College Basketball Capsules: No. 2 Villanova wins 11th straight

VILLANOVA, Pa. — Scottie Reynolds listed all the milestones that has teams coming hard at Villanova even before it landed at No. 2 in the Top 25. A Final Four. Big East favorites. Perfect conference start.

So as mediocre Seton Hall played like an NCAA bid was at stake, Reynolds and the Wildcats knew it was best to stay patient, wait to take charge and get the "W."

"We know guys are going to bring it," Reynolds said. "We have a lot of reasons why people should come at us."

No one in the Big East can figure out how to beat them.

Corey Stokes hit two 3-pointers during the decisive run and scored all 11 of his points in the second half, helping the Wildcats hold off a serious scare from Seton Hall in an 81-71 victory Tuesday night.

Stokes was a non-factor for the Wildcats (20-1, 9-0 Big East) until he broke a tie with a 3. He quickly followed with another 3-pointer for a long-range start to an 11-0 run that helped put the game away and extended Villanova’s winning streak to 11 straight games.

"At some point in each game, there’s going to be a combination that fits against that opponent," Villanova coach Jay Wright said.

Playing with their highest ranking since they were No. 2 for two weeks in February 2006, the Wildcats could not make a serious run against Seton Hall until late.

"We can’t expect to come in and blow teams out in this league," Wright said.

Jeremy Hazell kept thoughts of a second Top-10 Big East upset alive, scoring 32 points on 12 of 23 shooting for the Pirates (12-8, 3-6), who were outrebounded 50-31.

Seton Hall beat then-No. 9 Pittsburgh 64-61 on Jan. 24, but the Pirates failed to build on that marquee win, losing by two points in overtime at South Florida.

Hazell made the idea of another stunner seem realistic with the way he was shooting the 3. He made six of them, but it was his layup that helped the Pirates erase a halftime deficit and grab a 58-56 lead.

At that point, the Pirates had made 23 of 46 shots from the field. They made 6 of 21 the rest of the way, costing them what would have been a monumental win for the program.

Seton Hall is 0-28 against teams ranked Nos. 1-3 The Associated Press poll.

Hazell, the only Pirate to finish in double figures, did not play the final 4 minutes of the game. Coach Bobby Gonzalez was unhappy with Hazell’s attempt to make a solo attempt at taking over the game.

"You just can’t all of a sudden go 1-on-5, put your head down and expect the refs to bail you out," he said. "You can’t come down every time and take big double-clutch shots. You don’t get points for degree of difficulty. It was a chance for me to be a leader and try and teach him something."

The 10-deep Wildcats got some kind of production out of every player. Antonio Pena scored 16 points, Reynolds had 15 and Corey Fisher 12. Six players had at least five rebounds and 10 scored. Those are the kind of numbers usually seen in blowouts, not a 10-point win that was tight for all but the final few minutes.

"It wasn’t anything that was dominating," Wright said. "It was just good, sound basketball. I really like that."

Reynolds became the eighth Villanova player to score 2,000 points. He scored a beautiful finger roll for a 60-58 lead, then dished a sweet cross-lane pass to Fisher on the break for a 62-58 lead.

The Wildcats are the only Big East team unbeaten in conference play. That mark is in serious jeopardy over the next week. The Big East favorites play at No. 7 Georgetown on Saturday and at No. 6 West Virginia on Feb. 8.

The Wildcats have 20 wins for the sixth straight season and this is the fastest they’ve reached that mark.

Villanova is so deep that it led by seven at halftime even with Stokes missing the only shot he took. He hit three 3s in the second half and suddenly that first half whitewash meant nothing. Not when so many different players are scoring.

"We just live for the moments where we can just push through and open up a game," Reynolds said. "We really take pride in that. I think that started going into my junior year. If we have a chance to just close it out, go to another level, we feel like we don’t know if we can do it but we do it anyway, it just makes it that much special."

Hall of Famer and former Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. had a front-row seat for Villanova’s 36th straight win at its on-campus home, the Pavilion.

Gonzalez wished the game was played on a neutral court because of the difficulty of winning at Villanova.

"It’s not impossible, but it’s not something that happens very often either," he said.

No. 4 Kentucky eases by No. 25 Ole Miss 85-75

LEXINGTON, Ky. — John Wall raised his arms, waited for the long pass from teammate Eric Bledsoe then rose up for a vicious dunk.

The heralded Kentucky freshman screamed as he landed, then added a sly little smile before racing back on defense.

Turns out all Wall needed to break out of his funk was a couple of dunks and perhaps his best all-around game in weeks.

Wall finished with 17 points and seven assists in 36 steady minutes to lead the fourth-ranked Wildcats to an 85-75 victory over No. 25 Mississippi on Tuesday night, putting to rest for good rumors of a rift with coach John Calipari by playing with the ease he showcased early in the season.

