PITTSBURGH — No. 19 Pittsburgh controlled the tempo and the offensive rebounding to hand No. 3 Villanova its second consecutive loss.

Ashton Gibbs scored 21 points, Gilbert Brown added 16 and Gary McGhee's 10 rebounds led the Panthers to the upset of the Wildcats, 70-65, yesterday.

The first meeting between the two since Villanova's dramatic NCAA tournament win last year turned out to be a typical, physical Big East matchup. Last season, Scottie Reynolds' last-second dash to the basket gave the Wildcats a 78-76 win to send them to the Final Four.

No last-second heroics yesterday for Reynolds, who finished with 20 points.

"I wanted to win that game for the players that left last year," said Pitt guard Jermaine Dixon, one of only two seniors on this year's squad. "I felt bad for losing that game and I felt responsible and I definitely wanted to win that game for them."

This time, the Panthers (21-6, 10-4) built up enough of a cushion to hold off the Wildcats (22-4, 11-3), who lost back-to-back games for the first time in two seasons and fell a game back of Big East leader Syracuse.

"I think the good thing about our team is that they understand how to move on to the next game," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "When we were winning, that's what we told them."

No. 6 Duke 67, Virginia Tech 55: Kyle Singler had 25 points and 10 rebounds, Nolan Smith added 23 points and the Blue Devils (23-4, 11-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) pulled away late to beat the Hokies (21-5, 8-4) at Durham, N.C.

Malcolm Delaney, the ACC's leading scorer, had 19 points for Virginia Tech.

No. 9 Ohio State 74, No. 11 Michigan State 67: Evan Turner scored 20 points as the Buckeyes (21-7, 11-4 Big Ten) held off the Spartans (21-7, 11-4) at East Lansing, Mich.

Durrell Summers led Michigan State with 16 points.

No. 14 Wisconsin 70, Northwestern 63: Jason Bohannon scored 17 points as the Badgers (20-7, 10-5 Big Ten) beat the Wildcats (17-10, 6-9) at Madison, Wis.

John Shurna led Northwestern with 26 points.

TOP 25 WOMEN

Michigan State 71, No. 7 Ohio State 68: Brittney Thomas scored 19 points, including a basket to trigger an 8-0 run and two clinching free throws in overtime, to lead the Spartans (19-8, 10-6 Big Ten) to an upset of the Buckeyes (26-4, 14-3) at Columbus, Ohio.

Jantel Lavender led Ohio State with 24 points and 11 rebounds.

No. 8 Duke 71, Maryland 59: Karima Christmas scored a career-high 25 points and made four steals as the Blue Devils (23-4, 11-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Terrapins (18-9, 5-7) at Durham, N.C.

Lynetta Kizer had 13 points and 13 rebounds for Maryland.

No. 11 Oklahoma 64, Kansas State 58: Nyeshia Stevenson scored a game-high 24 points and the Sooners (19-7, 9-3 Big 12) overcame a 21-point deficit early in the second half to beat the Wildcats (12-14, 4-8) at Manhattan, Kan.

Ashley Sweat led Kansas State with 19 points.

No. 16 Kentucky 71, South Carolina 50: Victoria Dunlap scored 16 points and the Wildcats (23-4, 11-3 Southeastern Conference) surged to a 16-point halftime lead and never trailed in routing the Gamecocks (13-13, 6-7) at Lexington, Ky.

Valerie Nainima, who leads South Carolina in scoring at 17.5 points a game, was held to a season-low four points.

No. 19 Georgia Tech 77, Miami 73: Brigitte Ardossi scored 27 points, including two free throws with 25 seconds left, and the Yellow Jackets (21-7, 7-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) held off the Hurricanes (16-11, 3-9) at Coral Gables, Fla.

Shenise Johnson led Miami with 28 points.

Florida 64, No. 20 Georgia 57: Steffi Sorensen tied a career high with 20 points as the Gators (14-13, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) upset the Bulldogs (20-7, 7-7) at Gainesville, Fla.

Porsha Phillips led Georgia with 14 points.

No. 25 Vanderbilt 68, Mississippi 59: Jence Rhoads scored 19 points and the Commodores (19-8, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) beat the Rebels (15-12, 6-8) for its first win in Oxford, Miss., since 2003.

Bianca Thomas led Ole Miss with 23 points.