By RUSTY MILLER ADVERTISING By RUSTY MILLER AP Sports Writer COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State started the week with 15 consecutive wins and ended it with consecutive losses. Now the third-ranked Buckeyes think it might be time to circle the
By RUSTY MILLER
AP Sports Writer
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State started the week with 15 consecutive wins and ended it with consecutive losses.
Now the third-ranked Buckeyes think it might be time to circle the wagons.
LaQuinton Ross scored 22 points, Amir Williams had 11 and Lenzelle Smith Jr. 10 but the Buckeyes watched No. 20 Iowa make all the big plays down the stretch of an 84-74 victory Sunday.
The loss followed the Buckeyes’ 72-68 defeat at No. 5 Michigan State on Tuesday night.
For players not accustomed to losing very often, this is a mini-crisis.
“The worst thing we can do is feel sorry for ourselves,” point guard Aaron Craft said. “We can’t keep this going. We have to find a way to pick ourselves up. No one’s going to do it for us. It’s the 12 players on the team and the coaches and that’s about it.”
The Buckeyes (15-2, 2-2 Big Ten) don’t have to look too far to see what went wrong.
After averaging 10.3 turnovers a game heading into the Michigan State game, they totaled 38 in those two painful losses. During one span in the final minutes against Iowa, where they had 17 turnovers, they handed the ball over without a shot five times on 11 possessions.
Roy Devin Marble scored 22 points and Aaron White added 19 for the Hawkeyes, who ended the game on a 22-9 run.
The Buckeyes had a nine-point lead at one point in the second half.
It was Iowa’s first win over a top 5 team since an 83-65 victory at No. 2 Missouri on Dec. 15, 2001.
Iowa was 0-2 on opponents’ home courts coming in. Their three losses have come against teams with a combined 45-2 record (Villanova, Iowa State and Wisconsin) — with each loss coming by five or fewer points.
The Hawkeyes had not won in Columbus since 2004, losing on their last seven trips.
No. 12 LOUISVILLE 71
SMU 63
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Luke Hancock had a career-high 23 points, including two free throws with 46 seconds remaining, for Louisville in a meeting of Hall of Fame coaches.
Hancock’s second straight 20-point game helped Rick Pitino’s Cardinals (14-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) get the final word in his first collegiate matchup against Larry Brown and his Mustangs (11-4, 1-2).
Making his first start despite dealing with a left Achilles issue, the senior guard made 8 of 15 from the field — 4 of 9 from 3-point range — to help keep Louisville ahead in a tense game that Montrezl Harrell finally settled with a dunk and a block after Hancock’s free throws.
Russ Smith scored 23 points and Harrell added 12 points and 13 rebounds as Louisville bounced back from Thursday’s loss to No. 24 Memphis with 47 percent shooting, despite being outrebounded 48-35 including 20-6 on the offensive end.
Markus Kennedy had 12 points and eight rebounds in his first start of the season for SMU while Shawn Williams added 10 points. The Mustangs hit just 24 of 65 from the field (a season-low 37 percent), well below their league-best 50 percent mark coming in.
SMU made just 13 of 25 free throws and were only 2 of 11 from beyond the arc.
No. 13 SAN DIEGO ST. 79
AIR FORCE 72
AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. — JJ O’Brien had 18 points and 11 rebounds as San Diego State extended its winning streak to 13 games.
It is the second-longest winning streak in school history for the Aztecs (14-1, 3-0 Mountain West) and it continues their second-best start ever behind 20-0 in 2010-11.
Tre’ Coggins had 29 points, including five 3-pointers, for the Falcons (8-7, 2-2), who led for much of the first half before trailing 31-27 at the break.
The Aztecs held a 39-30 rebounding edge including 17-6 on the offensive end. The Aztecs were 7 of 14 from beyond the arc while the Falcons were 7 of 20.
Xavier Thames had 16 points for the Aztecs and Josh Davis added 13 points and 11 rebounds.
WASHINGTON 71
No. 15 COLORADO 54
SEATTLE — C.J. Wilcox set career highs with seven 3-pointers and 31 points, including 21 in the second half, for Washington.
Washington (11-6, 3-1 Pac-12) had lost 12 straight against ranked teams.
Colorado (14-3, 3-1) never recovered after leading scorer Spencer Dinwiddie crumbled to the court late in the first half after his left knee buckled while dribbling on a fast break. Dinwiddie had to be helped to the locker room by teammates and did not return.
The Huskies outscored the Buffaloes 49-29 after Dinwiddie’s injury.
Josh Scott led Colorado with 15 points. Askia Booker, the reigning Pac-12 player of the week, was 0 for 9 from the field and went scoreless for just the second time in his college career.
STANFORD 82
No. 17 OREGON 80
EUGENE, Ore. — Anthony Brown scored a career-high 24 points and Stanford held on to send Oregon to its third straight loss.
Chasson Randle had 23 points for the Cardinal (10-5, 1-2 Pac-12), who beat their second ranked team this season, something they hadn’t accomplished since 2009.
Mike Moser scored 24 points to lead the Ducks (13-3, 1-3), who had two chances to tie the game in the final 8 seconds but Johnathan Loyd missed an open jumper and Dominic Artis had a last-ditch layup roll off the rim as time expired.
Oregon opened the season 13-0 but hasn’t won since beating Utah in overtime on Jan. 2.
Brown made his first seven attempts from the field and 10 of 12 overall. Randle, who was coming off a 30-point performance in a loss to Oregon State in Thursday, was 8 of 14 from the field.
