Cincinnati on Wrong End of It This Time

When Cincinnati defeated Marquette by 19 points last month, many of the Bearcats complained that the victory margin wasn’t sufficient. They believed the mismatch was worth at least a 30-point blowout.

“I’d be interested to see what they had to say tonight,” Coach Mike Deane beamed after his Eagles stunned the fourth-ranked Bearcats, 62-58, Wednesday night at Milwaukee.

Brian Wardle scored 19 points and freshman Oluoma Nnamaka’s clutch plays in the final minute helped Marquette hand the Bearcats (21-3, 8-3 in Conference USA) consecutive losses for the first time in four seasons.

Nnamaka’s three-point play with 39 seconds left broke a 54-54 tie and his free throw with 9.1 seconds left provided the final margin for the Warriors (12-12, 4-8).

No. 2 Connecticut 66, Boston College 50--The Big East game at Hartford, Conn., marked the return of the Huskies’ leading scorer, Richard Hamilton, who sat out the last two games because of a deep thigh bruise. A rusty Hamilton made four of 15 shots, getting all of his nine points in the first half.

The Huskies (21-1, 12-1 Big East) made up the difference at the foul line, making 17 of 28. Boston College (6-15, 3-10) made only two of six free throws.

No. 7 Maryland 63, North Carolina State 50--The Terrapins (21-4, 9-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) were held to 24 points under their scoring average at Raleigh, N.C., but had enough offense down the stretch to beat the Wolfpack (15-9, 5-7) for the 10th consecutive time in the regular season.

No. 10 Arizona 86, Arizona State 80--Jason Terry made two free throws that gave the Wildcats an 84-79 lead with 22 seconds left as they won their 27th consecutive home game and their eighth in a row over the Sun Devils.

Freshman Michael Wright scored 22 points for Arizona (17-4, 9-3, Pacific 10) and Terry finished with 21. Bobby Lazor scored 26 points to lead Arizona State (13-11, 5-7).

No. 19 Iowa 76, No. 22 Minnesota 73--The Hawkeyes, playing with three new starters, rallied to beat the Gophers in the Big Ten game at Iowa City.

J.R. Koch and Jacob Jaacks, making his first start, each scored 12 points for the Hawkeyes (16-6, 7-5 Big Ten). Quincy Lewis, the league’s leading scorer at 24 points a game, finished with 30 points for Minnesota (14-7, 5-6).

No. 15 Wisconsin 57, Northwestern 45--After trailing by as many as 14 points early in the second half, the Wildcats took a 45-42 lead on a three-point shot by Steve LePore with just under seven minutes left at Madison, Wis.

But those were the last points the Wildcats (14-7, 6-5) would score, as they missed their last eight shots. The Badgers (20-5, 8-4) used a 15-0 run to take control of the game.

Tennessee 91, No. 23 Florida 56--The Vols (15-7, 7-4) held the Gators (16-6, 7-5), the Southeastern Conference’s highest-scoring team, to 33 points below their season average to win at Knoxville, Tenn.

Nebraska 64, No. 24 Kansas 57--Gary Cochran made a key three-point basket and the Cornhuskers (16-8, 8-3 Big 12) outshot the Jayhawks (16-7, 8-3) to break a 15-year losing streak in Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan.

WOMEN

Notre Dame, led by Ruth Riley, who had 23 points and 11 rebounds, defeated Villanova, 74-52, at Villanova, Pa., to extend its winning streak to 11 games, the longest streak for the No. 6 Irish (20-2, 12-2 Big East) since they won a school-record 15 in a row during the 1990-91 season. . . . No. 9 Rutgers, the nation’s top defensive team, held Miami to 38% shooting as the Scarlet Knights (21-4, 13-1 Big East) beat the Hurricanes at Miami. . . . Angie Braziel scored 25 points as No. 13 Texas Tech (20-3, 9-2 Big 12) beat Texas A&M;, 74-52, at Lubbock, Texas. . . . Kim Woodlee scored nine points during a 15-0 run that enabled Kansas State (13-8, 6-5 Big 12) to score a 70-63 upset of No. 16 Iowa State (16-5, 8-3) at Manhattan, Kan. . . . DeMya Walker scored 22 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had four steals night as No. 18 Virginia (17-6, 10-3 ACC) beat North Carolina State, 67-53, at Charlottesville, Va.