

DURHAM, N.C. — LaToya Pringle had 18 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels (20-2, 7-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) past the Blue Devils (16-6, 5-2).

NO. 5 MARYLAND 74, VIRGINIA TECH 71

BLACKSBURG, Va. — Kristie Toliver scored 28 points and the Terrapins (24-2, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Hokies (13-10, 0-8) in overtime.

ELSEWHERE

UCLA: Forward Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will miss the next two Pac-10 road games because of a sprained left ankle. The Bruins (20-2, 8-1 Pac-10) visit No. 17 Washington State on Thursday and Washington on Saturday.