Cincinnati @ Louisville:
Rick Pitino earned his 300th victory with the Cardinals Monday night by beating Cincinnati 67-51 in front of the home crowd. Louisville picks up their sixth straight win and improve to (25-5) and pull within half a game behind Georgetown.
It was pretty easy going to against the Bearcats as that staunch defense picked off a remarkable season-high 21 turnovers which led to 23 points. Regardless of anything Cincinnati tried to get going offensively, the turnover margin was just too great an obstacle for them to climb.
Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng both netted 11 points as the team shot a respectable 48 percent from the field. Big East fans know not to expect high scoring shootouts, as defense is the mantra of the conference, but guys were taking some NBA range 3-pointers that, despite going in, drew the ire of the coaches.
At the close of the game a video was played congratulating Pitino on the achievement, and the coach somehow managed to get out a speech when you could tell he really needed some tea and a lozenge.
Texas Tech @ Kansas
Well, they are who we thought they were.
No one expected Texas Tech to enter Allen Fieldhouse and escape with a victory, but surely they hoped for a better showing than the 79-42 beat down they received Monday night.
Jeff Withey led all scorers with 22 points, but also led in rebounds (9), and blocks (4). It was the type of dominant performance we've come to expect out of the Center, but you can never be too sure about a player's form heading into March Madness.
The Jayhawks got off to a hot start in the first half, dropping in 7 of their first 9 trips up the court, but a cold streak allowed the Red Raiders to climb back within three only to see Kansas turn the jets back on and put them away for good.
For the seventh straight consecutive season Kansas has at least 26 wins, but it's likely all of their focus is on cutting down the nets in a couple weeks.