EVANSTON, Ill. — Craig Moore slammed the ball in frustration and yelled at a teammate as they headed to a timeout, his frustration boiling over in the early going.

By the end, he was all smiles.

Moore hit six 3-pointers and finished with 22 points to lead Northwestern over No. 18 Minnesota, 74-65, yesterday for its first win against a ranked opponent in nearly three years.

"We knew we were capable," Moore said. "We just had to finish it."

Long a Big Ten doormat, the Wildcats (9-6, 1-4) have hinted that better days are coming. Well, this certainly was one.

The Wildcats had not beaten a Top 25 team since a three-point victory over then-No. 18 Iowa on Feb. 8, 2006. They had dropped 26 of 27 Big Ten regular-season games, including their first four this season after going 1-17 in the conference a year ago.

Yet, there they were, going on a 16-0 run early in the second half to grab a 10-point lead and knocking off a Minnesota team that had done nothing but exceed expectations in coach Tubby Smith's second season. The Golden Gophers' only other loss was to Michigan State.

The Gophers (16-2, 4-2) simply stumbled — particularly in the second half. Northwestern also switched its defense, going from a matchup zone to a 1-3-1, in the second half.

"They're going to win a lot of games, Northwestern," Smith said.

Lawrence Westbrook scored 18 for Minnesota.

No. 4 Connecticut 76, Seton Hall 61: A.J. Price scored 23 points to lead the host Huskies (16-1, 5-1 Big East) over the Pirates (9-8, 0-5).

Hasheem Thabeet added 15 points, 17 rebounds and four blocked shots for UConn. Jeff Adrien had 13 points and 12 rebounds, the senior's 40th career double-double.

Seton Hall's Jeremy Hazell scored 15 of his 20 in the second half. He was just 2-of-11 from the field in the first half. Robert Mitchell added 19 points and nine rebounds for the Pirates.

No. 15 Xavier 73, La Salle 53: B.J. Raymond scored 16 points, hitting long shots over La Salle's zone defense, and the host Musketeers (15-2, 4-0 Atlantic 10) relied on their offensive balance to beat the Explorers (9-7, 1-2).

Yves Mekongo Mbala and Rodney Green led La Salle with 15 points apiece.

No. 19 Purdue 75, Iowa 53: E'Twaun Moore scored 13 points to help the host Boilermakers (14-4, 3-2 Big Ten) defeat the Hawkeyes (11-7, 1-4).

David Palmer scored 19 points and Matt Gatens added 11 for the Hawkeyes, who lost their third consecutive game.

No. 23 Villanova 76, St. John's 57: Dante Cunningham scored 17 points and Dwayne Anderson added a season-high 14 to lead the host Wildcats (14-3, 2-2 Big East) over the Red Storm (10-7, 1-4).

Antonio Pena had 12 points for the Wildcats, who set a team mark with their 24th straight home-court victory. D.J. Kennedy had 18 points and Quincy Roberts 14 for St. John's.

WOMEN

No. 3 Oklahoma 71, No. 8 Texas A&M 59: Danielle Robinson had 19 points and 10 assists to lead the Sooners (13-2, 3-0 Big 12) past the visiting Aggies (14-2, 2-1).

Freshman guard Whitney Hand had a career-high five 3-pointers in six attempts and scored 17 points for Oklahoma, which moved into a tie with Baylor atop the Big 12 standings.

Oklahoma center Courtney Paris had 11 points and 14 rebounds to extend her NCAA-record streak of consecutive double-doubles to 108 games, but didn't reach double digits in points until 1:01 remained.

No. 6 Auburn 70, Arkansas 61: DeWanna Bonner scored 19 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to help the Tigers (18-0, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) remain unbeaten with a victory over the host Razorbacks (11-7, 0-3).

Whitney Boddie added 12 points and 10 assists for Auburn.

Ceira Rickets had 14 points, 13 rebounds and 12 assists to lead Arkansas. The 12 assists matched the school record for most in an SEC game.

No. 11 California 57, No. 9 Stanford 54: Alexis Gray-Lawson scored a career-high 37 points, converting two free throws with 1:09 to play that put her team ahead for good and scoring again with 21 seconds left to lift the host Golden Bears (14-2, 5-0 Pac-10) over the Cardinal (13-4, 4-1).