"It felt great to have the fun back," Wall said.

Wall certainly looked like he was having a good time as Kentucky (21-1, 6-1 Southeastern Conference) built an early double-digit lead then held off a handful of runs by the Rebels (16-6, 4-4).

DeMarcus Cousins posted his fifth straight double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, Darnell Dodson added 14 points and Patrick Patterson had 12 points and six boards for the Wildcats.

Yet all eyes — including more than 20 NBA scouts and a handful of general managers — were on Wall. While the scouts were looking at his play, the rest of the crowd at a packed Rupp Arena was a little more focused on his demeanor, including his coach.

Wall created a small furor over the weekend when he told reporters he "wasn’t having any fun" and hinted at frustration with Calipari’s criticism of his play during a loss to South Carolina last week.

During a private chat, Calipari reminded the talented freshman point guard that he’s hardly the only phenom to struggle. Calipari urged Wall to stop worrying about trying to compete with his own hype and try to focus on simply enjoying himself.

Wall found his happiness while finding his teammates.

"I like to make plays, get the crowd into it," Wall said. "I still have a lot of work to do. I just want to be the floor general. This is the best I’ve done running the team this year."

It was certainly better than he’s shown in recent weeks. After a scintillating start to the season in which he became a media darling, Wall’s numbers have tailed off recently.

He came in averaging 16.2 points on 39 percent shooting in SEC play, hardly terrible but not exactly up to the ridiculously high standards Wall had set for himself.

Wall wasn’t perfect against the Rebels, turning it over four times, but he showed a knack for controlling the tempo. He pushed the pace when necessary but also smartly backed off the throttle when the situation called for it.

"He talked to his teammates, got everybody involved," Calipari said.

Terrico White led Mississippi with 19 points and Chris Warren added 15 but the Rebels missed freshman big man Reginald Buckner, who sat out his second straight game with a sprained ankle.

Mississippi certainly could have used Buckner’s presence. Kentucky shot 50 percent from the field and outscored the Rebels 44-30 in the paint.

"Kentucky is too good to give them free points," Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy said. "It was very, very difficult. We wanted to confuse them and slow them down a little bit."

Wall and company didn’t give the Rebels a chance.

Kentucky used an early 15-0 burst to build a 27-9 lead. Mississippi recovered behind White and Eniel Polynice, pulling within 46-37 at halftime. Calipari felt the lead should have been larger, but 11 turnovers allowed the Rebels to hang around.

"There were some gaps, some turnovers we had, some lackadaisical plays," Calipari said.

Still, the Wildcats were more than enough for the Rebels.

Dodson hit two 3-pointers early in the second half to help Kentucky extend the lead to 58-41, though Mississippi managed one last burst, pulling within 60-57 on a basket by White with 13:55 to play.

Yet the Wildcats were undaunted, doing something that’s been one of their few problems this season: finishing strong.

Cousins started Kentucky’s game-clinching 11-2 run with a putback. Darius Miller then knocked down a 3-pointer before Cousins took a charge. Patterson nailed a 3-pointer then added a three-point play as the Wildcats went back in front 71-59.

"I thought we were going to come back and make a run but we didn’t have enough firepower to make the run," Polynice said. "They’re a good team and they just outworked us tonight."

Mississippi never got back within single digits, and Wall capped his night with a 3-pointer to put Kentucky up 80-62 with 4:05 remaining.

He walked off the court to a standing ovation, and received another one when he came back onto the court for a postgame radio appearance as the crowd exhaled with Kentucky’s star apparently back in his coach’s good graces.

"It feels good and hopefully all the other stuff will go away," Wall said. "But I am back to having fun and winning games."

— Will Graves

No. 3 Syracuse humbles Providence 85-68

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Kris Joseph likes his time on the Syracuse bench, even though it’s beginning to get briefer as the season moves along.

Joseph, the Orange’s standout reserve, had a career-high 23 points and Arinze Onuaku added a season-high 20 as No. 3 Syracuse beat Providence 85-68 on Tuesday night.

"The main thing for me was doing what I do, which is being aggressive off the bench when the team needs a spark," said Joseph, who has averaged 33 minutes over the past four games after playing just 22 at Notre Dame. "That’s what I’ve been doing all year. That’s something I don’t want to stop doing."

In the Orange’s previous three games, Joseph averaged 14.6 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.3 assists, going 15 of 29 from the field. Against the Friars, he was 9 of 11 and contributed four steals, combining with Onuaku to score 20 of Syracuse’s first 26 points.

Syracuse (22-1, 9-1 Big East) has won nine straight and is off to the best start in school history. The Orange were 21-1 in 1979-80, but they had never won 22 of their first 23 games to begin a season.

