Nate Daniels scored 15 points and Otis George tied a career-high with 10 rebounds Wednesday to lead No. 10 Louisville to a 76-42 victory over Southern Mississippi.
The Cardinals (10-1), fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense, held the Golden Eagles scoreless for 12:52 bridging halftime in the Conference USA opener for both teams.
Southern Miss (7-5) missed 15 consecutive shots and committed 15 turnovers during the span. The Eagles finished 15-of-51 from the field (29 percent) and committed 21 turnovers -- 12 on Louisville steals.
Charles Gaines led the Eagles with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
No. 11 Cincinnati 71, Tulane 44
In New Orleans, reserve guard Tony Bobbitt scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half for the Bearcats in the Conference USA opener for both teams.
Jason Maxiell and Field Williams each scored 13 points for the Bearcats (10-0), who are off to their best start in five years.
No. 12 North Carolina 89,
Miami 64
In Chapel, Hill, North Carolina, Sean May had 23 points and 16 rebounds, and Jawad Williams, Rashad McCants and Jackie Manuel each scored 15 points for the Tar Heels (9-2).
Robert Hite scored 27 points to lead the Hurricanes (10-4), who fell to 1-7 against their future Atlantic Coast Conference rival. Darius Rice finished with seven points -- 11 below his average -- for Miami, which leaves the Big East for the ACC next season.
No. 14 Florida 65,
South Carolina 62
In Columbia, South Carolina, David Lee had 21 points and 14 rebounds for Florida over South Carolina in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Lee was 8-of-12 from the field, making him 29-of-35 in the past four games for the Gators (10-2).
Lee's spinning heave about one meter (4 feet) from the basket with 4:50 left broke a 57-all tie and put Florida ahead for good.
Josh Gonner led the Gamecocks (13-2) with 18 points.
No. 17 Syracuse 65, St. John's 59
In Syracuse, New York, Gerry McNamara scored 14 of his 23 points over the final 11 minutes to lead Syracuse over St. Johns in the Big East opener for both teams.
Syracuse (10-1) won for the 10th straight time and handed the Red Storm (4-7) their third loss in five games under interim head coach Kevin Clark.
Grady Reynolds led St. John's with 13 points and 13 rebounds, while Elijah Ingram, the Red Storm's leading scorer with a 13.9 average, had three points on 1-of-12 shooting.
No. 19 Illinois 85, Ohio St. 63
In Champaign, Illinois, reserve Nick Smith scored a career-high 22 points without missing a shot for Illinois in the Big Ten opener for both teams.
Smith was 6-for-6 from the field, including one 3-pointer, and went 9-for-9 from the free throw line. He grabbed nine rebounds.
Dee Brown scored 16 points for Illinois (10-2), which ran its Assembly Hall record to 43-1 over the past four seasons.
Terrance Dials had 11 points for Ohio State (8-6).
No. 20 Vanderbilt 59, Auburn 53
In Nashville, Tennessee, Matt Freije scored 15 points and Corey Smith added 10 for Vanderbilt in the Southeastern Conference opener for both teams.
Vanderbilt (12-0), which blew a 17-point first-half lead, is off to its best start in school history.
Marco Killingsworth had 12 points for Auburn (9-3).
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
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Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was