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College Top 25 Basketball Capsules: Kentucky hoping to paint Freedom Hall blue
Comments 0 | Recommend 0LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson walked toward the Louisville Cardinal logo splashed across midcourt at Freedom Hall on Sunday night, looked over his shoulder and did a playful jump-stop on the bird.
A couple minutes later, Wildcats centers DeMarcus Cousins and Josh Harrellson did their teammate one better, slamming into each other in mid-air before landing — loudly— on the image of their archrival as the thousands of fans who turned out for an open practice/autograph sessions roared.
That wasn't exactly what coach John Calipari meant when he told his team to get comfortable at the venerable arena.
"Like I said, we do dumb things," Calipari said with a shrug.
Besides, if Calipari has his way, the familiar UK logo could replace the bird in a couple years.
The fifth-ranked Wildcats (6-0) play UNC-Asheville (0-5) on Monday during the team's annual game at Freedom Hall, a tradition that goes back decades. It's one Calipari hopes to expand on in the future after the Cardinals head to a new downtown arena next fall.
Calipari said Sunday he could see the Wildcats playing "two or three" games at Freedom Hall if there's enough community support, pointing to the area's large alumni base and the ability to expand the Kentucky brand.
"This is the Commonwealth's team," he said.
One that hardly appeared concerned about how the Cardinals would react to the bird-stomping.
"If it does, it does," Patterson said. "That's on them."
Patterson couldn't help but smile just a little while talking about it, a sign that the swagger is back at the home of college basketball's all-time winningest programs.
The Wildcats haven't exactly played perfectly during their start, scratching out wins over Miami (Ohio), Sam Houston State and Stanford. Yet they've found a way to survive behind freshman star John Wall, who hit the game-winner against the RedHawks then rescued the Wildcats against the Cardinal with a pair of late free throws to force overtime.
It isn't exactly the dominance some expected when Calipari brought in the top recruiting class in the country after taking over for Billy Gillispie last spring.
Calipari, however, knew there would be growing pains. And for all of Wall's heroics, Calipari isn't particularly thrilled with the way his point guard keeps throwing the ball away. Wall is averaging 4.6 turnovers a game and sometimes gets the Wildcats into offensive sets Calipari says he's never seen before.
Then again, he'll happily trade the miscues if the Wildcats keep winning. And with showdowns with No. 11 North Carolina and No. 13 Connecticut looming in the next two weeks, Calipari believes the tight games won't hurt.
"The good news for us is we've been in close games, thank goodness," Calipari said. "We've been down 18, thank goodness. We've had to win in overtime, thank goodness. Other than being beat by 30 there aren't a whole lot of things we haven't experienced to a certain level."
That probably won't happen against the Bulldogs, who have already lost to No. 9 Tennessee by 75 two weeks ago.
Don't expect the Wildcats to focus on trying to one-up the Volunteers.
"We're not trying to do anything to try and match the score that they did," Wall said. "We're not trying to beat this team by 100-some points. We're just trying to get better and prepare ourselves for our next couple of games."
Wall didn't get a chance to join in on the bird stomping, mostly because assistant coach Orlando Antigua shooed him away following Cousins and Harrellson's little slam dance.
The Raleigh, N.C., native knows something about rivalries having grown up in the shadow of the blood feud between Duke and North Carolina.
He said he was aware of the animosity between Louisville and Kentucky and doesn't think the Wildcats ticked off the Cardinals while showing off for the fans.
"You don't want to do nothing to disrespect them," Wall said. "It's kind of good our coach stopped us so there won't be no battle or beef with them."
Wall will get a chance to find out for sure when the two teams meet on Jan. 2 at Rupp Arena.
Sunday's Men's Games
No. 11 UNC beats Nevada 80-73 for Williams' 600th
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Roy Williams' milestone victories are starting to blend together for No. 11 North Carolina.
The Tar Heels gave their Hall of Fame coach his 600th career win Sunday night, an 80-73 triumph over pesky Nevada behind a career-high 23 points from Deon Thompson.
"We went in the locker room and I was thinking, 'I was just here,' and it was for his 500th win," Thompson said. "Now I'm here for his 600th. It feels like I've been here forever, but it's definitely cool to be part of coach Williams' history and Carolina history."
Ed Davis added 16 points, a personal-best 15 rebounds and a pair of momentum-changing blocked shots late for the Tar Heels (6-1).