"We’ll go down in (school) history for this," said Wes Johnson, who sat out most of the second half after a hard fall. "It’s a good feeling."

It was the second game of an eight-game span in which the Friars (12-10, 4-6) will face six ranked teams. They beat then-No. 19 Connecticut 81-66 last week to knock the Huskies out of the national rankings but couldn’t cope with Syracuse’s inside strength.

The Orange repeatedly pounded the ball inside to Onuaku, who was 10 of 12 from the field and had half of Syracuse’s eight blocks.

"I thought Arinze was really active out there," Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. "He was the most active he’s been all year. Offensively, we played very well in the second half. Defensively, I thought we did a good job for most of the game."

Syracuse broke open a three-point game with a 22-7 spurt to start the second half, and they did it without Johnson, the team’s leading scorer. He crashed hard to the court when fouled by Brian McKenzie while trying to convert a lob midway through the first half. Johnson remained down for less than a minute, finished the half, but played only three minutes in the second.

He was barely missed.

"It just shows that they’re deep," Providence coach Keno Davis said. "They’ve got so many guys that can have big games against you. And then their defense. They force you outside. They really understand their defense and they’re pretty physical when you try to rebound. It’s just a deep, physical, talented team."

After blowing most of a 10-point, first-half lead, Syracuse broke open a three-point game with a 22-7 spurt to start the second half. Onuaku started it with a resounding two-hand dunk, Brandon Triche followed with a pullup 3-pointer after a Providence turnover, and Onuaku’s tip-in gave the Orange a 44-34 lead with 18:35 to play.

"That was the goal, to dominate inside," the 6-foot-9, 260-pound Onuaku said. "When you get early touches, that gets you going. That’s always good."

With Johnson watching from the bench where Joseph starts every game, Joseph took over. His three-point play and follow on consecutive possessions boosted the lead to 64-41 with 11:24 left.

"The game was close coming into the second half," said Onuaku’s partner in the post, 6-9, 240-pound Rick Jackson, who finished with a career-high seven assists. "Coach wasn’t pleased with the first half, came in and talked to us, and we just came out how we should have come out in the first half. We came out ready to play, picked it up and took a big lead."

Triche finished with 15 points and four assists without a turnover.

Jamine Peterson led Providence with 25 points, freshman Vincent Council had 16 and Marshon Brooks 14.

Providence, which entered the game ranked fifth in the nation in scoring at 83.2 points per game, shot 43.1 percent and was 6 of 21 from beyond the arc in barely beating its season low of 63 points.

The teams meet again in three weeks.

"They’re a pretty good ballclub," Peterson said. "We play them again at home, so hopefully we get to get them back."

— John Kekis

Bohannon scores 19, Wisconsin tops Michigan State

MADISON, Wis. — With Trevon Hughes sitting on the bench in foul trouble and forward Jon Leuer out indefinitely with a broken wrist, Jordan Taylor filled another big role for No. 16 Wisconsin.

Taylor scored 17 points and Jason Bohannon added 19 to lead Wisconsin to a 67-49 victory over No. 5 Michigan State on Tuesday night, snapping a perfect Big Ten start for the Spartans, who lost leading scorer Kalin Lucas to an ankle injury midway through the second half.

"That’s part of our program, part of Coach’s philosophy," Taylor said. "If (Trevon) and Jon are out, you’ve got to go with what’s next and somebody’s got to step up and make plays. We try and stay aggressive and try and make something happen."

Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan, who improved to 21-7 at home against Top 25 teams in his nine seasons, said he has never judged players on their size. Good thing, because Leuer has at least 9 inches on Taylor, depending on who is asked.

"I always say (Taylor’s) 5-10. He gets mad, he says, ‘Coach, I’m 6-1.’ We replaced a 6-10 with a 5-10 in his stocking feet," Ryan said. "He’s just smart, he just finds ways to get things done. And he cares, he cares about the ball and he cares about game. Whenever you take care of the ball, you’re respecting the game."

Wisconsin committed just five turnovers, four less than their NCAA lowest average of 9.4, and Wisconsin (17-5, 7-3) won its third game over a team ranked sixth or better this season and its 18th straight at the Kohl Center.

Michigan State had 13 turnovers.

"That’s 13 times they’re not getting a shot at the basket and only five for us, so that could be 16 to 24 points that we’re getting extra from them," Taylor said. "You just try and make the right decision."

Michigan State (19-4, 9-1) may have lost a lot more than its strong start after Lucas, last season’s Big Ten player of the year, came down awkwardly on the foot of Wisconsin’s Keaton Nankivil in the second half and injured his right ankle.

"When it first happened, it was hurting a lot, but I still don’t know what’s wrong with it right now," Lucas said. "I think it’s just a sprain to the ankle, I’ll know tomorrow."

