Hibbert selective but deadly
The lesson is clear: Do not leave 7-foot-2-inch Roy Hibbert wide open beyond the arc. He will take the long shot, and he can make it. Hibbert’s uncontested three-pointer with four seconds left snapped a tie and capped his 20-point, eight-rebound performance Saturday, lifting No. 7 Georgetown (13-1, 3-0 Big East) to a 72-69 victory over Connecticut. That go-ahead shot kept Hibbert’s career shooting percentage on threes perfect: 2-for-2, with both taken this season. It was a surprising ending to a thrilling, back-and-forth game that UConn led 67-61 with about 4 1/2 minutes left after Jerome Dyson’s fast-break dunk. The result gave Georgetown two straight wins over UConn for the first time since 1993.
Bruins love freshman’s talent
Fifth-ranked UCLA knocked No. 4 Washington State from the unbeaten ranks with an 81-74 victory led by freshman Kevin Love’s eighth double-double of the season. Love had a career-high 27 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Darren Collison added 18 points and the Bruins (16-1, 4-0 Pac-10) won their ninth in a row and seventh straight over the Cougars. “For college, it’s probably my best game overall,” Love said. The Cougars (14-1, 2-1) still have just one victory in 51 games at UCLA. They had lost the previous three meetings in Westwood by a combined eight points. The Cougars made it close at the end with nine three-pointers over the final 5 minutes 48 seconds, five by Derrick Low.
Kentucky looks like Cats of old
Freshman Patrick Patterson had 23 points and 12 rebounds to lift Kentucky to a 79-73 double-overtime win over No. 13 Vanderbilt, stealing back some of the luster missing from the historic program. After Vanderbilt took a 69-68 lead in the first overtime on a layup by Alan Metcalfe, Ramel Bradley answered with a layup for Kentucky (7-7, 1-0 Southeastern Conference). Patterson put the Wildcats ahead 72-69 on a tip-in. “This is why I came to Kentucky,” Patterson said. “I knew we could win games like this. Kentucky is supposed to win games like this.” Shan Foster had 20 points for Vanderbilt (16-1, 1-1), which started the day as one of five unbeaten teams in Division I.