They endured a lengthy second-half slump before warming up down the stretch with an 11-3 spurt, then hit 4 of 7 free throws in the final minute to dodge Nevada's upset bid and avoid a letdown two nights before a championship-game rematch with No. 2 Michigan State.
"This is the first time we got into a late-game situation, and we needed to step up and make big plays, and we did," senior Marcus Ginyard said. "It's one of those things that you've got to go through to learn from, being in a tight game, and making big plays like that."
Armon Johnson scored 20 points on 10-of-20 shooting and Luke Babbitt added 15 points and 11 rebounds on 5-of-18 shooting to lead Nevada (2-3). The Wolf Pack shot 41 percent and held the Tar Heels without a field goal for five minutes before missing 10 of their final 14 shots.
"We thought if we played zone and went inside-out and ... not let their big guys get easy baskets around the hoop, I thought that'd be to our advantage," Nevada coach David Carter said.
Things were sticky for a while before Williams became the 33rd coach in Division I history to reach 600 wins. He's the third-fastest in NCAA history to get there. Williams, who spent 15 years at Kansas before taking over his alma mater in 2003, improved to 600-139 in his 22nd season and became the eighth active coach to hit that milestone.
"I don't think you'll ever hear Roy Williams say, 'I won 500 or I won 600,'" the coach said. "I'd say, 'We won this, and we won that,' and that's really what I believe. I'm not being corny. ... I've been at two great institutions, I've been in places that really are passionate about basketball."
For a while, that landmark victory seemed like anything but a certainty against a Wolf Pack team playing Game 2 of a three-game, 5,731-mile road swing.
Larry Drew II finished with 12 points and a career-high 10 assists, and hit two 3-pointers 45 seconds apart during the burst that gave the Tar Heels just enough breathing room.
"I just stepped into my shot, did all the things that I worked on over the summer, mechanics-wise," Drew said. "It felt good from the time it left my hand and it went in, and the second one felt even better."
Thompson started the decisive burst with a layup through traffic that put North Carolina up 62-61. That also ended the 5-minute string of offensive futility in which the Tar Heels missed eight consecutive shots and their only points came on a pair of free throws by Drew.
Will Graves put North Carolina ahead to stay with a stickback with about 6½ minutes remaining, Drew followed that with 3s from the left wing and right corner and Thompson capped the run with a turnaround jumper with 3½ minutes left that gave him a career scoring high and made it 74-67. The Wolf Pack didn't get closer than five the rest of the way.
Williams wore a sling on his left arm while coaching his first game since having surgery last week to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. But the apparatus didn't seem to frustrate him nearly as much as the Wolf Pack did in keeping things tight throughout.
Dario Hunt scored 12 points before fouling out in the final moments and Joey Shaw added 11 for Nevada, which was denied its first road win. Two nights earlier, the Wolf Pack lost at Virginia Commonwealth and they still must visit Pacific on Dec. 5 before returning home.
"Before we went on the road, I told them it's going to be a learning experience and it's going to prepare us for down the road," Carter said. "I think we grew up in the last two or three days."
Ginyard finished with 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting for the Tar Heels, who next face a rematch with the Spartans in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. North Carolina beat them 89-72 last April in Detroit to win its fifth NCAA title.
"I was kind of disappointed when they lost to Florida (on Friday) just because I wanted them to stay at No. 2 when they came here," Thompson said. "But it doesn't matter. ... I know myself and Ed and the guys who played in that game last year are going to be prepared to play."
-- Joedy McCreary
Green scores 20 as Alabama beats No. 15 Michigan
ORLANDO, Fla. — JaMychal Green scored a late tiebreaking basket and then made the lead hold up.
Green scored 20 points, including a go-ahead dunk with 5 seconds to play, and Alabama beat No. 15 Michigan 68-66 in the Old Spice Classic on Sunday night.
Green also blocked and sent a last-second layup attempt by Darius Morris into the stands.
"It feels good," Green said. "I was at the right place at the right time."
Charvez Davis added 12 points for Alabama (4-2), which won two of three games in the tournament.
"I'm really proud of our guys," Alabama coach Anthony Grant said. "We had some adversity that hit us early. We overcame some things and I think it was a great learning experience for our team."
Manny Haris had 26 points and 10 rebounds for Michigan (3-2), which was coming off a 79-65 loss to Marquette on Friday. The Wolverines had an 83-76 overtime win over Creighton in their tournament opener Thursday.
"It's still early, but it did let us know that we've got a ways to go and that we probably wasn't the Top-15 team in the country," said Michigan forward DeShawn Sims, who had 16 points and six rebounds.
