NO. 14 LOUISVILLE 85, PITTSBURGH 80
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Quentin Snider scored 22 points, including two free throws with 25.3 seconds remaining, and Deng Adel added a free throw 8 seconds later as No. 14 Louisville survived Jamel Artis' career-high 43 points to outlast Pittsburgh 85-80 on Wednesday night.
The Cardinals appeared in good shape with a 59-35 lead midway through the second half before Artis' 32-point second half rallied the Panthers within 81-76 with 45 seconds remaining. Donovan Mitchell made one of two from the line before Snider and Adel added critical free throws to provide a cushion as Louisville (14-3, 2-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) won its second consecutive.
Snider also had a couple of key baskets down the stretch to finish 7 of 11 from the field including 3 of 4 from long range. Mitchell and Adel each finished with 15 points and Ray Spalding had 11 for the Cardinals.
Artis was 15 of 22 from the field with seven threes, while Michael Young added 17 for Pittsburgh (12-5, 1-3).
This game looked much like the Panthers' 77-66 loss on Saturday at Syracuse, when they rallied from a big deficit to make things competitive late. They followed 33 percent shooting in the first half with 53 percent accuracy in the second but couldn't get the baskets they needed to overcome Louisville.
As expected, the taller Cardinals controlled the boards (45-30) and the paint (34-22). But they nearly gave the game away with cold stretches from the field and free-throw line before making just enough free throws at the end.
Returning to the Top 10 might take another week for Louisville, which also needs to beat Duke on Saturday to make its case.
In other games involving top 25 men’s teams Wednesday, Maurice Watson Jr. scored 21 points and No. 8 Creighton (16-1, 4-2 Big East) matched its best start with a 75-64 victory over No. 12 Butler (14-3, 3-2). … Justin Jackson hit a huge three-pointer with 1:03 left and No. 11 North Carolina (15-3, 3-1 ACC) did just enough to hold off Wake Forest (10-7, 1-4) 93-87. Jackson finished with 19 points for the Tar Heels, while Kennedy Meeks added 18 points and 11 rebounds. … Miles Bridges scored all 16 of his points in the first half, helping Michigan State (12-6, 4-1 Big Ten) cruise to a 65-47 victory over No. 24 Minnesota (11-7, 3-2).
SEC MEN
Gamecocks prevail
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- Sindarius Thornwell scored 22 points Wednesday as South Carolina defeated Tennessee 70-60 for its third consecutive victory.
South Carolina (13-3, 3-0 SEC) is off to just its second 3-0 start in SEC competition since joining the league in 1991-92. South Carolina had a 3-0 start to league play in 1996-97 and went on to post a 15-1 SEC record and earn the conference's regular-season title that year.
The Gamecocks also have earned back-to-back SEC road victories for the first time since 2011. In its last road game, South Carolina won 67-61 at Georgia on Jan. 4.
Hassani Gravett, who entered the night averaging just 4.2 points per game, scored 12 points for South Carolina. Duane Notice added 11.
Grant Williams scored 15 points and Robert Hubbs III and Lamonte Turner had 12 each for Tennessee (8-8, 1-3), which lost three consecutive.
On a night when each team committed 22 turnovers, the difference in the game came from three-point range.
South Carolina shot 7 of 13 from beyond the arc while Tennessee was 1 for 11. Tennessee extended its string of consecutive games with at least one three-pointer to 183 only after Lamonte Turner made a shot that bounced high off the rim and fell through with 1:51 remaining.
The Volunteers were facing one of the nation's toughest defenses just one night after announcing that junior guard Detrick Mostella had been dismissed from the team. Mostella had been averaging 10.5 points per game to rank second on the team.
So it shouldn't have come as much of a surprise that Tennessee's offense struggled all night. Tennessee had more than twice as many turnovers (14) as baskets (six) in the first half.
In games involving SEC men’s teams Wednesday, J.J. Frazier scored 17 points, Yante Maten added 15 points and 11 rebounds and Georgia (11-5, 3-1) beat Mississippi 69-47. Terence Davis led the Rebels (10-6, 1-3) with 12 points while Sebastian Saiz added 11. ... Admon Gilder and Tonny Trocha-Morelos each scored 14 points and Texas A&M (9-6, 1-3) earned its first SEC victory as the Aggies defeated LSU 92-62. Antonio Blakeney scored a game-high 17 points to lead LSU (9-6, 1-3).
Sports on 01/12/2017