Big East

Arizona is streaking and UCLA is teetering in the Pacific-10. Nic Wise scored 26 points, and Jordan Hill had 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Arizona (18-8, 8-5) to an 84-72 victory over the 11th-ranked Bruins (19-6, 8-4) in Tucson yesterday, the Wildcats' seventh win in a row. "We are just fighting and getting better," Wise said. "We still feel we are not at our peak yet. We are still learning things and getting things done on the fly." Arizona broke an eight-game losing streak against UCLA, which was swept in the desert for the first time since 2005.

1 Running the weave: If you don't watch Maryland's men's basketball game on television (4 p.m., Comcast SportsNet), maybe you'll find it online. So you would be seeing the Terps play Charlotte on the Web. 2 Big in Big East: It's another of those Big East showdowns: No. 3 Pittsburgh at No. 11 Georgetown - and it's at lunchtime (noon, ESPN). 3 Volunteer to watch: Traditional women's basketball powers meet as No. 8 Tennessee travels to No. 15 Rutgers (2 p.m., chs. 13, 9). Don Imus is unlikely to attend.

The NCAA women's basketball committee appeared to be in a particularly jaunty mood this year, handing out surprising bids and seeding positions to their 64-team field yesterday.No one was more surprised than Clemson coach Jim Davis, who started the day hoping his Tigers, who won the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament last week, would get a top-four regional seed, which would qualify them to be host in the first and second round.Instead, Clemson got a No. 2 seed in the Mideast, and became a sleeper pick for the Final Four.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- When Johnny Hemsley decided to attend the University of Miami instead of Georgetown or Maryland, he surprised people around his East Baltimore neighborhood and Southern High.Hemsley never doubted his choice, even after he got sidetracked in his first two years, especially after Miami had a surprising 22-6 season and cracked the top 10 for the first time since 1960.But his ultimate validation came last week in New York.It wasn't just picking up the award as the Big East's Most Improved Player.

NEW YORK -- During the first timeout he had called, a little more than 2 1/2 minutes into the second half yesterday at Madison Square Garden, Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun gave his top-ranked Huskies an earful. During the second, 24 seconds later, Calhoun said nothing.Guards Ricky Moore and Khalid El-Amin did most of the talking."Some of the guys were getting a little panicky," Moore said of the 12-point deficit Connecticut faced against ninth-ranked St. John's. "We knew we had a lot of time left and we've been in this situation before."

PHILADELPHIA -- Believe it or not, just 4 1/2 weeks are left until NCAA Selection Sunday. By the time of the Selection Show on March 7, 30 teams will have been crowned conference basketball champions and gotten automatic bids. The show will be about the 34 at-large bids, seedings and matchups.At this point, there are not many more than 40 teams vying for those 34 spots. And 24 of them are probably locked up. So what we have is around 16 teams trying to get one of the last 10 spots.Conference by conference, here is my best guess at how it stands now, including the Rating Percentage Index and how many teams each conference is likely to get.America East (1)

It's that time of year again.Time for the love-stricken to buy cards, flowers, chocolates and cheap wine, and for basketball coaches to start lobbying for their mediocre teams to get into the NCAA tournament.In the Atlantic Coast Conference, five teams -- Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State and Virginia -- will make the tournament. ACC coaches also see Maryland (13-9) with a good chance to gain the field -- six teams would equal the conference's representation last season.

NEW YORK -- There has always been an air of expectancy about the Big East tournament since it first came to Madison Square Garden; the atmosphere similar to that of a heavyweight fight. A seat to the semifinals was the toughest ticket in town.One thing was obvious last night: It's not 1985 anymore.That's the last time the Big East was the biggest player in college basketball's landscape, the new kid who quickly became king. That was the year the then six-year-old league sent three teams to the Final Four and a fourth to the Sweet 16.It was the league of dominant teams with oodles of talent among its players, a league that boasted experienced stars and future NBA stalwarts such as Chris Mullin and Patrick Ewing, as well as a play ground legend named Pearl Washington.

PointsAlvin Williams, Villanova 31Andre Woolridge, Iowa 29Charles O'Bannon, UCLA 28Stacy Harris, Charleston 25Rashid Bey, St. Joseph's 23Tony Gonzalez, California 23ReboundsAntawn Jamison, N. Carolina 16A. J. Bramlett, Arizona 15Thaddeous Delaney, Charles. 13Alfred Grigsby, California 13AssistsJacque Vaughn, Kansas 9Rashid Bey, St. Joseph's 8Cameron Dollar, UCLA 8Anthony Epps, Kentucky 8Biggest upsetIowa State over Cincinnati: The Bearcats were chosen No. 1 in some preseason predictions, but a shaky backcourt caught up with Cincinnati, forcing a second-round exit.

Kevin Norris didn't get much beach time in Miami last summer.Between his sophomore and junior seasons with the Hurricanes, Norris decided that he needed to work on his shot -- and his academic transcript. His regimen over two summer sessions consisted of a three-credit course in the morning, another at night, and in between, close to a thousand jumpers and free throws.For his trouble, Norris got 12 credits in the classroom and a stroke that has brought Miami three buzzer-beating wins in the Big East Conference over the past two weeks.

