Wednesday’s basketball: Virginia upsets Louisville

Louisville, Ky. — Everything had clicked on both ends for No. 12 Virginia before an extended lull threatened to blow its big lead on No. 6 Louisville.

Two crucial rebounds led to the key basket that righted the Cavaliers toward another victory over the Cardinals.

Devon Hall scored 10 points and Kyle Guy added a key jumper with 2:02 remaining as Virginia withstood a late rally to upset Louisville 61-53 on Wednesday night in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener for both teams.

The Cavaliers (11-1, 1-0) seemed headed to another lopsided win over Louisville before the Cardinals rallied from a 21-point second-half deficit to get within 57-48 with 3:51 left. Hall grabbed a defensive rebound a minute later and Isaiah Wilkins’ offensive board extended the possession leading to Guy’s basket that regained momentum for Virginia.

Mamadi Diakite added two free throws with 28 seconds left to seal Virginia’s fourth straight win overall and fourth in five games against Louisville (11-2, 0-1) since the Cardinals joined the ACC.

Guy and London Perrantes had nine points each.

“We needed that lead. We were leaking oil,” said Virginia coach Tony Bennett, whose team beat its highest-ranked opponent this season. “We got a little bit confused defensively. You could just see, they started coming.

“I’m glad it was a 40-minute game because we did not finish it strong or in the right way. But we did it the right way for the majority of it, 30 or 33 minutes.”

Hall made 5 of 10 from the field and had six rebounds for the Cavaliers, whose strong shooting built the big lead before they cooled off slightly to finish at 49 percent (24 of 49). Jack Salt had seven rebounds as Virginia outrebounded the Cardinals 31-26.

Quentin Snider, Deng Adel and Tony Hicks had eight points each for Louisville, which had won six straight and sought to follow up last week’s win over rival Kentucky.

More Top 25

(At) No. 1 Villanova 68, DePaul 65: Josh Hart scored 25 points and Jalen Brunson added 13 as Villanova barely held on for its 19th straight win. The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0 Big East) looked rather pedestrian playing for the first time in a week. But thanks to Hart, considered among the favorites for national player of the year, they survived.

A 14-6 Villanova run gave the Wildcats a 51-39 lead with 16:41 to go. But the Blue Demons responded with a 14-0 run to get back in the game and take a 53-51 lead.

Hart scored 10 points in the final 3:06, including a dagger 3-pointer from the top of the key with 9.5 seconds left that gave Villanova a 66-62 lead.

Billy Garrett Jr. missed a clean look for a tying 3-pointer at the buzzer.

Tre’Darius McCallum had 19 points for the Blue Demons (7-7, 0-1).

(At) No. 20 Oregon 89, No. 2 UCLA 87: Dillon Brooks hit a 3-pointer with 0.8 seconds left in the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Brooks, who finished with 23 points and nine rebounds, grabbed Bryce Alford’s missed free throw with 8.9 seconds to go, dribbled to the right wing and pulled up for the winning shot.

Payton Pritchard added 15 points and nine assists for the Ducks (12-2, 1-0), who won their 10th consecutive game and pushed the nation’s second-longest home winning streak to 34 games. Pritchard’s 3-pointer pulled Oregon within one with 12.9 seconds left.

Thomas Welch had 20 points and 10 rebounds for the Bruins (13-1, 0-1), and Alford had 20 points. Lonzo Ball added 14 points and TJ Leaf had 13.

(At) No. 9 North Carolina 102, Monmouth 74: Justin Jackson scored 28 points to lead North Carolina. Kennedy Meeks added 17 points and 12 rebounds and Isaiah Hicks finished with 15 points to help the Tar Heels (12-2) win their second straight. Micah Seaborn scored 19 points and Je’Lon Hornbeak added 17 before fouling out for Monmouth (10-3), which had its program-record nine-game winning streak snapped.

(At) No. 17 Xavier 82, Providence 56: Trevon Bluiett scored 22 points and Xavier took control at the outset in the Big East opener. Xavier (11-2, 1-0) surged ahead by as many as 30 points, with Bluiett leading the way. He had nine rebounds to go with his eighth 20-point game of the season. Edmond Sumner added 13 points and seven rebounds. Isaiah Jackson had 17 points for the Friars (10-4, 0-1) in their most lopsided loss of the season.

