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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, February 3, 2009

No. 1 UConn routs Louisville

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Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Louisville's Samardo Samuels is cut off by Connecticut's Hasheem Thabeet in the first half.

ED REINKE | Associated Press

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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Connecticut reached No. 1 two months ahead of schedule.

The way the Huskies are playing, they might stay there a while.

Jeff Adrien scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and the Huskies celebrated their return to the top of the polls for the first time in three years with a 68-51 dismantling of No. 5 Louisville yesterday.

"We definitely made a statement that we're No. 1," Adrien said.

The Huskies certainly played like the best team in the nation.

Hasheem Thabeet dominated the lane with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks as UConn (21-1, 10-1 Big East) rolled to its 10th straight victory.

Jerome Dyson added 14 points and A.J. Price had 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists as the Huskies had surprisingly little trouble shutting down the red-hot Cardinals.

"They're very truly the No. 1 team in the country," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "We weren't in their league tonight."

Not many teams are when the Huskies play as well at both ends of the floor as they did against the Cardinals.

Terrence Williams led Louisville (17-4, 8-1) with a career-high 26 points.

UConn emphatically ended Louisville's nine-game winning streak by dictating the pace and using Thabeet's massive 7-foot-3 wingspan to hold Louisville to a season-low point total.

UConn became the fourth No. 1 team in as many weeks earlier in the day, but managed to avoid the pitfalls that sent Pittsburgh, Wake Forest and Duke tumbling out of the top spot.

"Being No. 1 is like winning in Maui (Maui Invitational)," Calhoun said. "It's nice but I want to be there in April."

No. 6 Pittsburgh 92, Robert Morris 72: Sam Young had 23 points and DeJuan Blair added 18 and host Pittsburgh (20-2) beat Robert Morris (15-8).

Levance Fields added 12 points and 13 assists, and Jermaine Dixon 15 points for the Panthers.

Wisconsin-Green Bay 75, No. 11 Butler 66: Ryan Tillema scored 21 points and host Wisconsin-Green Bay (18-6, 10-2 Horizon League) was almost perfect from the line in an upset of Butler (19-2, 10-1).

Tillema scored 18 of his points in the second half for Green Bay, which shot 32 for 35 from the free-throw line and didn't miss from the line until the final 9 minutes of the game.

No. 21 Kansas 75, Baylor 65: Freshman Marcus Morris had a dominating start after halftime and twin brother Markieff had some big contributions of his own and visiting Kansas (18-4, 7-0) beat Baylor (15-7, 3-5).

Marcus Morris scored the Jayhawks' first eight points after halftime. When Markieff Morris hit an open 3-pointer from the top of the key with 15:56 left, the Jayhawks led 43-33.

Sheron Collins had 16 points, Marcus Morris had a season-high 13 points and Mario Little had 12.

LOCAL DII MEN

BYU-Hawai'i 100, Dixie State 79: Lucas Alves scored 33 points to lead six Seasiders in double-figures as BYU-Hawai'i beat Dixie State in a Pacific West Conference game at the Cannon Activities Center.

BYU-Hawai'i (15-1) moved atop the conference at 6-0. Dixie State (11-8) is in second at 5-1.

Alves was 13 of 25 from the field, including 2 of 4 from 3-point range. He also made 5 of 6 free-throw attempts for BYU-Hawai'i, ranked No. 4 in the NABC Division II poll.

Tsung-Hsien Chang added 17 points for BYU-Hawai'i, Trenson Akana and Marques Whippy had 11 apiece, and Virgil Buensuceso and Nathan Sims chipped in 10 each.

Tom Whitehead scored 16 points for Dixie State.

WOMEN'S TOP 25

No. 2 Oklahoma 80, No. 12 Tennessee: Pat Summitt's 1,000th win will have to wait at least another game.

Courtney Paris' record 112-game double-double streak came to an end, but Whitney Hand matched her career high with 20 points as Oklahoma (19-2) beat Tennessee (16-5) at Oklahoma City.

Paris had nine points and 12 rebounds and got a standing ovation when she fouled out with 38.2 seconds left.

No. 4 Duke 69, Boston College 58: Chante Black scored 15 points, Carrem Gay added 14 points and Joy Cheek had 10 as host Duke (18-2, 6-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat Boston College (17-5, 5-2).

Mickel Picco scored 18 points and Carolyn Swords added 12 for the Eagles.

No. 13 Maryland 72, Florida St 71: Kristi Toliver hit a 3-point shot as the buzzer sounded as visiting Maryland (17-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) snapped Florida State's nine-game winning streak.

After streaking upcourt with the dribble, Toliver let the game-winner fly from the right of the circle and officials confirmed it beat the final horn.

Seminoles freshman Cierra Bravard scored from underneath with 4.9 seconds left with an offensive rebound to give Florida State (18-5, 6-1) a 71-69 lead.

Toliver led the Terrapins with 17 points.

No. 25 South Dakota St. 83, IPFW 56: Jennifer Warkenthien had 26 points and nine rebounds as host South Dakota State (21-2, 10-1 Summit League) jumped out to a 12-0 lead and coasted over IPFW (3-19, 2-9).

The Jackrabbits scored 31 points off 17 Mastodon turnovers. They shot 46 percent from the field and went 9 for 21 from 3-point range.

LOCAL DII WOMEN

BYU-Hawai'i 81, Dixie State 77: Latoya Wily had 35 points and 14 rebounds as the Seasiders beat the Red Storm in a Pacific West Conference game at the Cannon Activities Center.

Wily was 15 of 18 from the field and 5 of 7 from the line.

Richelle Fenebock added 15 points, Mahina Gago had 14 and Dara Tompkison 10 for the Seasiders (10-7, 4-2).

Jessie Ingraham scored 19 points for the Red Storm (11-8, 4-2). She made two free throws with 2 seconds left to bring Dixie State within 79-77, but the Seasiders' Tompkison made two free throws with under a second remaining.