College basketball

Louisville routs Rutgers

By wire services
Published November 12, 2005

LOUISVILLE - Brian Brohm passed for 339 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score to help No. 23 Louisville rout Rutgers 56-5 Friday night.

Running back Kolby Smith, filling in for the injured Michael Bush, scored three touchdowns for Louisville (7-2, 3-2 Big East), which won its third straight and extended its home streak to 11 games, tied for the nation's fifth longest.

Louisville scored more than 40 for the sixth straight game despite the absence of Bush, who ranks second in Division I-A with 21 touchdowns. The junior didn't suit up and missed a game for the first time in his college career because of a sprained foot. He has injured in the Cardinals' win over Pittsburgh on Nov. 3.

Rutgers (6-4, 3-3) hasn't beaten a ranked team since Sept. 24, 1988, when it upset Penn State 21-16. The Scarlet Knights have lost to South Florida and Louisville since becoming bowl-eligible two weeks ago, giving up 101 points in the two games.

Rutgers, which entered ranked No. 2 in the Big East in total offense behind Louisville, managed only nine first downs and finished with 187 yards of offense, almost 200 below its average.

NO. 18 WAKE 83, GEORGE MASON 78 (OT): Eric Williams had 19 points and Trent Strickland had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Wake Forest in the second round of the 2K Classic at Winston Salem, N.C.

Wake Forest advanced to face Florida in next week's semifinals in New York.

Justin Gray added 17 for the Demon Deacons (2-0), who blew a 19-point lead in the second half before gaining their 18th straight home win.

Tony Skinn had 23 points to lead the Patriots, who nearly got their first victory against a ranked opponent.

The Demon Deacons committed 15 of their 20 turnovers after halftime, with Gray - an All-ACC shooting guard charged with replacing All-American Chris Paul at point guard - committing 10 turnovers.

Wake Forest had a chance to win it with the score tied with 7.8 seconds left in regulation. But Strickland missed a tough shot before the horn, sending the teams into overtime tied at 71.

George Mason shot 57 percent in the second half, but went just 2-for-9 in the overtime.

NO. 24 MARYLAND 89, VIRGINIA UNION 59: James Gist had 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Chris McCray scored 18 at College Park, Md.

NO. 25 OKLAHOMA 89, WIS.-MILWAUKEE 57: Freshman Courtney Paris scored 24 and had 10 rebounds for host Oklahoma in the first round of the Preseason Women's NIT. The Sooners advanced to face SMU Sunday. The 6-foot-4 center, the high school player of the year by USA Today and the Naismith Foundation last season, shot 12-of-15 from the field before sitting out the final six minutes in the best scoring debut by a freshman in school history.

NO. 21 TEMPLE 65, MICHIGAN 48: Khadija Bowens had 14 points and five rebounds as Temple opened the season with a victory over Michigan in the Women's Sports Foundation Tournament at Eugene, Ore.

[Last modified November 12, 2005, 00:56:02]