Padgett's 26 points deal Cards a win over Irish
Louisville might be more than one of the best teams in the Big East.
Notre Dame coach Mike Brey thinks the Cardinals can hold their own anywhere.
"Who's better in the country?" Brey said after 13th-ranked Louisville beat his No. 17 Irish 90-85 Thursday night. "I don't know who's better in the country than them."
The Cardinals (23-6, 13-3) won their eighth straight game to tie Georgetown atop the conference. David Padgett scored a season-high 26 points and Louisville overcame a dazzling 40-point performance from Notre Dame center Luke Harangody.
"This is a great win for us, but we can't relax," Padgett said. "We want to finish it like the way we're playing now. We want to win two more games and win a Big East championship."
Louisville plays Villanova on Sunday and ends the season at No. 11 Georgetown on March 8.
The host Cardinals looked among the nation's best for the game's first 35 minutes. Louisville never trailed and led 73-54 on Padgett's layup with 5:41 to play.
Harangody, however, made sure Notre Dame (21-6, 11-4) wasn't finished. He knocked down the first three 3-pointers of his career in the final 1:32, eventually pulling the Irish within 86-81 with 23 seconds left.
In the end, it wasn't quite enough to overcome the Cardinals. Earl Clark and Edgar Sosa made four straight free throws in the last 19 seconds to preserve the victory and keep coach Rick Pitino's late-season plan for the Cardinals intact.
"We wanted to win eight out of 10 and we're doing it," Pitino said. "We've secured it with two to go. Now we've got two games to go to win a championship."
No. 4 UCLA 70, Arizona State 49
Kevin Love had 18 points and 12 rebounds for his 17th double-double in the Bruins' eighth straight win over the Sun Devils.
No. 8 Stanford 82, Washington 79
Brook Lopez had 21 points and seven rebounds, and Stanford kept the Huskies winless at Maples Pavilion since 1993.
Anthony Goods added 16 points for the Cardinal (23-4, 12-3 Pac-10), who couldn't break away from the eighth-place Huskies despite never trailing in their school-record 15th home victory of the season. Stanford has won 10 of 11 overall heading into Saturday's home finale against Washington State.
No. 10 Wisconsin 57, No. 19 Michigan State 42
Brian Butch hit a career-high four 3-pointers as Wisconsin used a late run to shake loose from Michigan State. It was the fifth straight victory for Wisconsin (24-4, 14-2 Big Ten). Michigan State (22-6, 10-5) has lost three of its past five, including three straight road games.
No. 14 Butler 66, Wright State 61
Julian Betko scored a career-high 17 points, all in the first half, and Butler clinched the No. 1 seed in next week's Horizon League tournament.
No. 22 Washington St. 70, California 49
Taylor Rochestie scored 18 points, Kyle Weaver added 17 and defense-minded Washington State showed off its offensive skills.
The Cougars (22-6, 10-6 Pac-10) shot 54 percent, going 8-for-17 on 3-pointers.
