Filed under: Louisville, Pittsburgh

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Kyle Kuric scored 12 points, including two big baskets in overtime, to lead No. 16 Louisville past No. 4 Pittsburgh 62-59 on Sunday.

Kuric had a potential game-winning layup blocked at the end of regulation, but atoned by hitting a 3-pointer early in the extra session then adding the clinching dunk with less than a second on the clock.

Then things got a little bizarre.

The clock didn’t stop after the basket, which put the Cardinals up 62-57, and the horn sounded. Some Louisville cheerleaders on the baseline raced onto the floor, with one male cheerleader grabbing the ball and tossing it in the air.

Officials called Louisville for a delay of game technical foul and put .5 seconds back on the clock. Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs knocked down two free throws and the Panthers had one last chance to tie, but Gibbs couldn’t get off a desperation heave in time.

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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Brad Stevens didn’t get to watch Butler clinch its regular-season title Saturday.

He would sure like to see another celebration at the Horizon League tournament.

The coach of last season’s national runners-up started experiencing vision problems during Butler’s morning shootaround, then tried coaching in sunglasses before leaving late in the first half with what was later diagnosed as a corneal edema.

Assistant coach Matthew Graves took over for Stevens and led the Bulldogs to a 63-56 victory over Loyola. It gave Butler a share of its fifth straight league title and one of two byes in the postseason tourney.

“Brad gave me a little bit of prep before the game, said his eye was really bothering him,” Graves said. “He said, ‘Be prepared. We might have to make a change.’”

They did.

With 2 minutes to go in the first half, Stevens walked off the court. He and his wife then left Hinkle Fieldhouse to see an eye doctor, turning the reins over to Graves, a longtime assistant and former Butler player.

After the game, team spokesman Jim McGrath said, Stevens’ wife called Graves with two messages. She said her husband told Graves that he did a “great job” and that her husband’s condition should improve within the next 24 hours. He was resting at home Saturday night, McGrath said.

“Right now, I can’t see and my eye feels like it has a thousand scratches,” Stevens said in a statement. “My vision got progressively worse as we were getting ready to start the game, and by the final media timeout of the first half, I could not see the other end of the court and everything in front of me was blurry.”

Losing Stevens, who led Butler (21-9, 13-5) on its incredible ride to last year’s national championship game loss to Duke, was a shock.

“I feel for him, more than anyone else,” forward Matt Howard said after playing what could be his final home game at Butler. “You know how badly he wants to be there, be on the sidelines. He’s our leader, so when you lose him, you might lose a little bit. But we’ve got a great coaching staff and they stepped in and did a great job.”

The win also helped Butler regain some of its league dominance, which took a hit this season.

When the Bulldogs’ lost three straight conference games during an 11-day span which ended Feb. 3, it looked like Butler’s streak of regular-season titles would end.

Instead, the Bulldogs rallied and head to Milwaukee for the conference tourney on a seven-game winning streak. The Panthers clinched the Horizon’s top seed with a 94-87 win over Youngstown State. Cleveland State, a 64-57 winner over Wisconsin-Green Bay, also finished 13-5 in league play but will get the No. 3 seed.

The difference between No. 2 and No. 3 is huge.

Butler gets a bye into the semifinals and needs only two more wins to claim the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA tourney. Cleveland State must win four games to earn the title.

If all goes well, Stevens should be back on the sideline — with a clear vision of what his team needs to do in Milwaukee.

“I’m sure this victory is going to make him feel a lot better,” Graves said. “It came down to getting extra shots, extra loose balls, and these guys did a tremendous job. When you’ve got them on your side, it helps make you look a little bit better.”

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CINCINNATI (AP) — Don’t get Kemba Walker riled.

Walker scored 11 of his 16 points in the second half, after a courtside fan took to taunting him, and No. 14 Connecticut snapped out of its slump by beating Cincinnati 67-59 on Sunday.

The Huskies (21-7, 9-7 Big East) were coming off back-to-back losses, including an overtime defeat at Marquette on Thursday without coach Jim Calhoun. The 68-year-old coach was with his family in New Hampshire after the death of his sister-in-law.

UConn hadn’t dropped three in a row all season and came out with a little extra determination against Cincinnati (22-7, 9-7), which was on a hot streak.

The Huskies led for all but 29 seconds.

“We basically had to act like we had something to prove,” said Shabazz Napier, who had 11 points and six assists. “We got a lead and kept on going with it.”

Walker, who leads the conference in scoring at 23 points per game, had only nine when a fan sitting courtside started taunting him. Walker made three consecutive baskets that built Connecticut’s lead to 11 points, then smiled at the fan as he went down the court.

“I missed a shot and he said, ‘Chris Paul wouldn’t miss that shot,’ ” Walker said, referring to the New Orleans guard. “That’s all right. I came down and made the next one. It was fun.”

Jeremy Lamb added 17 for the Huskies, who went 10 of 19 from behind the 3-point arc. Cincinnati set its defense to deny Walker, leaving openings on the perimeter.

“They were so worried about me, the other guys were able to get shots and they took it to them,” Walker said.

Yancy Gates had 14 points for Cincinnati, which has lost three of its last four home games. The Bearcats had won their last three overall, including victories over Louisville and Georgetown that put them in position to make the NCAA tournament for the first time since Bob Huggins was coach.

Bearcats players spent an hour and 45 minutes in the locker room afterward, talking about their lost opportunity before meeting the media.

“Everybody was kind of disappointed in our overall play,” Gates said. “It wasn’t how we’ve been playing lately. We’ve worked hard to put ourselves in this position. We’re not in bad position, but we should have been more focused on the opportunity we had.”

Their guards couldn’t keep up with the inspired Walker and company.

“Our guards got as outplayed as you possibly could today,” coach Mick Cronin said.

Walker got rolling against the league’s stingiest defense when a fan sitting in the courtside seats started taunting him in the second half. Walker made a 3-pointer from the top of the key a few seconds later, turned and smiled at the fan as he ran down the court. He had a steal for a fast-break score, then made another jumper for a 56-45 lead and said something to the fan, who wouldn’t taunt him again.

It was a rough week for Calhoun, who took responsibility Friday for recruiting violations. The school was put on three years’ probation, lost scholarships and received recruiting restrictions. Calhoun got a three-game suspension that he will serve at the start of the 2011-12 Big East season.

Calhoun referred to the emotional week and praised his young players for coming through.

“I’ve had some very good teams over the last few years,” Calhoun said. “This is one of my favorite teams of all time.”

The Huskies appeared to be in trouble when Walker picked up his third foul with 16:37 to go and Cashmere Wright made both free throws for a 33-32 lead, Cincinnati’s only one in the game. It didn’t last long.

The 3 got UConn back ahead. Roscoe Smith and Napier made shots from behind the arc during a 12-2 run that gave the Huskies their biggest lead, 47-37, with 12:18 to go. Then Walker made his three consecutive shots to put UConn in control the rest of the way.

The long-range shooting was quite out of character. Connecticut ranks 12th in the Big East, making 33.5 percent of its 3-point attempts.

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