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College basketball

Big East: Villanova's shooters flop against Texas

Associated Press
Published January 15, 2006

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AUSTIN, Texas - Forget that mid-December slump. Eighth-ranked Texas is looking more like the team that began the season ranked No. 2 and talking about the Final Four.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 15 of his 19 in the second half Saturday and the Longhorns smothered No. 3 Villanova with their best defensive game of the year to pull out a 58-55 victory.

Texas has won six straight since consecutive blowout losses to No. 1 Duke and Tennessee, including two victories over Top 10 opponents. The Longhorns have done it with stifling defense that held all six opponents under 40 percent shooting.

Villanova shot 27 percent, including 7-of-30 from 3-point range.

Aldridge scored eight points in the final four minutes, including two free throws with 8.3 seconds left that gave Texas a three-point lead. He also tied his career high with five blocks.

Daniel Gibson hit two free throws with 3.9 seconds left before Villanova's Randy Foye bounced a running 3-pointer off the backboard.

Foye, Kyle Lowry and Allan Ray each scored 13 for Villanova, which came in shooting 43 percent from beyond the arc.

Foye, who hit two 3-pointers to open the game before missing 14 of his next 15 shots, also missed a free throw that would have tied it at 52 with 1:02 left.

"I didn't feel any frustration," Foye said. "Just because I miss a couple of shots doesn't mean I'm going to quit shooting."

Traveling outside the Big East to the Big 12, Villanova brought its quick and versatile four-guard lineup to match up with Texas' bigger lineup that tries to use the 6-foot-10 Aldridge as a dominant force in the paint.

Texas has struggled against guard-heavy teams all season but found the right matchups on the perimeter Saturday. The Wildcats missed 10 straight shots in one early stretch.

SYRACUSE 77, NO. 25 CINCINNATI 58: Gerry McNamara cut the small-in-number Bearcats down to size. McNamara scored 29 and Demetris Nichols started a second-half surge that carried visiting Syracuse to its 12th straight win.

The Orange trailed most of the first half, when Cincinnati's starting lineup held its own. But the Orange dominated the second half with a balanced and deep attack. McNamara was 7-of-10 for 22 points after halftime. Nichols scored 16 including three jumpers in a 10-point run that put Syracuse up 44-37, its biggest lead to that point.

NO. 4 UCONN 74, GEORGETOWN 67: Hilton Armstrong had 19 points, his sixth straight game in double figures, and six blocked shots for Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center.

Rashad Anderson hit key 3-pointers down the stretch to help the Huskies, who shot a season-high 60 percent in beating the Hoyas for the 11th straight time.

Anderson scored 12, including a 3-pointer early in the second half just after the Hoyas got within 39-36 on consecutive baskets by Jeff Green.

NO. 16 W. VIRGINIA 104, MARQUETTE 85: Mike Gansey and Kevin Pittsnogle added their names to West Virginia history and the host Mountaineers broke their Big East record. Gansey and Pittsnogle became the first Mountaineers to score 30 each in a game in 39 years, and their team broke its conference mark with 20 3-pointers.

Gansey set career highs with eight 3-pointers and 33 points. Pittsnogle scored 30. The last time two West Virginia players surpassed 30 points in the same game was Feb. 17, 1967, when Dave Reaser (42) and Carl Head (33) did it against Richmond.

NOTRE DAME 92, PROVIDENCE 77: Chris Quinn scored 31 to lead the host Fighting Irish, who shot a season-high 57 percent and made 13 3-pointers. Quinn was 5-of-7 from 3-point range and Colin Falls was 5-of-9 and totaled 24 points. The Irish took the lead on a 3 by Quinn three minutes into the game and stayed in control throughout.

[Last modified January 15, 2006, 01:48:18]

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