UNLV refutes comeback bid by 16th-ranked Louisville

LAS VEGAS — Oscar Bellfield scored 17 points, Tre'Von Willis scored 16 and UNLV hung on to upset No. 16 Louisville 76-71 on Saturday.

The Cardinals (4-1) used a 30-11 run to overcome a 53-34 deficit with 14:05 remaining, tying the score at 64-64 on Rakeem Buckles' basket with 4:24 left. Bellfield answered with six straight points, and the Runnin' Rebels (5-0) managed to hang on in a game they never trailed.

Buckles scored eight of his 10 points during Louisville's tying run. He also finished with 11 rebounds, while Edgar Sosa had 18 points and Samardo Samuels 13.

The Cardinals were coming off a four-game sweep in the Hall of Fame showcase, including a 96-66 rout of Arkansas. But they were unimpressive in a 69-56 win over East Tennessee State and a 90-81 victory over Morgan State, and were stung again by the Runnin' Rebels.

UNLV went into Freedom Hall and won 56-55 last season. Before that, Louisville had won four straight in the series dating to 1993.

Darris Santee added 13 points and a key block in the final minute for UNLV, which led 40-30 at halftime. Derrick Jasper added 12 points and Chace Stanback finished with nine rebounds and two blocked shots. The Cardinals tied the score at 20-20 on Sosa's layup with 9:30 left, but the Rebels shot 56 percent from the field (15 of 27) over the first 20 minutes and led 38-27 following Willis' free throw with 2:24 remaining.

Bellfield scored nine points and Willis had eight during the first half.

VILLANOVA 81, LASALLE 63: At Villanova, Pa., Antonio Pena and Scottie Reynolds scored 14 points each, and No. 4 Villanova unnerved city rival LaSalle with its defense.

Corey Fisher added 13 points and six steals and Dominic Cheek had 10 points for the Wildcats (6-0), who have won eight straight over the Explorers and 20 of the last 21 against Big 5 teams, including Temple, St. Joseph's and Penn. Villanova also won its 30th straight at The Pavilion, its 6,500-seat on-campus arena. The streak began with a 102-87 victory over Notre Dame on Jan. 17, 2007.

NO. 6 PURDUE 64, CENTRAL MICHIGAN 38: At West Lafayette, Ind., E'Twaun Moore scored 15 points and Robbie Hummel had 11 points and 11 rebounds and the Boilermakers beat Central Michigan with defense.

Purdue (5-0) held the Chippewas to four long stretches without a basket, and they shot just 28.3 percent from the field. It was the lowest point total for Central Michigan (2-4) since Ernie Ziegler took over as coach in 2006-07.

NO. 18 GEORGETOWN 97, LAFAYETTE 64: At Washington, Jason Clark had a career-high 19 points, freshman Hollis Thompson added 16 and the Hoyas put six players in double-figures scoring against Lafayette.

Chris Wright had 14 points and Greg Monroe finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists for Georgetown (4-0). Austin Freeman scored 12 and Julian Vaughn finished with 11 more for the Hoyas.