Associated Press
The Top 25 Roundup …
STORRS, Conn. ó Hasheem Thabeet recorded his first career triple-double and No. 2 Connecticut staked its claim to the No. 1 spot in the nation with a 94-61 blowout over Providence on Saturday.
The 7-foot-3 junior had 15 points, 11 rebounds and tied his own school record with 10 blocked shots.
A.J. Price led UConn (20-1, 9-1 Big East) with 19 points, while Stanley Robinson added 18 and Jeff Adrien 14. It was the Huskies’ ninth straight win since losing to Georgetown in the conference opener on Dec. 29.
With No. 1 Duke losing earlier in the week to No. 6 Wake Forest and No. 3 Pittsburgh falling to Villanova, UConn is expected to take the top spot in Monday’s poll.
Randall Hanke had 16 points to lead Providence (14-7, 6-3), which was coming off a win over No. 15 Syracuse and was off to its best start in the Big East since 2000-01.
No. 3 Pittsburgh 93, Notre Dame 80PITTSBURGH ó DeJuan Blair had 23 points and a career-high 22 rebounds and Pittsburgh handed Notre Dame its fifth straight loss.
Levance Fields scored 17 points, Jermaine Dixon had 16 and reserves Ashton Gibbs and Brad Wanamaker both added 13 for the Panthers (19-2, 7-2 Big East), who bounced back from a loss at Villanova on Wednesday to win its 15th consecutive home game.
Luke Harangody had 27 points and 11 rebounds for Notre Dame (12-8, 3-6), while Luke Zeller added 18 points, all on 3-pointers.
No. 4 Oklahoma 78, Iowa St. 68AMES, Iowa ó Freshman Willie Warren scored 29 points and Oklahoma closed the game on a 13-2 run for its ninth straight win.
Blake Griffin had 23 points and 15 rebounds for the Sooners (21-1, 7-0 Big 12). Griffin has scored at least 20 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in four straight games.
No. 7 Louisville 69, West Virginia 63LOUISVILLE, Ky. ó Jerry Smith scored a season-high 20 points and Terrence Williams had eight points, nine rebounds and four assists for Louisville.
Reserve freshman center Terrence Jennings added a career-high 13 points and two blocks for the Cardinals (17-3, 8-0 Big East), who have won nine straight.
Da’Sean Butler scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half for the Mountaineers (15-6, 4-4).
No. 8 Marquette 94, No. 25 Georgetown 82MILWAUKEE ó Wesley Matthews scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half, helping Marquette remain undefeated in the Big East and sending Georgetown to its fifth straight loss.
Jerel McNeal scored 26 points and Lazar Hayward added 23 for the Golden Eagles (19-2, 8-0), who have won 11 straight games. It was the third straight road loss for reeling Georgetown (12-8, 3-6).
No. 10 Xavier 82, Massachusetts 80CINCINNATI ó Derrick Brown matched his career high with 23 points and Xavier won its 10th straight.
B.J. Raymond added 22 points and C.J. Anderson had 19 for the Musketeers (19-2, 7-0), who remained unbeaten atop the Atlantic 10. This one was in doubt down to the final rebound. Anderson got that off Chris Lowe’s purposely missed free throw with 3 seconds left.
Kansas St. 85, No. 11 Texas 81, OTAUSTIN, Texas ó Denis Clemente tied a Big 12 record with 44 points and Kansas State (14-7, 3-4) ended the Longhorns’ 19-game home winning streak.
Clemente tied the conference mark set last season by former Wildcat Michael Beasley. He went 6-of-6 on 3-pointers.
Damion James scored 19 points to lead the Longhorns (15-5, 4-2).
No. 16 Purdue 67, Michigan 49WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ó E’Twaun Moore scored 17 points and Robbie Hummel added 13 as Purdue pulled away after Michigan’s Manny Harris was ejected for throwing an elbow.
JaJuan Johnson added 11 points for the Boilermakers (17-4, 6-2 Big Ten), who won their sixth straight.
Jevohn Shepherd and DeShawn Sims both scored 10 points for Michigan (14-8, 4-6), which has lost five of six.
No. 17 UCLA 97, Stanford 63LOS ANGELES ó Darren Collison, Alfred Aboya and Jrue Holiday all scored 15 points and UCLA put away Stanford with a 40-14 run over both halves.
Holiday added six rebounds and five assists for the Bruins (17-4, 6-2 Pac-10).
Anthony Goods had 15 points for Stanford (13-6, 3-6).
No. 18 Memphis 83, Houston 68MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó Robert Dozier had 19 points and 10 rebounds, and Doneal Mack added 18 points to lead Memphis to its 49th consecutive Conference USA win.
Mack was 6-of-10 from the field, including 5-of-7 on 3-pointers, for Memphis (18-3, 7-0).
No. 20 Gonzaga 64, San Diego 47SPOKANE, Wash. ó Austin Daye scored 17 points and the Zags won their eighth straight to remain unbeaten in the West Coast Conference.
Josh Heytvelt added 13 points for Gonzaga (16-4, 7-0).
No. 23 Washington 84, No. 14 Arizona St. 71TEMPE, Ariz. ó Justin Dentmon scored a career-high 30 points and freshman Isaiah Thomas added 25 as the Huskies (16-5, 7-2 Pac-10) handed Arizona State (16-5, 5-4) its second straight home defeat.
South Carolina 78, No. 24 Kentucky 77LEXINGTON, Ky. ó Devan Downey’s turnaround jumper with 3 seconds left lifted South Carolina to its second victory in 23 games in Lexington. The junior guard finished with 23 points. Zam Fredrick led the Gamecocks (16-4, 5-2 SEC) with 24 points.
Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks got off a desperation heave from just in front of the halfcourt line, but it bounced off the rim as time expired. Patrick Patterson had 28 points and Meeks had 20 for the Wildcats (16-6, 5-2).
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