Lucas did not return, finishing with seven points to snap a string of 33 consecutive games in double figures.

"He’s limping bad," Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. "It’s not a good sprain, but it’s not broke or anything like that — at least it doesn’t seem to be. I think the issue is whether he’s a fast healer or not."

Wisconsin clicked from the beginning, getting big contributions from Nankivil and Rob Wilson. Taylor started by scoring 10 of Wisconsin’s first 13 points and later helped seal it with a 3-pointer to push the lead to 58-42 with 6 minutes to play.

The Spartans, who haven’t won in Madison since 2001, started flat before losing their floor leader. After Lucas left, Wisconsin went on a 10-2 run to seal the game. Meanwhile, Michigan State, which got 11 points from Durrell Summers, missed seven straight shots down the stretch, going more than 6½ minutes without a basket.

"For the most part that was an old-fashioned whoopin’," Izzo said.

The Spartans had been off to their best conference start ever and seemed poised to run away with another regular-season Big Ten title with four weeks of league play left. But Wisconsin dominated from the tip, trailing only 1-0 before scoring nine straight points. The Spartans never got closer than eight points in the second half.

"When Lucas went down, it really compounded problems," Izzo said. "Wisconsin played awfully well, as good as I’ve seen them play all year."

Michigan State tried to push the tempo early despite winning the first meeting 54-47 on Jan. 6, but it backfired and Izzo said he didn’t prepare his team well. Michigan State’s players said they felt a loss coming.

"I think we all did," guard Korie Lucious said. "In practice, we just haven’t been bringing it like we should have, we haven’t had the energy like we should have and Coach has been telling us that for the last couple days."

With the victory, Wisconsin joined No. 3 Syracuse as the only teams with three wins over Top 10 opponents this season, and Taylor said Ryan has helped put him and the rest of the Badgers in the right position, even if the wily old coach can’t judge height.

"That’s about the only thing," Taylor said. "For the record, I’m 6-1 with shoes on."

— Colin Fly

Women's Top 25

UConn tops West Virginia for 61st straight win

HARTFORD, Conn. — For 25 minutes, West Virginia hung with top-ranked Connecticut.

Then like they have during nearly every other game during the 61-game winning streak, the Huskies took over.

Kalana Greene scored 18 points and UConn (22-0, 9-0 Big East) shot 68 percent from the field in the second half to beat the 11th-ranked Mountaineers 80-47 on Tuesday night. Freshman Kelly Faris got the Huskies off and running when she made a steal and converted a three-point play early in the second half.

"That play in front of our bench kind of energized everybody," Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma said. "It was a great steal and to get the layup and get fouled and make the free throw it was a huge lift."

It came during a 24-3 run by the Huskies that put the game away.

"The place erupted and we erupted after that steal and never looked back from there," said Maya Moore, who added 15 points and a season-high 14 rebounds.

The victory left UConn only nine wins short of the NCAA and school record of 70 straight wins. The Huskies are on pace to equal that mark in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament and break it in the semis.

Sarah Miles scored 14 points and Liz Repella added 13 for West Virginia (20-3, 7-2), which matched its highest ranking ever this week. The Mountaineers have only beaten Connecticut once in 22 tries and that came back in 1982 before Auriemma was at the helm of the Huskies.

"We got a lot of work to do," West Virginia coach Mike Carey said. "If we’re going to be a top 10 program or a pretender we have to come right back against Providence. We got to go in there and play hard and try to get a win at Providence."

UConn had been dominating conference play winning by an average of nearly 39 points a game with virtually every Big East game decided at the half. This was only the third time in the last two years that a conference team was within single digits at the half.

West Virginia did its best to stay with the top-ranked team. The Mountaineers slowed the game down, walking the ball up the court and taking time off the shot clock and found themselves only down 32-24 at the break.

"You got to come with it for 40 minutes," Carey said. "They play hard for 40 minutes. First letdown you have they are up 10 or 15."

It was UConn’s lowest-scoring first half of the season and just the third time that it didn’t have a double-digit lead by the half.

The Huskies seemed out of sorts on offense. They made terrific backdoor cuts for wide open layups, but missed them. They also turned the ball over an uncharacteristic 10 times.

Even when UConn built a 28-15 lead midway through the period, West Virginia didn’t get rattled, scoring the next seven points to stay in the game.

That all changed in the second half as Greene, Moore, and Tina Charles took over. Leading 36-29 after Miles’ layup with 17:08 left in the game, UConn scored 24 of the next 27 points, including seven straight by Charles. Greene also had six points during the spurt with a three-point play and a 3-pointer. Faris capped it off with a basket that made it 60-32 midway through the period.

