Louisville crush Connecticut
February 07, 2012 16:53:05 UK
Defending national champions Connecticut are in serious danger of missing the NCAA Tournament after a humiliating loss to Louisville.
Chris Smith had 16 points and Gorgui Dieng added 15 more as the Cardinals took a five-point half-time lead and cruised to an 80-59 win.
Ranked 24th in the nation, Louisville picked up their fifth consecutive victory and moved to 7-4 in the Big East and 19-5 overall.
UConn on the other hand lost their fifth in six contests and next have to travel to Syracuse to play the No. 2 Orange on Saturday knowing that only a victory in the Big East Tournament at the end of the year is likely to see them return to the NCAA's to defend their title.
Connecticut are 1213.00 to defend their NCAA title successfully, with Duke 1213.00 and Louisville 13.00.
Also in the Big East No. 19 Marquette bounced back from a loss to Notre Dame last time out with an easy win over DePaul.
Darius Johnson-Odom scored 23 points and all five Golden Eagle starters were in double figures as Marquette spotted the Blue Demons a three-point half time advantage before pulling away easily in the second.
No. 4 Missouri picked up their third straight close game with a 71-68 victory over Oklahoma on Monday after previously edging Texas and Kansas.
Marcus Denmon was 9-of-16 from the floor to lead all scorers with 25 points as the Tigers moved to 22-2 on the year.
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