Friday, February 28, 2003

Top 25: Marquette downs Louisville



By The Associated Press

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Dwyane Wade scored 28 points and Scott Merritt added 18 as No. 10 Marquette came back from 19 points down to beat No. 11 Louisville 78-73 on Thursday night.

Travis Diener added 16 points and four assists for Marquette (21-4, 12-2 Conference USA), which won for the 14th time in 15 games.

Wade hit a free throw with 23.4 seconds left and Louisville's Reece Gaines, after faking a defender to get himself open, missed a 3-pointer with 10 seconds remaining that could have tied the game.

Diener hit two free throws with 6 seconds left to clinch the win.

Freshman Francisco Garcia scored 24 for Louisville (19-5, 9-4) and Ellis Myles had 12 points and 11 rebounds before he left the game with a knee injury with 1:15 left.

No. 1 Arizona 88, No. 23 California 75

BERKELEY, Calif. - Salim Stoudamire hit six 3-pointers and scored 20 points as top-ranked Arizona took control of the Pac-10 race with its seventh straight victory.

Luke Walton also scored 20 points, hitting all three of his 3-point attempts as the Wildcats (22-2, 14-1) snapped Cal's 17-game home winning streak. Arizona has won nine straight over the Golden Bears (19-6, 12-4), who lost at Haas Pavilion for the first time since the Wildcats' visit last season.

Joe Shipp, the conference's leading scorer, had 17 points and seven rebounds for Cal while playing with a noticeable limp from an undisclosed injury. Brian Wethers scored 18 points, but the rest of the Bears' roster beyond its top three scorers managed just 24 points.

No. 19 Stanford 88, Arizona St. 77

STANFORD, Calif. - Julius Barnes scored 29 points and No. 19 Stanford increased its season-best winning streak to six games.

Barnes was 4-for-4 on 3-pointers and made all 13 of his free throws as the Cardinal (22-6, 13-3 Pac-10) won for the 10th time in 11 games and 13th in 15. They have won nine straight at home and 11 in a row against the Sun Devils.

Arizona State freshman Ike Diogu, who entered the game averaging 19.7 points and 9.4 rebounds in his past seven games, had 26 points on 10-for-14 shooting and nine rebounds before fouling out with 3:27 left. Curtis Millage added 21 points for the Sun Devils (17-9, 9-6).