Category: Basketball

Pitt dropped a tough ACC battle to Louisville, 82-78, at the Petersen Events Center on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers held a narrow 73-72 advantage with three minutes remaining following a Zack Austin three-pointer, but Louisville outscored Pitt 10-5 down the stretch thanks to eight important points from senior guard Reyne Smith down the stretch, as the Panthers had no answer for the sharpshooting guard or the rest of the Louisville offense in the closing minutes. In fact, Pitt had very few stretches of play with good defense in this one.

Tahaad Pettiford assisted on Dylan Cardwell's go-ahead dunk and converted two free throws with 4.4 seconds remaining as No. 2 Auburn overcame an injury to leading scorer Johni Broom and rallied to beat South Carolina 66-63 on Saturday. With Auburn trailing by a point with 90 seconds remaining, Pettiford fed Cardwell for a dunk to give the Tigers (15-1, 3-0 SEC) a 64-63 lead. Pettiford sealed the win with a pair of free throws in the final seconds and finished with 15 points.

Carter Whitt had 25 points in Belmont's 84-79 win over Indiana State on Saturday. Whitt added five rebounds and six assists for the Bruins (12-5, 4-2 Missouri Valley Conference). Brigham Rogers added 13 points while going 6 of 8 and 1 of 3 from the free-throw line and also had eight rebounds.

Jean Aranguren led Hofstra with 20 points and sealed the victory with a free throw with 31 seconds left as the Pride knocked off UNC Wilmington 66-63 on Saturday. Aranguren shot 7 for 15, including 5 for 9 from beyond the arc for the Pride (10-7, 2-2 Coastal Athletic Association). Khalil Farmer scored 13 points while shooting 4 for 9, including 3 for 6 from beyond the arc.

The Cougars (13-4, 3-1) were led by Deywilk Tavarez, who posted 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists. Charleston also got 14 points from Derrin Boyd. Ante Brzovic had 11 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

The Trojans end the Illini's five-game winning streak with the help of Wesley Yates' 15 points and Rashaun Agee's 13 points and eight rebounds.

Pitt is coming off a tough loss to No. 4 Duke on Tuesday night, and will look to rebound on its home court. The Cardinals, however, will hardly be an easy bounce back game. Under first year head coach Pat Kelsey, Louisville is making its climb out of the recent doldrums it found itself in as a program.

The Arkansas Razorbacks (11-4, 0-2 SEC) will face their third straight ranked SEC opponent when they take on the No. 8 Florida Gators (14-1, 1-1 SEC) on Saturday at Bud Walton Arena. Florida is coming off a 30-point win over the Tennessee Volunteers on Tuesday, while the Razorbacks are still searching for a win in conference play after losing to the Volunteers last Saturday and Ole Miss on Wednesday.

As Michigan State basketball enjoys its eight-game win streak heading to Northwestern on Sunday, senior Frankie Fidler's struggles continue.

Both Michigan basketball and Washington have first-year head coaches. Only one is ranked in both polls (and it's not the Huskies).