Panthers take care of RMU
PITTSBURGH — Pittsburgh avoided a letdown in a break from Big East play.
Sam Young had 23 points and DeJuan Blair 18 and No. 6 Pittsburgh beat Robert Morris 92-72 on Monday night.
Levance Fields added 12 points and 13 assists and Jermaine Dixon 15 points for the Panthers (20-2), who were playing their first game while not ranked in the top five since Nov. 22.
"You can't look over any team," said Fields, "but obviously this is a game where we were heavily favored to win. Some of these games are kind of trap games that are tough to play. But for the most part, I thought we did a good job of handling it and treating it like a Big East game."
Pitt has won four of five since losing for the first time this season and falling from the No. 1 ranking it held for two weeks.
Jeremy Chappell had 19 points and added a team-high eight assists for the Colonials (15-8), who had a nine-game winning streak snapped.
Young is Pitt's leading scorer at 18.1 points per game. But he had cooled recently, having scored at least that many only three times in his previous 11 games — including a season-low five against Notre Dame on Saturday. Monday, he shot 8-for-11 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free throw line.
No. 1 UConn 68, No. 5 Louisville 51
At Louisville, Ky., don't get Jim Calhoun wrong. The Connecticut coach isn't complaining about the Huskies rising to No. 1 for the first time in three years.
But look at the calendar. It's February. Forgive him if doesn't get too excited.
"Being No. 1 is like winning in Maui," Calhoun said. "It's nice but I want to be there in April."
The way the Huskies are playing, they might be.
Jeff Adrien scored 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds and UConn dominated No. 5 Louisville, serving notice that it plans to hold on to the top spot for a while.
"It is time to get better and we are doing it," said center Hasheem Thabeet, who had 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks. "To be the No. 1 team is something good. It's starting to come. We realize we can be a great team."
Maybe the Huskies (21-1, 10-1 Big East) already are.
"They're very truly the No. 1 team in the country," said Louisville coach Rick Pitino. "We weren't in their league tonight."
Louisville (17-4, 8-1) had come in as arguably the hottest team in the Big East, winning nine straight games, including four against ranked opponents.
One of those victories had come against then-No. 1 Pittsburgh on Jan. 17, a win that set off a three-week scramble at No. 1. Wake Forest and Duke both took turns at the top, only to quickly tumble back to earth.
Don't plan on the Huskies going away so quickly.
"We've still got a lot to prove," Adrien said. "We still play with a chip on our shoulder. We went into the (NCAA) tournament a couple years ago No. 1 and lost. That happens. This team is a lot closer than that team."
Terrence Williams led Louisville with a career-high 26 points but got little help from his teammates. Williams shot 11-of-19 from the field, while the rest of the Cardinals went 11-of-45 (24 percent) from the floor.
Wisconsin-Green Bay 75, No. 11 Butler 66
At Green Bay, Wis., Ryan Tillema scored 21 points and Wisconsin-Green Bay was nearly perfect from the free-throw line.
No. 21 Kansas 75, Baylor 65
At Waco, Texas, Sherron Collins scored 17 points and freshman Marcus Morris added 13 to lead the Jayhawks to their seventh straight victory.