Auriemma shook up his lineup in the second half, starting Faris in place of Caroline Doty. The freshman provided a huge spark scoring nine points.

"Kelly’s been playing great," Auriemma said. "She’s been really good the last couple of weeks."

The victory came a night after Connecticut extended its streak at No. 1 in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll to a record 37th straight week, surpassing Louisiana Tech (1980-82) for the longest run atop the Top 25.

The Huskies, who started their current streak at No. 1 in the poll on Feb. 18, 2008, next play at Louisville on Sunday in a rematch of last season’s national championship game.

While the Huskies have continued their dominance, the Cardinals have struggled this season.

Connecticut honored Charles before the game as Auriemma gave her a ball to commemorate the senior becoming the sixth Huskies player to reach 2,000 points. She did it against Pittsburgh on Saturday. Charles, who finished with 14 points and six blocks on Tuesday night, gave her coach a hug and then threw the ball to her mom in the stands.

-- Doug Feinberg

Georgetown tops St. John’s

WASHINGTON — Sugar Rodgers scored 15 of her game-high 17 points in the first half and No. 18 Georgetown nearly let an early 18-point lead slip away before pulling away late for a 67-57 win over No. 25 St. John’s on Tuesday night.

The Hoyas (19-3, 8-1 Big East) raced out to a 37-21 halftime lead, but the Red Storm opened the second half on a 15-4 run and pulled within three at 48-45 with over nine minutes remaining. Led by Monica McNutt and Jaleesa Butler, the Hoyas countered with 15 straight points to go back up by 18 points.

McNutt scored 15 points, Butler scored 13 points and Latia MaGee added 12 points for the Hoyas, who have won 18 of 19 games after a 1-2 start to the season.

The Red Storm (18-4, 6-3), ranked for the first time since the 2005-06 season, had their five-game winning streak snapped.

Eugeneia McPherson finished with 14 points, Kelly McManmon scored 12 and Shenneika Smith scored 10 points for the Red Storm.

This was the first game between two ranked teams at McDonough Arena since the 1981-82 season when the No. 13 Georgetown men defeated No. 4 Missouri 63-51.

Men's News & Notes

Rowdy West Virginia student section under fire

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The profanity flying out of the West Virginia student section was so loud it could be heard on national television, prompting a university official to warn students to tone down their language at basketball games.

They obliged one week later — technically — during a game against Louisville. But on 10 separate occasions students chanted the name of a woman that Cardinals coach Rick Pitino admitted having sex with outside his marriage.

Members of the Mountaineer Maniacs aren’t planning to be much better behaved, at least until after No. 6 West Virginia (17-3, 6-2 Big East) plays No. 22 Pittsburgh (16-5, 6-3) at home on Wednesday night.

Jonathan Kimble, a sports management major at WVU who attends games in the student section, said he and his fellow Maniacs will tone it down a bit later but Pitt is an exception.

"Pitt is our rival so we’ll probably be using a lot of colorful words against them," Kimble said.

The level of heckling and boorish antics at college venues is as diverse as team colors. And the tolerance for such rowdiness varies from place to place, too.

In December, North Carolina coach Roy Williams ordered security to toss out a Presbyterian College fan who sarcastically shouted at a Tar Heel player not to miss a free throw.

Ken Gray, WVU’s vice president for student affairs, said obscenities aimed at Ohio State on Jan. 23 could be heard across the land. So he e-mailed students a few days later urging them to stop the behavior and handle themselves with "sportsmanship, class and character."

At Saturday’s game against Louisville, several dozen members of the Mountaineer Maniacs, the largest student group on campus and part of the Student Government Association, wore T-shirts resembling tuxedos in a mockful play on showing class. Coach Bob Huggins went into the student section before the game to encourage fans to be respectful.

"He knows how passionate we are," said WVU freshman Chris Northrup. "And he doesn’t want us to tone any of that down. But he just wants us to keep the f-bombs off TV."

Then came the repeated chant of Karen Sypher’s name at Pitino, the result of a note circulated among the student section before the game. Last year Pitino admitted having a consensual sexual encounter with Sypher in 2003.

During one of the chants, which occurred during a timeout, Huggins motioned toward the students to quiet down.

"It’s wrong that a school organization is encouraging this type of behavior," said WVU student John Terry. "I can understand if it happens, but students shouldn’t be encouraged to personally attack an individual. That is just plain wrong."

A headline to an editorial in WVU’s student paper, The Athenaeum, read, "Maybe Pitino deserved it: That’s still no excuse."

"It wasn’t just playful fun to get into an opponent’s head," the editorial said. "It was meant to hurt and to punish, which goes beyond what anyone would consider reasonable."