Michigan coach John Beilein second-guessed his own call for the Wolverines' last offensive play.
"We still got to the rim, but if Manny gets to the rim something else may happen," Beilein said. "If I had to do it over again, I'd make sure Manny got the ball somehow or used another time out."
Alabama went up 61-57 on Mikhail Torrance's 3-pointer with four minutes left. A free throw by Justin Knox tied it at 66 with 49.6 remaining.
After Stu Douglass made a long jumper, Harris then scored on the fastbreak to give Michigan a 66-65 lead.
"We just came across another good team," Harris said. "We've got to find a way to close out the game and get a win."
Harris had 16 points, helping Michigan take a 34-29 lead at halftime. He scored 20 or more points in all three tournament games.
"I don't think the timing of our offense was real good," Beilein said. "They did a great job of holding us down."
Green made two short baskets to put Alabama up 51-50 with 7½ minutes left. The Crimson Tide took a 56-55 lead on Knox's 3-point play with 6:08 remaining.
Laval Lucas-Perry made a 3 and Anthony Wright had a layup to give Michigan a 48-40 advantage midway through second half.
Harris hit a 3 and added a free throw as Michigan went ahead 9-2 three minutes into the game. The Wolverines used a 10-0 run, featuring six points by Harris, to go up 28-15 with 6:34 left in the first half.
Davis had 12 first-half points, coming on four 3s. The last one, along with a rebound basket from Green, cut the Crimson Tide deficit to 32-29 with 34 seconds to go.
The Wolverines scored 14 points off 12 Alabama turnovers during the opening 20 minutes.
Sunday's Women's Games
Top-ranked UConn beats Clemson 87-48
STORRS, Conn. — Top-ranked Connecticut has added another tournament championship to its long list of titles.
The six-time national champions won their 13th consecutive in-season tournament Sunday, beating Clemson 87-48 in the WBCA Classic. They have not lost in an in-season tournament since 1992.
"You don't want to be sitting there watching somebody else stand there at half court getting a trophy for winning a championship," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "As long as they are keeping score and giving out trophies, we might as well be standing in line first."
Kalana Greene scored a career-high 28 points, pulled down eight rebounds and four steals to lead UConn, which extended its winning streak to 45 games.
"I think today was just that my defense translated into the other end of the floor," Greene said. "That is what I want to do every game, get out in the passing lane and get stops on defense."
Tina Charles had 20 points — all in the first half — and Maya Moore added 19 points for the Huskies.
Lele Hardy had 17 points for Clemson, which actually led the game for over 2½ minutes, the first time UConn has trailed all season. Lindsay Welker added 11.
"I thought we came out and played hard early, said Clemson coach Cristy McKinney. "We got some shots and knocked down some shots. Small victory I guess, very small."
UConn has won each game in its streak by at least 10 points, and has won all six games this season by at least 25 points. The Huskies beat Hofstra 91-46 in their first tournament game Friday, and routed Richmond 86-37 on Saturday.
Clemson became the first team this season to take a lead on the Huskies when Hardy hit a 3-pointer 33 seconds into the game to make it 3-2. The Tigers were up 9-6 just over 2 minutes into the contest, but that was the biggest advantage they would have. Charles scored 10 of the Huskies first 14 points, and sparked a 16-2 run that made it 22-11.
Clemson tried to stay with the Huskies, cutting the lead to 31-21 on another 3-pointer by Hardy that prompted UConn coach Geno Auriemma to call a timeout. UConn scored the next 11 points.
Greene had three steals and two layups in the final minute before intermission as the Huskies extended the lead to 54-27. The South Carolina native scored 16 second-half points.
"I sure don't want her playing like that because she's mad at Clemson that they didn't recruit her," McKinney said. "I sure would have."
Connecticut missed all nine of its 3-point attempts in the first half, and was just two of 15 for the game, after hitting 13 on Saturday against Richmond.
But the Huskies scored 62 points in the paint, while holding Clemson to 20.
"When one big man gets the ball, the other one is supposed to sprint down the court, post up and move the ball in the lane," Charles said. "That's what Maya and I were able to do tonight and our teammates were passing up the ball, which allowed us to establish our position."
Connecticut is now 3-1 against Clemson. The 61-59 loss came on March 17, 1990 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, and was the last time the Huskies lost an NCAA Tournament game at Gampel Pavilion.
The Tigers finished the round-robin tournament 1-2, losing to Richmond 86-67 on Friday and beating Hofstra 69-68 on Saturday.
