Louisville upsets No. 5 UConn 79-78 in 2 OTs
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Peyton Siva scored 19 points, including two key layups in the second overtime, and No. 23 Louisville upset No. 5 Connecticut 79-78 on Saturday.
Terrence Jennings added 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Preston Knowles and Kyle Kuric each added 15 points for Cardinals (17-4, 6-2), who have won four of their last five games to take sole possession of second place in the Big East.
The Cardinals came back from a nine-point second-half deficit. They tied the game in regulation on a Siva layup with 29 seconds left, and sent the game into a second overtime on a Siva dunk.
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Shabazz Napier had 18 of his 23 points for UConn (17-3, 5-3) after halftime. Jeremy Lamb had 21 and Kemba Walker added 20. But Walker missed a jumper at the end of regulation and a long 3-pointer at the end of the second overtime that would have given the Huskies the win.
The loss snapped a six-game winning streak for UConn, and was their first at home in 12 games at home.
Louisville hit just four 3-pointers in regulation, but hit another four in the two OTs.
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Consecutive 3s by Knowles and Kuric to start the second overtime put Louisville up 75-69.
A floater from Lamb cut the lead to 75-71, but Siva drove the lane to put the Cardinals back up by six.
His second layup made it 79-74, before UConn Napier hit a jumper to cut it to three. Siva and Chris Smith missed foul shots that would have iced the game, and Walker cut it to one on a pair of free throws.
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But his 25-footer at the buzzer missed.
UConn led by four in the first overtime, but Siva dunked with just over 7 seconds left to tie it up and Lamb missed an off-balance 3-pointer, sending the game into a second extra period.
Walker was just two of nine from the field in the first half, but scored seven points during 9-3 run midway through the second that turned a 41-38 lead into a 50-41 advantage.
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Louisville turned up the defensive pressure, going to its full-court press and cut the lead to 52-48.
Napier's 25-foot jumper pushed the lead back to seven, but Louisville came back again.
They forced consecutive turnovers that led to a 3-pointer from Kuric that tied the game, and a pair of free throws from Siva that gave the Cardinals the lead at 57-55.
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Trailing 57-56, Walker hit a long 3-pointer that gave UConn a 59-57 lead with 1:11 to play.
With the defense defending the 3-pointer, Siva drove the lane with 29 seconds left and tied the game. UConn called a timeout with 16 seconds left to set up the final play.
Walker drove the right side but missed a fall-away jumper with 3-tenths of a second to go, sending the game into overtime.