The issues at West Virginia started Jan. 16 against Syracuse when fans threw items onto the court. One Syracuse blogger urged fans for the upcoming Georgetown game to refrain from littering the court: "Let’s stay classy. We’re not West Virginia fans, right?"

Gray said he’s planning to send another letter to students this week. The game isn’t on national TV, but Gray is suggesting fans depart from a certain three-word phrase they use every time the Panthers come to town.

"We would encourage them to be more creative and work on not doing those things that really embarrass and disappoint not only us, but the coaches, the players and other students and fans," Gray said.

WVU has seen its image take a hit from time to time.

Visiting football teams have worn their helmets coming out of the tunnel knowing that they’re in a flying object zone. A Miami assistant coach was hit in the head with a trash can from the stands after a 1996 game in Morgantown settled a lawsuit with the university.

The 2008 film "The Express" about Syracuse star Ernie Davis depicted West Virginia fans shouting racial slurs and throwing trash at Davis and other players during the 1959 season, even though Syracuse didn’t play at Morgantown that year. Veterans from both teams say the incident never happened.

There have been positive moments, too. Three months ago, West Virginia earned widespread praise for its fans’ outpouring of support toward Connecticut’s football team at a game following the shooting death of Huskies player Jasper Howard.

Now some are concerned that fans in the basketball arena are going too far.

Student body president Jason Zuccari regularly attends home games. He said fans should balance the intensity required to make West Virginia a tough place to play with the need not to ridicule opponents.

"We realize we’ve got to keep it clean," Zuccari said.

-- John Raby

No. 13 Ohio State mirrors ‘07 team in toughness

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Thad Matta has coached two Ohio State teams to Big Ten championships in his five full seasons on campus.

The one closest to his heart might not be the one you’d think.

The 2006-2007 squad with one-then-done, first-round NBA picks Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook that made it to the NCAA championship game? Wrong.

Rather, it was his team the year before, which featured a motley collection of role players that found a way to go 26-6.

"That team my second year here might have been my all-time favorite team," Matta said Tuesday. "Just from where they were projected and what they were able to get accomplished."

There are parallels between that team, which featured Big Ten MVP Terence Dials, and the current Buckeyes (16-6, 6-3), who have made a remarkable turnaround.

Even before the 2005-2006 season got started, everyone was talking about the recruiting bumper crop coming in the next season, which included the 7-foot Oden and the rest. Almost no one paid any attention to that year’s team.

"(They) had a little bit of an ax to grind and something to prove," Matta said.

Already people are talking about Matta’s glittering recruiting class coming in next season, which includes Ohio Mr. Basketball Jared Sullinger (J.J.’s little, 6-foot-9 brother) and 6-7 J.D. Weatherspoon from the nation’s No. 1 ranked team, Columbus Northland High School, along with Indiana scoring machine Deshaun Thomas (averaging more than 30 points a game). Maybe this year’s Buckeyes feel similarly slighted.

They already have overcome a lot. They lost three of their first four Big Ten games and were trying to figure out their roles after losing standout Evan Turner for more than a month.

Now they have won five conference games in a row, have climbed to No. 13 in The Associated Press poll three weeks after not getting a single vote and suddenly find themselves tied for second in the conference.

"In the toughness department, I think this team is probably more efficient than that team was offensively," said Matta, who made it clear that the team four years ago might have had more of an edge but less talent.

Turner, getting some attention as a possible national player of the year, missed 4 1/2 weeks with two broken bones in his lower back. It took time after he returned on Jan. 6 for the Buckeyes to get a feel for who they are and what they needed to do. Since then, they have been fast learners.

The Buckeyes haven’t given up on winning a conference title, even though they trail Big Ten leader Michigan State by three games heading into the second half of the league schedule.

"That’s what we talked about at the beginning of the season; that’s what we want to do," said starting forward David Lighty, the only current Buckeye who played on the NCAA runner-up three years ago. "There’s not too many of us on the team with a ring. Like Evan preached before the season started, we don’t want to come to Ohio State and leave without leaving our mark, with someone saying, ‘They were a pretty good team but really, what did they do?"’

Ohio State plays second-division Big Ten teams with a combined conference record of 5-21 in its next three games. If the Buckeyes continue to play the way they have, they should be close to Matta’s 10th 20-win season in his 10 years as a head coach at Butler, Xavier and OSU.

Penn State, which the Buckeyes welcome on Wednesday night, is the hard-luck story of the conference this season. Despite the efforts of elite shooting guard Talor Battle, the Nittany Lions (8-13, 0-9) have lost at Illinois by a point, at Minnesota by five, at Iowa by three and against Wisconsin in overtime. In each of those games, the Nittany Lions led late.

The Buckeyes, who are 13-0 at home — where they are shooting 54 percent from the field — have noted how Penn State has had teams on the ropes.