(At) No. 20 Florida St. 88, Wake Forest 72: Dwayne Bacon and Xavier Rathan-Mayes scored 23 points each as Florida State opened Atlantic Coast Conference play. Florida State trailed most of the game and was down 66-61 before it went on a run of 17 straight points over a 4:02 span. The Seminoles made seven straight shots from the field during the run while the Demon Deacons committed four turnovers. Jonathan Isaac added 13 points and CJ Walker had 12 for Florida State (12-1, 1-0), which has won nine straight for the first time since 2003-04 and is off to its best start since going 16-1 in 1988-89. Keyshawn Woods and Bryant Crawford led the Demon Deacons (9-3, 0-1) with 16 each.

No. 22 Southern California 70, (at) Oregon State 63: Chimezie Metu had 19 points and eight reboundsin the Pac-12 opener for both teams. Jordan McLaughlin added 10 points, eight rebounds and four steals and Jonah Mathews had 10 points for the Trojans (14-0, 1-0). Stephen Thompson Jr. scored a career-high 24 points and Drew Eubanks had 15 points and 15 rebounds for the Beavers (4-10, 0-1).

No. 23 Cincinnati 56, (at) Temple 50: Gary Clark scored 11 points, including two important free throws with 14.9 seconds left, and Cincinnati overcame a poor shooting game. Jacob Evans III also scored 11 points for the Bearcats (11-2), who shot 32.8 percent (19 for 58) from the field and 27.8 percent (5 for 18) from 3-point range. Daniel Dingle scored 15 points to lead Temple (9-5). Alani Moore II and Shizz Alston Jr. added 10 points each from the Owls, who also struggled from the field.

(At) No. 24 Notre Dame 63, Saint Peter’s 55: V.J. Beachem scored 18 points to help Notre Dame close out its non-conference schedule. Steve Vasturia added 11 points for the Irish (11-2), who were outscored in the second half for the fifth straight game. The Irish finished 22 points below their average of 85.3, but held the Peacocks to 35.7 percent shooting from the field. Bonzie Colson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Notre Dame. Nick Griffin led Saint Peters (5-7) with 16 points.

Big Ten

(At) No. 10 Creighton 89, Seton Hall 75: Maurice Watson had 21 points and 10 assists, four other Creighton players scored in double figures and the Bluejays opened Big East play with a victory. Khyri Thomas and Justin Patton had 17 points each, Marcus Foster added 15 and Cole Huff had 13 for the Bluejays (13-0, 1-0), who are off to their best start since the 1942-43 team opened 16-0. They will meet top-ranked Villanova in Omaha on Saturday in a matchup of unbeatens. Khadeen Carrington led the Pirates (10-3, 0-1) with 27 points and Desi Rodriguez, who came into the game 6 of 29 from 3-point range, made a career-high five 3-pointers while scoring 24 points.

(At) No. 15 Purdue 89, Iowa 67: Freshman guard Carsen Edwards scored 19 points and Dakota Mathias added 17 in the Big Ten opener for both teams. It was the seventh consecutive victory for the Boilermakers (12-2, 1-0), who also got 16 points from Isaac Haas, 15 from Vince Edwards and 11 points and 10 rebounds from Caleb Swanigan, who recorded his fifth consecutive double-double. Big Ten scoring leader Peter Jok of Iowa, who came in averaging 22.6 points, was held to 13 on 4-of-15 shooting, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range. Mathias was the primary defender on Jok. It was Purdue coach Matt Painter’s 250th victory at his alma mater. Painter is in his 12th season with the Boilermakers, who lost to Iowa twice last season.

Nebraska 87, (at) No. 16 Indiana 83: Glynn Watson Jr. scored 26 points and Tai Webster had 21 to lead Nebraska to the upset. The Cornhuskers (7-6, 1-0) snapped Indiana’s 26-game home winning streak by finishing with their highest point total of the season in the Big Ten opener for both. Indiana’s last loss at Assembly Hall was to Michigan State on March 7, 2015. Robert Johnson finished with 19 points and Thomas Bryant had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Hoosiers (10-3, 0-1).

State women

(At) Michigan 63, Rutgers 50: Freshman Kysre Gondrezick scored 18 in her first career start as Michigan (12-3) won its Big Ten opener. Rutgers is 3-11.

(At) Middle Tennessee 79, Central Michigan 69: Tinara Moore scored 16 for CMU (8-4).