Gibbs leads No. 6 Pitt over No. 4 Connecticut

Ashton Gibbs scored 21 points and No. 6 Pittsburgh defeated visiting fourth-ranked Connecticut, 78-63, last night, in the Big East's first matchup of Top 10 teams.

Kemba Walker scored 31 points for UConn, but missed 17 of 27 shots as the Panthers repeatedly limited the Huskies to a single shot in a possession - often a bad one. The Huskies shot 31.7 percent.

Walker was the only Huskies player in double scoring figures.

Brad Wanamaker added 14 points as Pittsburgh (13-1) beat Connecticut (10-1) for the fourth straight time and the fifth in six games.

In other games:

* At Missouri, Marcus Denmon scored 24 points to lead the No. 9 Tigers (12-1) to a 97-61 blowout victory over Northern Illinois. The win was the 100th at Missouri for coach Mike Anderson, who became the fastest coach in program history to reach that mark, needing only 147 games.

* At Ohio State, William Buford scored 23 points as the No. 2 Buckeyes (13-0) crushed Tennessee-Martin, 100-40.

* At Louisville, Preston Knowles scored a career-high 31 points as the No. 22 Cardinals (11-1) routed Morgan State, 104-74.

* At Indiana, Jeff Brooks had a career-high 23 points and Talor Battle added 19 to help Penn State (8-4, 1-0 Big Ten) snap a two-game losing streak, beating the Hoosiers, 69-60.

* At LSU, Malcolm White scored a season-high 16 points as the Tigers (8-5) defeated Southern University, 62-41.

* At Clemson, Jerai Grant scored 15 points to lead the Tigers (9-4) past Delaware State, 76-41.

* Duke is again a unanimous No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25.

The Blue Devils, who have been on top of the poll all season, received all the first-place votes from the 65-member nationwide media panel. Duke's 3-week run as a unanimous choice fell one vote short last week, when Ohio State received a first-place vote.

Locally, Villanova was eighth, and Temple returned to the poll at No. 25.

Ohio State, Kansas, Connecticut, Syracuse, Pittsburgh and San Diego State second through seventh. Georgetown and Missouri flipped ninth and 10th. Kentucky was No. 11, followed by Purdue, Texas, Minnesota, Notre Dame, BYU, Kansas State, Texas A & M, Central Florida and Michigan State. The last five were Memphis, Louisville, Illinois, Vanderbilt and Temple.

In the women's poll, Connecticut remained atop the rankings for the 51st consecutive week.

* Marquette freshman guard Reggie Smith is leaving the team, but it is unclear where he might transfer.

* Georgia Tech's game against visiting Fordham last night was canceled after Fordham was unable to catch a flight out of New York because of the winter storm. The game will not be made up.

* Southern California forward Evan Smith had shoulder surgery and will miss the rest of the season. *