No. 1 Louisville 73, Connecticut 58: Russ Smith scored 23 points and the visiting Cardinals protected the top-ranked billing they received earlier in the day by rallying past the Huskies in Big East play.

Chane Behanan had 16 points and nine rebounds, Peyton Siva scored 11 points and Gorgui Dieng matched a career high with 16 rebounds as Louisville (16-1, 4-0 Big East) rebounded from an eight-point, second-half deficit to win its 11th consecutive game.

Omar Calhoun scored 20 points and Shabazz Napier added 12 for Connecticut (12-4, 2-2), which missed 11 straight second-half shots over a nine-minute stretch to see a two-point lead turn into a 16-point deficit.

The Huskies led 36-28 early in the second half and held their last lead at 41-39 on a basket by DeAndre Daniels with 15:51 to play. Louisville ripped off a 21-3 surge during Connecticut’s cold spell with Luke Hancock scoring the final six points of the stretch to give the Cardinals a 60-44 lead.

Ryan Boatright ended the Huskies’ field-goal drought with a 3-pointer with 6:49 remaining but Connecticut never got back within single digits.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Louisville racked up 10 steals and forced Connecticut into 17 turnovers. … The Huskies were 7-of-27 shooting (25.9 percent) in the second half to finish at 39.6 percent. Connecticut shot 53.8 percent in the first half when it led 34-28 at the break. … Siva sat out most of the first half after picking up two early fouls and scored nine second-half points.