Cards win without Pitino

? Louisville didn’t miss Rick Pitino in its first game without its ailing coach.

With assistant Kevin Willard in charge, the fourth-ranked Cardinals beat Houston, 64-48, Wednesday for their 16th consecutive victory. Spokesman Kenny Klein spoke to Pitino after the game and said Pitino hoped to fly back from Cleveland this morning and make it to Louisville’s afternoon practice.

Larry O’Bannon and Nate Daniels scored 17 points apiece to lead Louisville, which also played without leading scorer Francisco Garcia and point guard Taquan Dean. Garcia sprained his ankle last Sunday, and Dean suffered a pulled groin in a practice last week.

No. 5 Kentucky 71, Mississippi 61

Lexington, Ky. — Erik Daniels scored a career-high 24 points, and reserve Antwain Barbour hit four three-pointers to lift Kentucky past Mississippi. Aaron Harper led Mississippi with 19 points.

No. 6 Connecticut 96, Virginia Tech 60

Blacksburg, Va. — Rashad Anderson hit six three-pointers and scored a career-high 26 points, and Ben Gordon added 22 for the Huskies. Connecticut led 44-27 at halftime and steadily pulled away from the undermanned Hokies.

No. 7 Pittsburgh 68, Boston College 58

Pittsburgh — Chris Taft led a midgame 14-0 run, and Carl Krauser had five key points down the stretch to help Pittsburgh run their Division One-leading home-court winning streak to 38 games. The Panthers needed a game-ending 14-3 run to win after squandering a 12-point lead.

No. 8 Cincinnati 80, East Carolina 57

Cincinnati — Tony Bobbitt made a pair of three-pointers in the span of half a minute to spark Cincinnati. The Pirates still haven’t won a road game in Conference USA since joining the league three years ago.

No. 11 Mississippi State 82, Tennessee 60

Starkville, Miss. — Lawrence Roberts scored 20 points, and Timmy Bowers had 18 to lead Mississippi State to its fourth straight double-digit victory. The defending SEC West champion Bulldogs have a 21/2-game lead over Alabama and LSU and have been overwhelming their opponents of late. Tennessee has lost four straight and five of six.

No. 12 North Carolina 68, N.C. State 66

Chapel Hill, N.C. — Raymond Felton scored 14 points, and Rashad McCants added 13 to lift North Carolina past North Carolina State. Sean May had 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Tar Heels, who snapped a four-game losing streak in the series. Marcus Melvin scored 15 points for the Wolfpack, who swept the series the past two seasons, and Julius Hodge added 12.

No. 17 Wisconsin 69, Ohio State 57

Columbus, Ohio — Devin Harris made five of seven three-pointers and scored 29 points to lead Wisconsin. The Badgers (14-3, 5-1 Big Ten) are off to their best start in conference play since the 1962 team won seven of its first eight. They have won three in a row and five of their last six and share the lead with Indiana.

No. 24 South Carolina 57, Vanderbilt 55

Nashville, Tenn. — Kerbrell Brown tapped in Josh Gonner’s miss with 1.9 seconds left and lifted South Carolina over Vanderbilt for the Gamecocks’ fifth straight win.