The Golden Bears won their sixth straight and beat the Cardinal in Berkeley for the first time since a 64-59 victory on Feb. 12, 1993, and the first time overall since a win Feb. 4, 2007, on Stanford's home floor to snap a 14-game skid in the series.

Jayne Appel had 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists playing all game in foul trouble for the Cardinal, who saw their five-game winning streak snapped.

No. 12 Maryland 96, Virginia Tech 79: Kristi Toliver scored a season-high 29 points, hitting a career-best eight 3-pointers, and the host Terrapins (15-3, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Hokies (8-9, 0-4).

Lindsay Biggs scored a career-high 25 points and Utahya Dye added 20 for Virginia Tech, which has dropped four straight games.

No. 13 Tennessee 68, South Carolina 56: Alex Fuller scored 14 points and the host Lady Vols (14-3, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) beat the Gamecocks (8-9, 0-4) for the 36th consecutive time.

Coming out of halftime with a 33-30 lead, the Lady Vols used a 15-4 run to take over the game. A layup by Glory Johnson with 12:12 left gave Tennessee a 50-34 lead.

No. 18 Vanderbilt 75, LSU 67: Christina Wirth scored 15 of her team-high 17 points in the second half, and reserve forward Chanel Chisholm added a career-high 15 to help the host Commodores (14-4, 3-0 Southeastern Conference) beat the Tigers (9-6, 2-1).

Guards Jennifer Risper, Merideth Marsh and Jessica Moody all added 10 points for the Commodores, who are 3-0 in the SEC for the first time since 2000-01. Allison Hightower led LSU with a career-high 22 points.

No. 19 Florida 61, Georgia 45: Marshae Dotson scored 20 points, Sha Brooks added 15, and the host Gators (17-2, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) beat the Bulldogs (11-7, 1-2), ending a nine-game losing streak in the series.

The Gators trailed 31-30 early in the second half, but used a 24-6 run to take the lead for good. Steffi Sorensen hit three 3-pointers in the spurt. She was 4-of-9 shooting from behind the arc and finished with 12 points.

No. 21 Marist 65, Siena 55: Julianne Viani scored 19 of her game-high 23 points in the second half as the host Red Foxes (17-1, 8-0 MAAC) beat the Saints (5-11, 4-3).

Rachele Fitz added 15 points and nine rebounds for the Red Foxes, who defeated Siena for the ninth straight time. Allie Lindemann scored 17 points and Sarah Fullmer added 14 for the Saints.

No. 23 Rutgers 76, Marquette 53: Epiphanny Prince scored 23 points to help the host Scarlet Knights (10-5, 2-2 Big East) beat the Golden Eagles (11-7, 2-2).

Krystal Ellis scored 14 points for Marquette.

Florida State 59, No. 24 Georgia Tech 49: Jacinta Monroe had 15 points, 10 rebounds, and a school-record nine blocks to help the host Seminoles (16-4, 4-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) extend their winning streak to seven games with a victory over the Yellow Jackets (13-4, 1-2).

Monroe was one block shy of the the first triple-double in school history. Alex Montgomery led the Yellow Jackets with 14 points and Jacqua Williams added 12.

Louisiana Tech 70, San Jose State 53: Shanavia Dowdell scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead four Lady Techsters (9-9, 2-2 Western Athletic Conference) in double figures in a win over the visiting Spartans (2-15, 1-3).

Whitney Jones, Adrienne Johnson and Brietta Thomas each added 12 points for Tech. Chasity Shavers and Kelly Blair each led SJSU with 17 points. Blair added 11 rebounds.

New Mexico State 80, Fresno State 74: Madison Spence scored a game-high 20 points as the host Aggies (6-12, 2-2 WAC) had five players score in double figures in a win over the Bulldogs (12-6, 3-2).

Kaitlyn Soto and Danisha Corbett had 13 points apiece, Tabytha Wampler scored 12 points and Tyshae Walton added 10 points for NMSU. Marnique Arnold led the Bulldogs with 17 points.