NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Samardo Samuels grabbed the ball and launched a game’s worth of frustration and all of his 260 pounds at the rim. Surely, this would be the moment the Louisville freshman would help the third-ranked Cardinals take control and finally put away Western Kentucky.

Jeremy Evans had other ideas. The Western Kentucky center – all 190 pounds of him – thrust his arm between the ball and the basket and somehow sent Samuels sprawling to the floor.

The rest of the Cardinals soon followed in a stunning 68-54 upset. (more…)

NEW YORK (AP) – Oklahoma was ahead of Texas in the BCS standings Sunday and headed to the Big 12 championship game with an inside track to the national title.

A three-way tie between Oklahoma, Texas and Texas Tech atop the Big 12 South standings forced the league to use its fifth tiebreaker, best BCS rating, to determine which team will play Missouri on Saturday in Kansas City, Mo.

The Sooners (11-1), who lost to Texas 45-35 in October, barely edged the Longhorns. Oklahoma has a .9351 BCS average. Texas’ BCS average is .9223. (more…)

After losing back-to-back home games, Rutgers got a much needed victory Sunday afternoon at the RAC.

The Scarlet Knights downed in-state rival St. Peter’s 68-47 to improve to 4-2 on the season.

Anthony Farmer led Rutgers with 13 points and JR Inman, who is still battling a knee injury but made his first start of the season, had 10 points and 9 rebounds for the Knights, who shot 48 percent from the field.

“We evaluate every day,” head coach Fred Hill said of starting Inman. “We’ve had some slow starts, so we just changed the lineup…to give us a boost and give some other guys a chance to get going.”

Mike Rosario, Mike Coburn and Earl Pettis scored 8 points apiece. Rosario shot 4-of-10 from the field.

Wesley Jenkins led St. Peter’s (1-4) with 18 points and Nick Leon had 17. (more…)

Here’s my interview with Cincinnati guard Deonta Vaughn, who is averaging 13.3 points and 4.5 assists for the 5-1 Bearcats. Vaughn, who tallied 19 points and six assists in Saturday’s 67-65 victory over UNLV, discusses Mike Williams, Rashad Bishop, John Riek and Cincinnati’s chances in the loaded Big East.

Clark Francis’ rankings of the Top Seniors in the Class of 2009 are out and Brooklyn Lincoln guard Lance Stephenson tops the list.

Stephenson has said he will wait until the spring to announce his future plans. St. John’s, Kansas and USC are among the schools recruiting him, and some speculate he may also opt to follow Brandon Jennings to Europe.

Derrick Favors of South Atlanta follows at No. 2; Plantation (Fl.) American Heritage guard Kenny Boynton (Florida) is No. 3; Mobile (Al.) LeFlore center DeMarcus Cousins (UAB) is No. 4; and Elizabeth (N.J.) St. Patrick guard Dexter Strickland (North Carolina) is No. 5.

The next five include Putnam City (Ok.) guard Xavier Henry (Memphis); Tampa (Fl.) Sickles forward John Henson (North Carolina); Tacoma (Wash.) guard Abdul Gaddy (Washington); Findlay (Nev.) Prep guard Avery Bradley (Texas); and St. Anthony (N.J.) wing Dominic Cheek. (more…)

Notre Dame forward Luke Harangody is out indefinitely after being diagnosed with pneumonia and no timetable has been set for his return.

Harangody became ill following Notre Dame’s 81-80 win over sixth-ranked Texas in the semifinals of the EA Sports Maui Invitational, but played in the Irish’s 102-85 loss to top-ranked North Carolina in the championship game.

Harangody leads the Irish in both scoring and rebounding averaging 22.6 points and 11.2 rebounds. He was named to the all-tournament after averaging 18.6 points and 8.3 rebounds. Harangody has never missed a game during his Notre Dame career and has started 54 of 70 games.

The Irish junior returned with the team from Maui, but stayed in the Chicago area. Currently, he is resting at his parent’s home in Schererville, but is expected to be on the bench for Notre Dame’s home game against Furman on Sunday afternoon.

“There’s no timetable set right now in terms of when Luke is going to be able to play in a game,” Irish head coach Mike Brey said. “We’re going to be very careful and cautious with his illness. Our immediate concern is Luke and is health.”

Here’s my game story from last night when No. 4 Pitt downed Washington STate, 57-43, to win the Legends Classic. Brooklyn native Levance Fields had 14 points but is still rounding into shape, so to speak.

If you don’t think Pittsburgh has a recruiting pipeline into New Jersey, consider this:

**The Panthers practiced at St. Anthony Saturday during their stay for the Legends Classic. Think that helps with recruiting a player like St. Anthony senior Dominic Cheek?

“It worked out good,” Pitt coach Jamie Dixon said of the practice. “It was closer to the hotel [in Jersey City]. We always try to do that. We practice at the Gauchos Gym when we’re in New York. We’ve practiced at St. Benedicts [in Newark].”

He added: “Coach [Bob] Hurley and I talk all the time. He watched the game tonight on TV.” (more…)

Seton Hall could have easily experienced a letdown playing a noon game against Delaware on Saturday after pulling off victories over USC and Virginia Tech in Puerto Rico.

But the Pirates came up with big plays down the stretch and downed the Blue Hens 75-70 at the Prudential Center to improve to 5-1 on the season.

“I’m just happy we found a way to win, but believe me we’re going to have to play better next time out,” Pirates coach Bobby Gonzalez told WABC radio. “We’re going to have to use this to teach; we got some work to do. (more…)

Charles Barkley and LeBron James are involved in a war of words.

On TNT’s “Inside the NBA” show Thursday, Barkley criticized King James for taking questions about his plans in 2010 earlier this week in New York. The Knicks and Nets are both clearing cap room in order to sign James that year.

“The outside forces should never affect your locker room,” Barkley said. “I think LeBron has made some of the right comments, but he hasn’t made the perfect comment. He still alienated 11 guys in his locker room. What I mean by that, he hasn’t said, ‘We are 12-3 right now, we are a championship-caliber team and we are going to win multiple championships here while I’m here, period, end of story.’ ”

On Wednesday Barkley made similar comments on Dan Patrick’s radio show: “If I was LeBron James, I would shut the hell up.” (more…)

Jim Boeheim says he made a mistake and his players covered for him.

Three days after beating defending national champion Kansas and 2006 and ’07 champ Florida in back-to-back nights for the CBE Classic title in Kansas City, the weary Orange came home and played Virginia.

Syracuse downed the Cavaliers, 73-70, Friday night behind 15 points apiece from Jonny Flynn and Andy Rautins. Eric Devendorf added 14 and Paul Harris 13 for the Orange, who outscored Virginia 44-30 in the second half.

Former Queens Holy Cross star Sylven Landesberg led the Cavs with 16. (more…)