Rick Pitino kept waiting for John Wall to lose his cool.

Moments after Louisville quieted a record Rupp Arena crowd by taking a one-point lead over No. 3 Kentucky midway through the second half Saturday, Pitino thought for a second the freshman star finally might blink.

Instead, Wall responded with six straight points to spark Kentucky's gritty 71-62 victory over its archrival - and win Pitino's admiration.

"When a game gets a little tight like that ... it just shows you how great Wall is because it didn't faze him," Pitino said.

Wall scored 14 of his 17 points in the second half as the Wildcats (15-0) matched their best start in 40 years by breaking a two-game losing streak to the Cardinals (10-4).

"I'm playing at another level I never thought I could play at," Wall said.

•Ashton Gibbs scored 24 and Jermaine Dixon 21 to lead Pittsburgh to a 92-72 road victory over No. 5 Syracuse, dropping the number of major unbeaten teams to four. ... Freshman Xavier Henry had 15 points and Marcus Morris had a big homecoming with 13 as No. 1 Kansas beat No. 18 Temple 84-52 in Philadelphia, snapping the Owls' seven-game winning streak. ... Scottie Reynolds hit a jumper in the lane with 18.1 seconds left, and No. 8 Villanova held on to beat Marquette 74-72 in Milwaukee in the Wildcats' Big East opener. ... Malcolm Armstead scored 21 and Michael Dunigan 20 as Oregon snapped No. 17 Washington's 18-game home winning streak 90-79. ... Howard Crawford's dunk on an inbound play with 1 second left lifted No. 24 UAB to a 73-72 win at Arkansas.

AP