"We can’t take them lightly," said big man Dallas Lauderdale, who is 39 of 47 (82.9 percent) from the field at Value City Arena. "We can’t take any possessions off."

Because a tough team wouldn’t.

-- Rusty Miller

Brey sends wake-up call for slumping Notre Dame

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame coach Mike Brey sent the Fighting Irish a wake-up call Tuesday.

Brey called an 8 a.m. practice, in addition to the usual afternoon practice, to try to get his players’ attention after an embarrassing 74-73 loss at Rutgers, which had been winless in Big East play.

"That one really stings. No question about it," Brey said.

The loss was the fourth in the last five games for the Irish, so Brey wanted to send a message.

"Sometimes you just have to change the routine up," Brey said. "You get into the dog days and the routine of things. I think it creates a sense of urgency and gives you a chance to work on things."

Brey did the same thing last season after the Irish dropped seven straight, capped by an 89-63 loss at UCLA. The Irish responded then to Brey’s morning practice with their best game of the season, a surprising 90-57 win over fifth-ranked Louisville.

Luke Harangody, Notre Dame’s leading scorer and rebounder, said the intensity at practice was up.

"We’re starting to challenge each other," he said. "I think you have to get into each other a little bit. Feelings may be hurt here and there, but it’s best for the team."

Brey believes the Irish have to be mentally tougher, particularly on the road, where they are 1-4 this season and have lost 12 of their last 14 road games over the past two seasons.

The Irish (15-7, 4-5 Big East) don’t look like an NCAA team midway through the Big East season. They have a win over sixth-ranked West Virginia (17-3) and the loss to Rutgers (10-11, 1-8) as well as an earlier disappointing loss at home in nonconference play to Loyola Marymount (11-12).

Brey believes the Irish can at least be in the NCAA discussion if they win five of their last nine.

"It’s going to come down to who you beat. Certainly we have a nice one in West Virginia, but you’re going to need more than that," he said.

Among the big games left for the Irish are back-to-back games at home against No. 22 Pittsburgh (16-5) and at No. 7 Georgetown (16-4) in late February. The Irish will attempt to begin turning things around Thursday when they host Cincinnati (14-7, 5-4), which beat Notre Dame 60-58 on Jan. 16.

The Irish struggled up front in that game against Cincinnati’s size. Harangody was 5-of-20 shooting and starting forward Ty Nash didn’t have a shot or a rebound and fouled out in just 13 minutes. The Irish were outrebounded 50-31 by the Bearcats.

Harangody said that can’t happen again.

"We have to make a statement early on the boards," he said.

Point guard Tory Jackson said the Irish have to outwork their opponents.

"We have to outfight teams. We’re not the tallest group. We’re not the most athletic group," he said. "We have to be able to fight and not lay down or back off."

-- Tom Coyne

Weak Pac-10 may find NCAA tourney bids scarce

Midway through the Pac-10 season, only two games separate the top nine teams.

The balance makes the league unpredictable and interesting to watch. But it may mean bad news when the NCAA selects its tournament bracket, because no one has emerged from the mire of mediocrity.

"It’s probably the worst-case scenario for the NCAA," said California coach Mike Montgomery, whose team shares the lead with Arizona.

There is, as coaches like to say, a lot of hoops to be played. But RPI guru Jerry Palm thinks Montgomery is "absolutely right."

In an Internet projection, Palm has only one Pac-10 team — Cal — in his bracket.

"Nobody is taking control of the league in conference (play), and without that, this could be a one-bid league," said Palm, editor of CollegeRPI.com.

The Pac-10’s automatic NCAA berth goes to the winner of its conference tournament, which will be staged March 10-13 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Only nine teams will compete; Southern California has declared itself ineligible for postseason play as part of the self-imposed sanctions for violating NCAA rules involving former player O.J. Mayo.

The Pac-10 has never drawn fewer than two bids since the NCAA tourney expanded to 64 teams in 1985. But that could change next month.

With few notable nonconference victories, the league did little to earn respect in the fall semester. The latest RPIs are discouraging for a conference whose image has been taking a beating since before Thanksgiving.

The Golden Bears are the league’s highest-ranked team in this week’s RPIs, at No. 24. The Wildcats are next, at No. 53.

Five Pac-10 squads are ranked at No. 100 or lower, including longtime powerhouse UCLA. The Bruins check in at No. 126 — one rung above Long Beach State, which defeated UCLA by 11 points.

The bottom line: Pac-10 teams receive little credit for beating each other.

"I just think the league is better than people want to give it credit for," Montgomery said after the Golden Bears’ 76-72 loss at Arizona on Sunday.