UConn is in the middle of a seven-game home stand, which concludes with a Dec. 23 showdown against No. 2 Stanford.
-- Pat Eaton-Robb
Pedersen leads No. 2 Stanford to victory
STANFORD, Calif. — Even with Jayne Appel not at full strength, Stanford was too much for Gonzaga.
Kayla Pedersen scored a career-high 30 points, surpassing the 1,000-point mark, and the No. 2 Cardinal beat Gonzaga 105-74 on Sunday. Nnemkadi Ogwumike added a career-high 29 points and matched her career best with 13 rebounds as the Cardinal (6-0) won their 32nd consecutive home game.
"It was a good day to get a career high," Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. "Gonzaga is really a top team. We were going to go inside and make a statement."
Appel also recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. She's one shy of 1,000 career rebounds.
She has been trying to shake a flu that ruined her Thanksgiving dinner and led to a poor statistical performance in a 60-41 win over Utah on Friday.
"I feel better than Friday but I don't think I'm 100 percent yet," Appel said. "I have been sleeping as much as possible and trying to push through it, give it as much as I could."
She still shot 50 percent from the field to help record the 35th double-double of her career. She's the Pac-10 active leader in points, rebounds and double-doubles.
Even with the 6-4 senior All-American center not quite right, the Cardinal has potent weapons in the 6-4 Pedersen and the 6-2 Ogwumike.
"They're not just big, they're skilled," Gonzaga coach Kelly Graves said. "They had it going in and out. That's a heck of a team. With Kayla at the 3, that's an impressive presence."
Janelle Bekkering scored 16 points for the Zags (4-2), who had their four-game winning streak end. Heather Bowman and Katelan Redmon each had 15 and Courtney Vandersloot added 10 points and 12 assists.
"This kind of game gets our feet wet against an opponent with such a national ranking," Vandersloot said. "They can score in different ways."
Stanford, which never lost the lead, held a 59-38 advantage at halftime. It was the first meeting between the schools.
"We have to play inspired or it will be hard for us to get where we want to go," Ogwumike said. "Coach tells us we have to play like non can stop us. With that collective attitude it's helpful. It's mental rather than physical for getting us on top of it."
Gonzaga, favored to repeat as the West Coast Conference champion, beat USC and Washington among its early-season win streak.
Stanford opened a 30-point lead with 11:31 left in the game on a Pedersen basket.
"We're glad no matter who has the big game," said Pedersen, who became the 30th Stanford player to each 1,000 career points. "A great pass is just as exciting as a 3-pointer. We get pumped up for each other."
Redmon played against Stanford two years ago as a freshman starter with the Huskies.
The Cardinal used an 18-5 run in the first seven minutes of the contest to pull ahead 24-9.
Stanford made its first eight shots, and was 17-of-18 from the foul line, to grab the early advantage. Ogwumike and Pedersen combined for 37 of the Cardinal's 59 first-half points.
Ogwumike nearly had her double-double in the first half with nine rebounds and 19 points.
Lavender leads No. 3 Buckeyes past No. 22 Cal
COLUMBUS, Ohio — California coach Joanne Boyle called it the "Sammy and Jantel Show," and the curtain went up just when No. 3 Ohio State got into trouble.
Lavender broke out of a shooting lump to score 11 points during a big second-half surge, and the Buckeyes beat No. 22 California 83-71 on Sunday in the finals of the Buckeye Classic.
Prahalis had four of her career-high 14 assists during the run and also started it out with a driving layup.
"I'm always confident in my team," Prahalis said. "I knew we were about to make a run soon. We wanted to make something happen. Jantel was hot, so I just kept feeding her."
After hitting 5 of 15 shots in the semifinals, Lavender made all four of her field goals and both free throws as the Buckeyes (8-0) used a 15-0 run to take a 60-47 lead.
"They were really leaning on my left shoulder," said Lavender, who finished with 33 points and 14 rebounds. "They left (the right side) wide open. That was an advantage I had."
California (3-2), which lost to its second top-10 team in eight days, was led by Alexis Gray-Lawson's 25 points. DeNesha Stallworth added 13 points and Gennifer Brandon 12.
Prahalis had 14 points to go with her 14 assists, while Sarah Schulze scored 15 points, all on 3-pointers.
But when the Buckeyes fell behind for the first time, they went to their top two players.
"It's not that you have to play a perfect game, but you've got to play close to perfect," Cal coach Joanne Boyle said. "They know their identity. Eventually it's going to become the 'Sammy and Jantel Show' and that's what it became for a while."
