March 6, 2004

By ARNIE STAPLETON
AP Sports Writer

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Freshman Dameon Mason's three-point play with eight-tenths of a second left gave Marquette an 81-80 victory over No. 25 Louisville on Saturday.

Mason caught the inbounds pass from Scott Merritt on the left wing and swished a jumper as he was being hammered by Alhaji Mohammed, tying the game at 80.

The buzzer and backboard lights went on, but the officials huddled and put time back on the clock after watching replays.

After a Louisville timeout, Mason sank his free throw.

The Cardinals' long desperation inbounds pass was batted away as the buzzer sounded and students stormed the court to celebrate Marquette's second upset victory over Louisville this season.

The Golden Eagles (17-10, 8-8 Conference USA) also ended a 16-game winning streak by Louisville (19-8, 9-7) on Jan. 31 with a 77-70 victory at Freedom Hall.

It appeared as though the Cardinals had their revenge when Dean hit two free throws to put Louisville up 80-78 with 12 seconds left following a questionable whistle on Marquette point guard Travis Diener.

On an inbounds play, Dean split two defenders, including Diener, who was called for his fifth foul even though he didn't make a move.

After a delay of several minutes while coaches Tom Crean of Marquette and Rick Pitino of Louisville gathered with officials Steve Welmer, Gerald Boudreaux and Rick Randall, Dean hit both of his free throws.

Brandon Bell, who replaced Diener, missed a 3-pointer with 4 seconds left - his first shot of the game - but the ball went off a Cardinals' player, setting up Mason's game-winning play.

Mason finished with 14 points, as did Diener, the league's leading scorer who was 3-of-14 from the floor and missed all six of his second-half shots.

Steve Novak led the Golden Eagles with 20 points. His 3-pointer sent the Golden Eagles on a 13-1 run that gave Marquette a 41-32 lead early on.

Francisco Garcia scored 23 for Louisville, which trailed 43-36 at the half. Dean added 16.

Louisville has lost six of its last seven to Marquette, which is hoping for a good showing in the Conference USA tourney to avoid having to go to the NIT a year after advancing to the Final Four.

Both teams went into a free-fall after Marquette ended Louisville's 16-game winning streak in January.

The Cardinals lost six of their next seven before impressive victories over Memphis and Saint Louis. The Golden Eagles' upset failed to propel them as they lost their next four and five of seven before beating East Carolina on Wednesday