Memphis Upsets Louisville

Rodney Carney got a lot of open looks at the basket and liked what he saw.

Carney shucked his protective goggles and scored 19 points, and Memphis stopped No. 6 Louisville down the stretch for a 62-58 upset Wednesday night at Memphis, Tenn.

The short-handed Cardinals were held to six points in the final nine minutes and lost their second in a row, both since Coach Rick Pitino returned from a two-day medical leave. They had won 16 in a row before falling to Marquette.

“For us to do what we did, it is a great win and it’s a huge win,” Memphis Coach John Calipari said. “They are No. 6 in the country and we beat them. And we beat them when we were down and down most of the game.”

Louisville (16-3, 6-2 Conference USA) played minus injured starters Francisco Garcia and Taquan Dean and reserve Nouha Diakite. Garcia, the team’s leading scorer at 15.8 points a game, was out because of an ankle injury.

“We had no bench and we were going to basically play six guys, six-and-a-half people,” Pitino said. “We are used to playing 10 people. We are used to trying to wear out opponents. We had to totally change our mind-set.”

Memphis (15-4, 6-2), which trailed by nine points in the second half, won its sixth in a row. The Tigers shot only 39% but had four players score in double figures.

Louisville was ahead, 52-47, with nine minutes left before Carney made two three-point baskets. He scored eight points during a 15-3 run that put the Tigers ahead, 62-55, with 30 seconds left.

Carney was held to three points in the Tigers’ last game, a victory at Texas Christian. He has struggled at times since January, and an eye injury had him in a pair of protective goggles for seven games before Wednesday.

“It made a big difference because I can see everything,” Carney said. “It’s a whole lot different with the goggles because everything seems closer. Now, it’s regular, and I really can pull out and hit threes. That helped me a lot.”

Larry O’Bannon led Louisville with 26 points. He had the Cardinals’ only six points in the final nine minutes.

*

No. 4 Pittsburgh 71, St. John’s 51 -- Chris Taft scored 15 points to help the Panthers (21-1, 7-1 Big East) rout the Red Storm (5-14, 0-8) at Pittsburgh. The Panthers have won 39 consecutive home games.

*

No. 14 Wisconsin 80, Minnesota 66 -- Devin Harris scored a career-high 38 points at Madison, Wis., as the Badgers (15-3, 6-1 Big Ten) won their 25th consecutive game at the Kohl Center. The Golden Gophers are 8-12, 0-8.

*

No. 11 Texas 76, Colorado 63 -- Sydmill Harris and Kenton Paulino each scored 13 points and the Longhorns (15-3, 6-1 Big 12) made 11 three-point shots to hold off the Buffaloes (12-7, 4-4) at Austin, Texas.

*

North Carolina State 73, No. 16 Wake Forest 68 -- Marcus Melvin had 20 points and 11 rebounds and the Wolfpack (13-5, 6-2 Atlantic Coast) rallied from an 18-point deficit to upset the Demon Deacons (13-5, 4-4) at Raleigh, N.C.

*

No. 22 Oklahoma 75, Iowa State 48 -- De’Angelo Alexander scored 17 points as the Sooners (14-4, 4-3 Big 12) routed the Cyclones (13-5, 4-3) at Norman, Okla.

*

Virginia Tech 69, No. 23 Providence 57 -- Bryant Matthews scored 23 points as the Hokies (9-10, 2-6 Big East) held off the Friars (14-5, 5-3) at Blacksburg, Va.

*

No. 25 South Carolina 90, Alabama 82 -- Josh Gonner scored 22 points at Columbia, S.C., as the Gamecocks (19-3, 6-2 Southeastern) held off the Crimson Tide (11-8, 3-5) in overtime.

*

OTHER GAMES

Jermaine Watson, a junior guard, scored 16 of his career-high 22 points over the final 9:38 to spark Boston College (14-7, 3-5 Big East) to a 76-69 victory over Notre Dame (10-8, 4-4) at Boston. Former Fairfax High player Craig Smith scored 20 points and became the 31st Boston College player -- and second as a sophomore -- to reach 1,000 career points. ... Paul Davis scored 19 points and Tom Izzo won his 200th game as Michigan State (11-8, 6-2 Big Ten) rolled to an 89-72 victory over Iowa (11-8, 4-4) at East Lansing, Mich.... Monty Scott made three free throws in the final 11 seconds of overtime to give Dayton (18-3, 8-0 Atlantic 10) a 62-57 victory over Richmond (12-9, 4-4) at Dayton, Ohio.... John Gilchrist scored 26 points as Maryland (12-7, 3-5 Atlantic Coast) held on for a 71-67 victory over Virginia (12-7, 2-6) at Charlottesville, Va.

*

WOMEN

No. 9 Texas Tech 67, Kansas 44 -- Erin Grant scored a career-high 27 points as the Red Raiders (19-3, 5-3 Big 12) routed the Jayhawks (9-10, 2-6) at Lubbock, Texas.

No. 10 Kansas State 61, Iowa State 47 -- Nicole Ohlde scored 20 points at Ames, Iowa, to help the Wildcats (16-3, 7-1 Big 12) cruise past the Cyclones (10-9, 3-5).

No. 11 Colorado 78, Nebraska 63 -- Tera Bjorklund scored 18 of her 32 points in the second half at Boulder, Colo., as the Buffaloes (18-2, 7-1 Big 12) defeated the Cornhuskers (14-6, 4-5) for the 20th time in a row.

No. 23 Notre Dame 66, Georgetown 52 -- Jacqueline Batteast had 20 points and nine rebounds as the Fighting Irish (14-7, 7-2 Big East) brushed aside the Hoyas (10-10, 4-6) at South Bend, Ind.