NEW YORK — Texas Tech’s scruffy walk-on Avery Benson tried to crowd surf at Madison Square Garden and coach Chris Beard thrust his fist in the air at many of the same rabid fans who had told security they were going to rush the court.
The fans were held at bay after No. 1 Louisville went down — but the dancing and water-spraying was on full blast in the Red Raiders’ locker room.
Time to get rowdy? For the Red Raiders, you bet.
About the only thing wilder than the postgame party has been the upset craze at the top of the national rankings. Here’s one poll position no team may want: Louisville is the latest No. 1-and-done team to lose soon after securing the top spot.
Benson sparked the Red Raiders with a pair of highlight-reel blocks, and Davide Moretti scored 18 points and hit successive 3-pointers that helped send them on their way and knock off undefeated No. 1 Louisville 70-57 on Tuesday night.
Louisville became the fourth top-ranked team to lose this season, joining Michigan State, Kentucky and Duke.
“I think it just means it’s a great year for college basketball,” Beard said.
It was a great night for the Red Raiders (6-3).
The Cardinals (9-1) easily played their worst game of the season, shooting an abysmal 34 % from the floor and leading scorer Jordan Nwora had only 14 points. Coach Chris Mack let loose his frustration in the Jimmy V Classic game in the final 90 seconds and was whistled for a technical.
Moretti hit a pair of free throws to seal the win and Texas Tech fans sitting behind the basket told security to “move the rope, we’re running on the floor!”
There was no court storming at the Garden — but another AP No. 1 bit the dust in an upset. It’s the third time an unranked team has beaten an AP No. 1 this season.
“I don’t know what it speaks of, I’m more worried about losing to Texas Tech,” Mack said.
The Red Raiders lost four of their top five scorers off the team that took Virginia to overtime before losing in the NCAA championship game last season. While Beard could have expected a bit of a transition season, three straight losses, including one at — an albeit, improved and nationally ranked — DePaul made for a rocky start. And with leading scorer Jahmi’us Ramsey (17.3 points) out for the third straight game because of a hamstring injury, the prospect for a win at MSG seemed remote.
Then again, no team can be counted out this season against the hoops heavyweights.
Moretti buried two straight 3s midway through the second half (he missed his eight other attempts) for an 11-point lead that gave the Red Raiders the space they needed. Chris Clarke hit another 3 for Texas Tech and it went into a timeout with a seven-point lead.
Louisville could never make a run, and Nwora was held below his 21.4 scoring average. Louisville missed 3s, layups and generally looked lethargic on offense. Down eight, guard Darius Perry was whistled for a charge in the paint and the unraveling Cards were about out of chances.
“We’re going to have to grow from this and use it as a lesson learned,” Mack said.
Security did man the baseline to keep the wildly enthusiastic Red Raiders fans at bay.
“We had the Raider Power going in Madison Square Garden,” Beard said.
The Cardinals missed 20 of 28 shots overall from the floor in the first half and were limited from 3-point range, the kind of shooting that gave a scuffling team like Texas Tech a chance.
And who knew, the walk-on would lead them.
Benson, one of only three players back from last year’s team, had the Red Raiders fans going wild with a pair of sensational blocks that stunned the Cards. Benson stuffed Nwora, a player of the year candidate, and then finished the half with a monster rejection off a Lamarr Kimble shot at the horn to send the Red Raiders into halftime up 31-28. They led by as many as nine in the half and were in prime position to pull off the No. 1 stunner.
Benson, the shaggy-haired, ink-stained bundle of energy, had his teammates riled up from tip.
“Sometimes, it’s hard to pump the breaks,” he said. “But I’d rather pump the breaks than not be rolling at all.”
NO. 2 KANSAS 95,
WISCONSIN-MILWAUKEE 68
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Devon Dotson had 22 points and nine assists while Udoka Azubuike added 15 points and 17 rebounds for Kansas.
Ochai Agbaji also had 22 points for the Jayhawks (8-1), who built a 40-12 lead in the first half and cruised the rest of the way to their 26th consecutive home win. It also gave them 300 for the decade, joining Gonzaga (304) as the only Division I schools to have reached the milestone before the calendar flips to January.
Darius Roy had 25 points to lead the Panthers (5-5), who actually outscored the Jayhawks most of the second half. Leading scorer Te’Jon Lucas was held to 11 points on 1-of-6 shooting from beyond the arc.
PENN STATE 76,
NO. 4 MARYLAND 69
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State became the fifth unranked team to beat a top-5 program in this upset-filled season, getting 15 points and 11 rebounds from Mike Watkins to beat Maryland.
Lamar Stevens added 15 points and 10 rebounds, Myreon Jones scored 14, Izaiah Brockington scored 14 and Myles Dread had 12 for the Nittany Lions (8-2, 1-1 Big Ten), who led for all but 1:54.
Jalen Smith had 12 points and 11 rebounds for the Terrapins (10-1, 1-1), who were trying for their first 11-0 start since 1996.
NO. 11 BAYLOR 53, NO. 18 BUTLER 52
WACO, Texas — Mark Vital blocked Kamar Baldwin’s potential go-ahead shot with 1.5 seconds left and Baylor handed Butler its first loss.
It was the second win in a row, and third this season, for Baylor (8-1) over a Top 25 team.
Butler (9-1) was the third team during the day to lose for the first time, after No. 1 Louisville and No. 4 Maryland fell. That left five undefeated Division I teams.
Baylor coach Scott Drew is a 1993 Butler graduate and faced his alma mater as a head coach for the first time.
NORTHERN IOWA 79,
NO. 24 COLORADO 76
BOULDER, Colo. — Spencer Haldeman stole a pass and raced down the floor for a tiebreaking layup with 49 seconds remaining to send Northern Iowa over Colorado.
Northern Iowa (9-1) defeated a ranked team for the first time since topping No. 25 Wichita State 53-50 on Feb. 13, 2016. The Panthers had lost their previous seven encounters against ranked opponents.
