College basketball: New No. 1 Louisville ge..

Day in the Top 25 • Cardinals warm up in second half to back up ranking.

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Hartford, Conn. • Russ Smith scored 23 points, Gorgui Dieng had six points and 16 rebounds, and Louisville, playing just hours after it moved to No. 1, used a strong second half to beat Connecticut 73-58 on Monday night.

The Cardinals (16-1, 4-0 Big East) won their 11th straight game and like the others they relied on their star backcourt and pressure defense.

The only other time Louisville was ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press' Top 25 was the final poll of 2008-09. The Cardinals won the national championship in 1980 and 1986 but the AP does not conduct a post-NCAA Tournament poll.

The Cardinals are the third team to hold the No. 1 spot this season along with Indiana and Duke and they celebrated the move with the convincing road win.

Louisville shot 60.7 percent in the second half (17 of 28) and hit an even 50 percent for the game.

Omar Calhoun led the Huskies (12-4, 2-2) with 20 points.

No. 4 Kansas 61, Baylor 44 • In Lawrence, Kan., Ben McLemore scored 17 points before leaving in the final minutes with a right ankle injury, and Kansas rolled past Baylor.

College basketball: New No. 1 Louisville gets past UConn