PHILADELPHIA — Undefeated Kansas never stood a chance once Allen Ray, Curtis Sumpter and the rest of the spirited Villanova Wildcats got rolling.
Sumpter sank five three-pointers and scored 25 points, Ray made four threes and scored 27 and Villanova led by as many as 32 points in an 83-62 victory over No. 2 Kansas yesterday.
"We had some tough breaks this season, but guys stuck with it everyday," Sumpter said.
Wildcats fans — who braved the first snowstorm in Philadelphia this year — chanted "Overrated!" early in this one and counted down the final seconds before storming the court in celebration.
Illinois, Duke and Boston College are the lone undefeated teams in the Top 25. It was the Jayhawks' worst loss under second-year coach Bill Self.
"It had been coming," Self said. "We've been putting a lot of Band-Aids on our deficiencies."
The Jayhawks (14-1) have hardly played like one of the best teams in the country lately, with five of their previous six games decided by six or fewer points. They were never really in this one against the up-tempo Wildcats (10-4).
Kansas played fast and loose with the ball, making poor decisions that led to turnovers. Self benched his starters for one long stretch in the second half as the game turned into a blowout.
"Villanova exposed us," Self said.
It was the most important regular-season win in coach Jay Wright's four seasons.
"I know the program's going in the right direction," he said. "I know we've got good guys, we've got good guys coming in. It's more for these kids."
The Wildcats went 12 of 19 from three-point range.
Wayne Simien scored 15 points for Kansas.
Other games
No. 3 Wake Forest 74, at No. 20 Cincinnati 70
Eric Williams scored a career-high 29 points to lead the Demon Deacons (16-2) over the Bearcats (15-3), who lost at home to a ranked team for the second time in eight days. They lost to Louisville last Saturday.
Chris Paul added 21 points for Wake Forest.
Cincinnati's Eric Hicks had 18 points.
No. 4 Duke 88, at Florida St. 56
J.J. Redick scored a season-high 31 points as the Blue Devils (15-0 overall, 5-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) were seldom in trouble against the Seminoles (10-9, 2-4).
At No. 5 Oklahoma St. 82, Baylor 53
Joey Graham scored 24 points and freshman JamesOn Curry added 14 points as the Cowboys (14-2, 4-1 Big 12) disposed of the Bears (9-6, 1-3).
Tim Bush led Baylor with 19 points.
At No. 6 North Carolina 87, Miami 67
Sean May had 17 points, Jawad Williams and Jackie Manuel each added 14 and the Tar Heels (16-2, 5-1 ACC) rolled to victory over the Hurricanes (12-5, 3-3).
Miami's Guillermo Diaz finished with 30 points.
At No. 7 Syracuse 72, West Virginia 64
Hakim Warrick had 22 points and 13 rebounds, Gerry McNamara scored 18 points and Billy Edelin added a season-high 12 to lead the Orange (19-1, 6-0 Big East) past the Mountaineers (11-5, 1-4).
At No. 8 Kentucky 89, Louisiana St. 58
Patrick Sparks went 5 of 7 from three-point range and scored 15 points to lead the Wildcats (14-2, 5-0 Southeastern Conference) over the Tigers (9-6, 2-2).
Kentucky has won four straight since losing to Kansas on Jan. 9.
No. 9 Boston College 79, at St. John's 73
Jared Dudley scored 19 points to lead the Eagles (16-0, 5-0 Big East) over the Red Storm (7-8, 1-4).
Virginia Tech 70, at No. 12 Georgia Tech 69
Georgia Tech's Isma'il Muhammad missed two free throws with 5.5 seconds left and the Hokies (10-6, 3-2 ACC) took advantage to beat the Yellow Jackets (11-5, 2-3).
At No. 14 Louisville 85, Tennessee 62
Francisco Garcia scored 20 points to lead the Cardinals (16-3) over the Volunteers (10-8).
At No. 18 Oklahoma 64, No. 15 Texas 60
Kevin Bookout had 18 points and 13 rebounds, Lawrence McKenzie scored 15 and the Sooners (15-2, 4-0 Big 12) defeated the Longhorns (14-4, 3-2), who got 18 points from Daniel Gibson.
No. 21 Pittsburgh 76, at No. 16 Connecticut 66
Chevon Troutman scored 25 of his career-high 29 points in the second half for the Panthers (13-3, 3-2 Big East). Pittsburgh was 17 points down in the first half but came back to beat the Huskies (11-4, 3-2).
At No. 17 Mississippi St. 73, South Carolina 65
Lawrence Roberts had 17 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs (16-4, 4-2 SEC) over the Gamecocks (10-6, 2-3).
Tre Kelley had 22 points for South Carolina.
No. 19 Michigan St. 69, at Minnesota 55
Alan Anderson scored 13 points as the Spartans (12-3, 4-1 Big Ten) made 26 of 28 free throws to turn back the Golden Gophers (13-5, 3-2).
No. 22 Alabama 66, at Mississippi 58
Kennedy Winston scored 26 points and Jermareo Davidson had a game-high 13 rebounds for the Crimson Tide (15-3, 4-1 SEC) in a win over the Rebels (11-8, 2-4).
At No. 23 Iowa 71, Purdue 57
Greg Brunner and Doug Thomas each scored 14 points to help the Hawkeyes (14-4, 2-3 Big Ten) bounce back from an overtime loss to top-ranked Illinois.
Iowa built an 18-point halftime lead over the Boilermakers (4-12, 0-6).
No. 24 Wisconsin 72, at Michigan 61
Mike Wilkinson collected 28 points and a career-high 15 rebounds to help the Badgers (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) beat the Wolverines (12-7, 3-2).
Wisconsin hosts Illinois on Tuesday. The Badgers have the longest home winning streak in Division I — 38 games.
Charlotte 76, at No. 25 Marquette 66
Eddie Basden scored 23 points and Brendan Plavich added 20 as the 49ers (13-3, 4-1 Conference USA) knocked off the Golden Eagles (14-4, 2-3).
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