Villanova, Louisville make great escapes

Down by 12 points midway through the second half, No. 7 Villanova went on a 19-0 run to take control and beat Maryland, 74-66, Saturday in Philadelphia.

"We hit some big shots, we got the crowd into it," Maalik Wayns said. "But I had no idea at the number. I didn't even realize it was 19-0."

Corey Fisher scored eight of his 17 points during the run, which helped Villanova win its 11th straight game.

Wayns, who scored 22 points, and Fisher were dynamic in the backcourt and again showed why the Wildcats (16-1) are never out of any game.

Led by Jordan Williams, the Terps (11-6) were 9 minutes from the signature win against a top 25 team.

Fisher snatched it from them and sent the Wildcats streaking into tomorrow's Big East game at No. 10 Connecticut. Fisher hit a pair of threes during the spurt and sent the crowd at their off-campus NBA home into a frenzy.

After opening the second half 4-for-14. the Wildcats got baskets from six different players and made six of their first seven shots of the run.

Louisville 71, Marquette 70: Kyle Kuric's layup with 4 seconds left off an assist from Preston Knowles capped a rally by the host No. 18 Cardinals (14-3, 3-1 Big East). Darius Johnson-Odom led the Golden Eagles (12-6, 3-2) with 16 points but Marquette fell apart after taking a 65-47 lead with less than six minutes to go.

Syracuse 67, Cincinnati 52: Freshman center Fab Melo had four points and Brandon Triche and James Southerland each hit three-pointers during a 16-0 run to start the second half for host No. 4 Syracuse (18-0, 5-0 Big East). No. 25 Cincinnati made only 2 of its first 20 shots of the second half.

Connecticut 82, DePaul 62: Kemba Walker scored 22 of his 31 points in the first half, as the No. 10 Huskies (14-2, 3-2 Big East) coasted in Rosemont, Ill.

Pittsburgh 74, Seton Hall 53: Senior center Gary McGhee matched a career high with 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for host No. 5 Pittsburgh (17-1, 5-0 Big East). Seton Hall (8-10, 2-4) has lost four of the last five.

Georgetown 74, Rutgers 65: Austin Freeman had 25 points, Chris Wright 15 and Jason Clark 13 for No. 22 Georgetown in Piscataway, N.J. The Hoyas are 13-5, 2-4 Big East. The Scarlet Knights (10-7, 1-4) lost for the fifth time in six games.

Kansas 63, Nebraska 60: Marcus Morris and Tyrel Reed hit free throws in the final seconds as host No. 3 Kansas (17-0, 2-0 Big 12) erased a 10-point second-half deficit.

Texas A&M 91, Missouri 89: Khris Middleton scored 28 points, including 11 in overtime, as host No. 14 Texas A&M (16-1, 3-0 Big 12) won its 13th in a row. No. 15 Missouri is 15-3, 1-2.

Ohio St. 69, Penn St. 66: Freshman Aaron Craft had 19 points and seven assists, and Jared Sullinger scored 19 points and hit a three-point play with 13.2 seconds left to lift host No. 2 Ohio State (18-0, 5-0 Big Ten).

Wisconsin 76, Illinois 66: Jon Leuer scored 26 points and hit a critical three-pointer down the stretch as host No. 20 Wisconsin (13-4, 3-2 Big Ten) pulled away from No. 16 Illinois (13-5, 3-2).

Duquesne 78, Temple 66: Bill Clark had 22 points and host Duquesne (11-5, 3-0 Atlantic 10) kept No. 19 Temple (12-4, 3-1) without a field goal for the first 11:42 for a 22-2 lead.

San Diego St. 87, New Mexico 77: D.J. Gay scored a career-high 30 points, Kawhi Leonard had 19 points and 15 rebounds for No. 6 San Diego State (19-0, 4-0 Mountain West) in Albuquerque.

Duke 76, Virginia 60: Nolan Smith had 29 points, Andre Dawkins scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, and Mason Plumlee had 16 rebounds as No. 1 Duke (16-1, 3-1 ACC) outscored the Cavaliers 43-18 in the final 16 minutes in Durham, N.C.- AP