Two games, two UConn losses, two big performances by Pitt's Sam Young. By now, Connecticut could be excused for not wanting to see the Panthers again, yet the Huskies can't wait for the next matchup. Young dominated one of this season's biggest games with 31 points and host No. 3 Pittsburgh likely secured one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament, opening a 14-point lead early in the second half before holding off top-ranked Connecticut, 70-60, yesterday. Pitt (28-3, 15-3 Big East) had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team in school history before accomplishing it twice in less than a month - both times against Connecticut (27-3, 15-3)

Maryland seniors Marissa Coleman and Kristi Toliver headlined the All-Atlantic Coast Conference first team announced yesterday. Joining them on the first team were Virginia forward Lyndra Littles, Virginia guard Monica Wright and Duke center Chante Black. Toliver, a guard, was the only repeat selection, and her 18-point average ranks second in the ACC. Coleman, a guard-forward, ranks fourth in the ACC with 17 points per game and seventh with nearly eight rebounds per game. Loyola:: Sophomore guard Jamal Barney (Southwestern)

Weyinmi Efejuku scored 16 and Providence upset No. 1 Pittsburgh 81-73 last night for its first win over a top-ranked team in 33 years. Sharaud Curry added 15 points for the host Friars (17-11, 9-7 Big East), who picked up a big victory for their NCAA tournament hopes. DeJuan Blair fouled out on a moving pick with 46 seconds left as Pittsburgh (25-3, 12-3) tried to rally. Blair, the reigning Big East player of the week, averaged 21 points and 20.5 rebounds in wins over No. 1 Connecticut and DePaul that elevated the Panthers to the top spot on Monday.

A.J. Abrams scored 18 of Texas' final 20 points last night, leading the host Longhorns to a 73-68 upset of No. 2 Oklahoma (25-2, 11-1 Big 12), which had to play most of the game without leading scorer and rebounder Blake Griffin after he suffered a concussion in the first half. Abrams scored 16 in a row in the final eight minutes, hitting four three-pointers, then capped the scoring with two free throws with four seconds to play. He finished with 23 points for the Longhorns (18-8, 7-5)

Arizona is streaking and UCLA is teetering in the Pacific-10. Nic Wise scored 26 points, and Jordan Hill had 22 points and 13 rebounds to lead Arizona (18-8, 8-5) to an 84-72 victory over the 11th-ranked Bruins (19-6, 8-4) in Tucson yesterday, the Wildcats' seventh win in a row. "We are just fighting and getting better," Wise said. "We still feel we are not at our peak yet. We are still learning things and getting things done on the fly." Arizona broke an eight-game losing streak against UCLA, which was swept in the desert for the first time since 2005.

Everybody figured Wake Forest would ask star scorer Jeff Teague to take the shot that would knock off No. 1 Duke. That was why coach Dino Gaudio drew up a play instead for the player whose defensive lapse let the Blue Devils tie it. James Johnson made up for a horrible final minute on defense by hitting the layup with 0.8 of a second left that helped the sixth-ranked Demon Deacons upend visiting Duke, 70-68, last night. "We knew everybody was going to key on Jeff Teague - he's the one who scores for us, puts buckets up for us," Johnson said.

The Duke men returned to the top of the Associated Press college basketball poll yesterday, a place the Blue Devils have grown to know well. The Blue Devils (18-1) moved up one spot to No. 1, their first appearance there since the final poll of 2005-06. They were ranked on top for at least one week in every season from 1997-98 to 2003-04. "When you have a chance to be voted No. 1 at any time, it is an honor you don't take lightly," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said yesterday. AP women's poll: : Connecticut was the unanimous top choice for the ninth straight week, Maryland rose four spots to No. 8 and North Carolina slid from second to 10th.

Seton Hall celebrated its first Big East victory of the season the same day it honored its team that almost won it all 20 years ago. "We talked for a couple of days with the kids about carving a piece of the pie for themselves," Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez said of the hoopla surrounding the return of the 1988-89 team that lost to Michigan in overtime in the national championship game. "We felt we could get one." They did by gutting out a 65-60 victory over No. 12 Georgetown yesterday to end a six-game losing streak.

A story in The Sporting News yesterday says the Atlantic Coast Conference is the nation's best conference -- beter even than the Big East, which has been getting so much pub. (For more, go to baltimoresun.com/terpsblog

A.J. Price scored 23 points to lead No. 4 Connecticut to a 76-61 victory over Seton Hall yesterday, the host Huskies' fifth Big East win since losing their conference opener to Georgetown. Hasheem Thabeet added 15 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots for UConn (16-1, 5-1 Big East). Jeff Adrien had 13 points and 12 rebounds, the senior's 40th career double double. UConn has won 22 of its past 24 games against Seton Hall (9-8, 0-5). No. 15 Xavier 73, La Salle 53: : B.J. Raymond scored 16 points and the host Musketeers (15-2, 4-0)