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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Monday, January 21, 2008

UConn stuns No. 13 Marquette

Associated Press

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Connecticut point guard A.J. Price goes up for two of his 17 points against No. 13 Marquette. Price also had eight assists.

JESSICA HILL | Associated Press

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STORRS, Conn. — Jim Calhoun needed a way to get his team's attention after a bad home loss. He simply wrote down the rest of the schedule. It worked like a charm.

Connecticut, coming off a 12-point home loss to Providence, rebounded with its first win over a ranked opponent in almost two years, 89-73 over No. 13 Marquette yesterday.

"I just wrote who we had to still play on one side and then I put the Big East standings on the other," Calhoun said of what he did before Friday's practice. "I showed them who we had left and how hard it was going to be but also pointed out that we still had a chance to be one of the better teams in the conference. They knew Marquette was a quality team and these are the teams we'll be playing."

Point guard A.J. Price, who had 17 points and eight assists, said the schedule on the blackboard was a very good idea.

"It helped us greatly, especially after we played so bad against Providence," he said. "When we saw the standings we realized we were in the hunt and that if we could get on a winning streak we could be in the top four."

It also helped that 7-foot-3 sophomore Hasheem Thabeet had one of his best games at Connecticut. He had 15 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots as the Huskies (12-5, 3-3) lived up to their defensive statistics while also coming up with one of their best offensive showings of the season.

Connecticut came into the game sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.8) and led the country in blocked shots (9.2). The Huskies finished with 10 blocks yesterday with Thabeet, who was 3 for 3 from the field and 9 for 13 from the free-throw line, leading the way.

Connecticut's last win over a ranked team was over then-No. 17 Washington in the regional semifinals of the 2006 NCAA tournament.

No. 9 Indiana 81, Penn State 65: Eric Gordon scored 25 points and D.J. White added 22, including nine during a 14-4 second-half run that carried host Indiana (16-1, 5-0 Big Ten) over Penn State (10-7, 2-3). The Hoosiers won their 27th straight home game and stretched their winning streak this season to 12 games.

No. 11 Michigan State 78, Minnesota 73: Drew Neitzel made five 3-pointers in the final 20 minutes to lead visiting Michigan State (16-2, 4-1 Big Ten) over Minnesota (12-5, 2-3). Neitzel finished with 19 points and reserve Kalin Lucas added 12 points for the Spartans.

WOMEN'S TOP 25

No. 2 Tennessee 79, Vanderbilt 63: Candace Parker scored 19 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help host Tennessee (16-1, 4-0 SEC) beat Vanderbilt (13-6, 2-2). Shannon Bobbitt added 14 points for the Lady Vols while Alexis Hornbuckle and Alex Fuller both had 10.

No. 4 Maryland 99, Georgia Tech 95: Crystal Langhorne had 31 points and 15 rebounds, and Marissa Coleman scored the first five points in the second overtime for host Maryland (22-1, 6-0 ACC) in a victory over Georgia Tech (16-3, 3-2). Laura Harper scored 24 points and grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds for Maryland.

No. 5 Rutgers 70, Louisville 57: Matee Ajavon scored 23 points to help host Rutgers (15-2, 5-0 Big East) beat Louisville (12-6, 1-4) for the Scarlet Knights' 10th straight victory. Kia Vaughn added 15 points and nine rebounds for Rutgers.

No. 6 Baylor 84, No. 11 Oklahoma 73: Angela Tisdale scored a career-high 35 points and Rachel Allison added 17 to help visiting Baylor (16-1, 4-0 Big 12) beat Oklahoma (11-4, 2-2). Courtney Paris had a season-high 28 points and 12 rebounds for her 76th consecutive double-double.

No. 7 Stanford 60, Arizona State 56: Candice Wiggins scored 18 points and Jayne Appel added 16 as host Stanford (16-3, 6-2 Pac-10) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Arizona State (11-7, 5-2). Stanford has won four straight.

No. 9 LSU 84, Mississippi State 31: Quianna Chaney scored 14 of her 16 points in the first half to help host LSU (14-3, 3-0 SEC) rout Mississippi State (12-6, 0-3). It was the Lady Tigers' largest-ever margin of victory in SEC play.

No. 10 Duke 71, North Carolina State 57: Chante Black had 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead host Duke (14-4, 3-1 ACC) past North Carolina State (12-7, 0-4). Joy Cheek scored 14 points for the Blue Devils.

No. 12 Georgia 71, Alabama 53: Tasha Humphrey scored a season-high 25 points and host Georgia (15-3, 2-2 SEC) beat Alabama (8-11, 1-3). Georgia won its 16th consecutive home game and 13th straight against the Crimson Tide, dating to 1999.

No. 15 Old Dominion 63, William & Mary 55: Tiffany Green had 13 points, eight rebounds and four blocks to help visiting Old Dominion (14-3, 5-0 Colonial Athletic Association) win its eight straight game with a victory over William & Mary (8-9, 2-3). Megan Pym led the Lady Monarchs with 14 points.

No. 16 Ohio State 79, Wisconsin 74: Marscilla Packer made six 3-pointers and scored 32 points to lead host Ohio State (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) over Wisconsin (8-9, 1-6). Packer had 20 points in the second half and freshman center Jantel Lavender scored 10 of her 21 points in the second.

Kentucky 62, No. 21 Auburn 55: Sarah Elliott scored 14 points to lead four players in double-figures and host Kentucky (9-9, 3-1 SEC) beat Auburn (13-5, 1-2).

Texas Tech 70, No. 24 Texas 58: Dominic Seals scored a career-high 27 points and got her eighth double-double of the season to lead host Texas Tech (13-5, 1-3 Big 12) over Texas (13-5, 1-3).