Dean Prevents Spiders’ Upset

Richmond slowed down the game. The Spiders milked the shot clock. They held the ball, played great defense and blocked one Louisville shot after another.

The only thing the Spiders didn’t do is stop Cardinal guard Taquan Dean.

Dean scored 20 of his season-high 30 points in the second half, and the No. 5-ranked Cardinals rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Richmond, 53-45, Monday night at the Colonial Classic at Louisville, Ky.

“I knew we had to fight through it, I knew I had to make something happen, a great defensive stop or something on offense,” Dean said.

The senior ended up doing a little bit of both.

“I’ve been through the wars, I know what adversity is like,” Dean said. “I don’t yell at the guys, I just try to lead by example.”

Louisville (4-0) avoided the upset behind Dean and a defense that limited the Spiders (4-3) to 19 points and seven field goals over the final 20 minutes. The Cardinals also forced 18 turnovers to overcome 13 of their own, including seven by Dean.

“I think we showed tremendous guts and heart down the stretch,” Louisville Coach Rick Pitino said. “You get behind on a team like that, and it’s an uphill battle all the way with the treadmill level on 10.”

With his teammates providing little help, Dean made sure Louisville’s ascent to the top five in the Associated Press poll wouldn’t be short-lived.

After the Spiders took a 32-22 lead with a bit more than 15 minutes left, Dean got rolling.

He scored 11 of Louisville’s next 12 points to pull the team to within two, at 36-34. Minutes later, he banked in a three-point shot from the top of the key to give the Cardinals their first lead of the game with 7:20 left.

The Spiders managed to tie it, at 41-41, but Louisville gained the lead for good on a putback by Chad Millard and a free throw by Brandon Jenkins that put the Cardinals ahead, 44-41. Dean then hit his seventh and final three-point shot of the game to make it 47-41.

*

No. 2 Texas 85, Rice 58 -- Brad Buckman had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and LaMarcus Aldridge had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Longhorns (8-0) won at Houston in a tuneup for their Saturday matchup against top-ranked Duke.

Texas is off to its best start since the 1981-82 team won its first 14 games. The Longhorns used a 14-0 run to build a 23-4 lead eight minutes into the game. Morris Almond had 17 points for Rice (3-4).

*

No. 11 Illinois 75, Arkansas Little Rock 49 -- Freshman reserve Jamar Smith made six three-point field goals and finished with 23 points for the Illini (8-0), who won for the 25th consecutive time at Assembly Hall in Champaign, Ill. Smith made eight of 10 shots overall and had three assists and two steals. He scored seven points and had an assist during a 19-0 second-half run that all but put away Arkansas Little Rock (3-3).

*

No. 19 George Washington 78, No. 21 Maryland 70 -- Reserve Maureece Rice scored a career-high 19 points and Mike Hall had 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Colonials (5-0) in the BB&T; Classic victory at the MCI Center in Washington. George Washington has won four of the last six meetings between the local rivals, including two consecutive.

Chris McCray scored 21 points for Maryland (5-2), which couldn’t overcome 25 turnovers