"To be very honest, there’s several teams that, if they finish up top, it’s going to hurt everybody because of the way it’s going to be viewed," Montgomery said. "Because they’re not giving us any credit for playing each other in the league. So now, teams that have been viewed to be not very good by the pundits all of a sudden are beating people, and that means nobody’s any good, and that’s the problem."

Consider UCLA, the Pac-10’s most storied basketball school.

Most years, a win over the Bruins would be a highlight on a team’s NCAA resume. No longer.

The Bruins are 10-11 overall, with losses to Cal State Fullerton, Portland and Long Beach State. But at 5-4 in the Pac-10, UCLA is only one game off the conference lead.

The Pac-10’s quandary reminds first-year Arizona coach Sean Miller of his time at Xavier. The Musketeers were often judged on how they performed outside the Atlantic 10 but given little credit for conference success.

"I thought those days were really over for me, but nonetheless here we are," Miller said Tuesday on the Pac-10 coaches teleconference.

Miller hopes the NCAA selectors will take note of his team’s rugged nonconference schedule.

Perhaps not surprisingly, the Wildcats and Golden Bears have played the league’s toughest schedules, as measured by the RPI.

Cal’s schedule ranks No. 1, reflecting trips to Kansas and New Mexico and neutral-site games against Syracuse and Ohio State. Arizona’s schedule is No. 8.

The schedule tested the youthful Wildcats early on — they started 6-7 — but Miller hopes it will pay dividends on selection Sunday.

"Performance is the best indicator to get into the tournament," Miller said. "You can’t buy your way into the tournament. You can’t politic your way into the tournament. You have to perform."

Four Pac-10 teams — Arizona State, Oregon, Oregon State and Washington State — played schedules ranked below 100. Unless one of them wins the Pac-10 tourney, they may have scheduled themselves into the NIT.

"One thing you can control as a program and coach is who you play in the nonconference," Miller said. "You can’t play a weak nonconference schedule and then complain about not being in the NCAA tournament."

-- Andrew Bagnato

Lucas injures right ankle, helped off court

MADISON, Wis. — Michigan State’s Kalin Lucas injured his right ankle in the second half of the fifth-ranked Spartans’ 67-49 loss to No. 16 Wisconsin on Tuesday night and had to be helped off the court.

Lucas, last season’s Big Ten player of the year, went up for a jump shot with just under 11 minutes to play and landed on the left foot of Wisconsin forward Keaton Nankivil.

"I went to move to shoot the ball, came down on his foot and my ankle just rolled over," Lucas said. "When it first happened, it was hurting a lot, but I still don’t know what’s wrong with it right now. I think it’s just a sprain to the ankle, I’ll know tomorrow."

Lucas immediately crumpled to the court, clutching the ankle. After several minutes with the trainer and coach Tom Izzo, Lucas was helped to his feet, but didn’t put any weight on the leg as he was carried to the locker room.

Izzo said Lucas’ status wouldn’t be known until after the Spartans returned home.

"He’s limping bad," Izzo said. "It’s not a good sprain, but it’s not broke or anything like that — at least it doesn’t seem to be. I think the issue is whether he’s a fast healer or not. I can’t say I know that because he hasn’t really been hurt. It’s not good, that’s for sure."

Lucas, averaging 16 points a game, was 3 of 9 from the field for seven points with two rebounds and two assists, snapping a streak of 33 straight games scoring in double figures.

SU’s Wes Johnson hurt against Providence

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — When Syracuse star Wes Johnson hit the court hard midway through the first half on Tuesday night against Providence, a hush came over the crowd at the Carrier Dome.

Johnson flipped and crashed hard when fouled by Brian McKenzie while trying to convert a lob pass. He remained motionless for a few seconds, then got up and slowly walked to the bench with a slight grimace.

After a media timeout, Johnson, averaging a team-leading 17 points for the third-ranked Orange, returned, made one of two free throws, and stayed in the game, playing all but one minute of the half.

Johnson started the second half but played only 3 minutes, watching what turned into an 85-68 rout from the bench. He said afterward he was feeling some pain in his left leg, but doesn’t expect to miss any games.

"Wes was hurt but probably could have played. He could have gone back in," coach Jim Boeheim said. "We were able to survive without him. We have a day off tomorrow. Hopefully, he’ll be back at full strength by Friday."

Johnson set to play against Memphis

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — UAB point guard Aaron Johnson says he expects to play in Wednesday night’s game at Memphis.

A broken nose sidelined Johnson during the end of a double-overtime loss to UTEP last weekend. The Blazers struggled without their floor leader and wound up falling out of the Top 25 and into a three-way tie for first place in Conference USA.

Johnson says he doesn’t think anything can keep him from playing against Memphis. Coach Mike Davis says he thinks Johnson will be ready to play, but will wear a protective mask.

How important is Johnson’s presence? In Davis’s words, "we’ve got to have him."