TOP 25: No. 12 Louisville 70, No. 25 Marquette 51
Russ Smith scored 18 points, Peyton Siva added 14 and host Louisville shot 52 percent to run away from Marquette on Sunday.
The lopsided outcome was somewhat surprising considering what was at stake for both teams in the Big East.
Marquette had an opportunity to take a one-game lead on Syracuse, but the Golden Eagles were left settling for a first-place tie with the Orange. The Cardinals (18-4, 6-3), meanwhile, moved a half-game closer to both schools with their second straight win, remaining in a four-way tie for third.
The Cardinals finished 27 of 52 from the field after an 0-for-8 start while holding the Golden Eagles (15-5, 6-2) to 36 percent shooting (19 of 53). They also outrebounded Marquette 38-26.
Gorgui Dieng added eight points and eight rebounds for Louisville.
Vander Blue had 17 points and Trent Lockett 16 for the Golden Eagles, who have dropped two of their last four games.
Marquette struggled getting the ball into the paint and fell victim to Louisville’s pressure defense several other times. The result was 10-of-31 shooting in the first half and a 38-24 deficit to the Cardinals, who hit 16 of 32 and outrebounded the Golden Eagles 26-13.
Louisville’s starters found their games, as well, with Smith scoring 12 points and Siva nine in the first half. The Cardinals stretched their lead to 53-30 about six minutes into the second half when Luke Hancock made back-to-back 3s on feeds from Siva.
The Cardinals’ lead reached 23 in the second half and Marquette didn’t get closer than 15 the rest of the way.
BIG TEN: No. 23 Minnesota 62, Iowa 59
Austin Hollins hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left, lifting host Minnesota to a victory over Iowa.
Hollins finished with 17 points to help the Gophers (17-5, 5-4 Big Ten) survive a rough second half and escape the scrappy Hawkeyes (14-8, 3-6).
With Minnesota trailing 59-57, the 6-foot-4 Hollins came off a screen to get open in the corner on an inbounds play and made the shot over 6-foot-1 Mike Gesell. Hollins then hounded Gesell in the corner on the other end to force the ball out of bounds.
Andre Hollins, who had 15 points, made two free throws to stretch the lead to three, and Gesell’s tying attempt rolled off the front rim. Gesell finished with 11 points, and Aaron White and Zach McCabe each had 10 for the Hawkeyes.
Before Gesell’s miss at the buzzer, the Hawkeyes turned the ball over on three straight possessions. Junior Roy Devyn Marble went scoreless for Iowa for the first time since his freshman year.
Joe Coleman had 12 points despite five turnovers for Minnesota. Rodney Williams added 10 points and had two of the team’s seven blocked shots.
Wisconsin 74, Illinois 68
Wisconsin overcame a ragged start and used 39 combined points from a pair of players who come from Illinois to beat the Illini on the road.
Ben Brust scored a game-high 20 for the Badgers (15-7, 6-3 Big Ten) and Frank Kaminsky had 19. Both are from the Chicago area, and Kaminsky was playing his first serious minutes since suffering an eye injury against Indiana Jan. 15.
Their big night made up for a quiet one from Jared Berggren, who was the Badgers’ leading scorer coming in. But Berggren drew two first-half fouls and picked up his third early in the second half, limiting his time on the court. He finished with six points in 17 minutes.
Illinois was led by Joseph Bertrand’s 17 points.
Wisconsin shot under 30 percent for most of the first half and combined with the Illini to score 14 points in the game’s first eight minutes.
Wisconsin eventually started making shots and Illinois (15-8, 2-7) didn’t until it was too late.