Gray-Lawson came away impressed with Prahalis' free-styling play. She frequently makes no-look or behind-the-back passes, and likes nothing more than to streak toward the rim and put her slight, 5-foot-7 frame in jeopardy.
"She brings a different element to the game," Gray-Lawson said. "You only see guys that are that flashy."
Lavender was selected the tournament's MVP. In the title game, she hit 11 of 22 shots from the field and 11 of 12 free throws. Prahalis joined her on the all-tournament team.
With the Bears ahead 47-45 — their only lead of the game — Prahalis slashed through the lane to hit a tying layup at the 17:33 mark. Cal missed its first shot and then had six consecutive turnovers while the Buckeyes, and especially Lavender, took over.
Lavender hit a stepback 12-foot jumper along the left baseline to give Ohio State a lead it would not relinquish, then took a Prahalis pass and hit a jumper from the elbow. After she made two free throws, guard Shavelle Little muscled inside against the Bears' tall and young frontcourt for an offensive rebound and put it in for a 55-47 lead.
With Cal continuing to have problems with Ohio State's defensive pressure at the other end, Lavender then hit another stepback jumper and was fouled, hitting the free throw. She closed the run with a basket inside.
"They just know their strength and they went to them," Boyle said. "We struggled to score because we were turning the ball over. That just gave them easy looks and gave them momentum."
After the Ohio State spurt, the Bears never got closer than 11 points.
The games were played at aging St. John Arena because Value City Arena wasn't available.
Foster was pleased that the tight game could be added to the Buckeyes' resume. Rather than hand-pick weak opponents for Ohio State's tournament, he prefers difficult games.
"I look at this as an away game," he said. "The only thing similar to a home game is we sleep in our own beds. Our home is Value City Arena; that's where we practice and play our games. Putting us in this environment against a good team is something that is going to prepare us for what's ahead."
-- Rusty Miller
No. 4 NCarolina tops Charleston Southern 76-67
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina coach Sylvia Hatchell issued a challenge to her team at halftime to get more rebounds. The Tar Heels grabbed just enough of them in the second half to avoid an early wakeup call.
Tierra Ruffin-Pratt scored a career-high 16 points to help No. 4 North Carolina defeat Charleston Southern 76-67 on Sunday. The Tar Heels, who were outrebounded 28-27 in the first half, finished with a 46-43 advantage on the boards.
"I told them that if they got outrebounded, we were going to have rebounding practice at 6 o'clock tomorrow morning," Hatchell said. "They won that by three, so I keep my word. As much as I'd love to do a rebounding practice at 6 o'clock in the morning, I'll keep my word. But at 1:30, we'll do the same thing."
Laura Broomfield scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for the Tar Heels (5-0), who shot 50 percent from the field. Waltiea Rolle added 10 points for North Carolina.
The Tar Heels survived a long-range onslaught from Charleston Southern (3-3), which entered the game averaging nearly 29 3-point attempts per game.
Kelsey Wasmer scored 19 points and Katie Tull added 18 points for the Buccaneers, who made 17 of 48 3-point attempts. Both figures are the highest ever by a North Carolina opponent. The Buccaneers lost their previous seven games against North Carolina by at least 35 points.
"We don't normally shoot 48 (3-pointers)," Charleston Southern coach Julie Goodenough said. "But just running the game back through my mind, I think there were probably about five ill-advised 3s that we took. Other than that, I would have given them the green light to take the ones that they did. That's a big part of our game."
The Buccaneers were 4 for 23 on 2-point shots. But their 3-point shots, even the ones they missed, kept them in the game.
Long bounces off the rim helped Charleston Southern grab 24 offensive rebounds, seven more than the taller Tar Heels. On some occasions, North Carolina players knocked the ball out of bounds while battling each other for a rebound.
"A lot of times we were taking it from each other," Broomfield said. "Our heart and our intensity were there. We just have to learn how to communicate and not take the ball from each other."
North Carolina led 46-36 at halftime after pulling away in the middle of the first half. The Tar Heels used a 14-1 run to take a 37-22 lead with 7:03 remaining in the half, holding the Buccaneers without a field goal for more than six minutes.
The Tar Heels moved ahead 65-43 after a 15-1 run early in the second half. The Buccaneers responded with an 11-0 spurt of their own, but they never trailed by fewer than nine points the rest of the way.
"We hadn't played a team like this," Hatchell said. "This was probably good for us."
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