TAMPA, Fla. — Barely tested by opponents during another blazing start, top-ranked Connecticut thrives on motivation from within.

Improved defense was the Huskies' mantra last night in an 83-37 rout of South Florida, the nation's highest scoring team.

"I think we weren't satisfied with how we were playing defense, and we definitely took it as a challenge," leading scorer Maya Moore said. "And no better team to do it against than a high-scoring South Florida team."

Moore scored 24 points, Tina Charles had 17 points and 12 rebounds and both played key roles in holding USF to 24.6 percent shooting as UConn (14-0, 1-0) won its Big East opener for the 17th straight season.

"I thought our defensive pressure was great," Moore said. "I give our guards a lot of credit just for being physical out there, fighting around the screens, chasing, doing whatever they needed to do to contest."

USF (13-3, 0-2) attempted 21 3-pointers, but only made two. The Bulls trailed 45-26 at the half, then scored 11 points the rest of the way.

"There's not much to say. You saw the No. 1 team in the country play at their best," USF coach Jose Fernandez said.

"USF entered the game as the nation's highest scoring team (89.9 per game, just ahead of UConn's 88.8).

No. 10 Louisville 76, Seton Hall 47: Angel McCoughtry had 28 points and 13 rebounds and the Cardinals (15-1, 2-0 Big East) opened the second half with a 13-0 run for a 48-33 lead and never looked back in beating the Pirates (11-3, 0-2) at Louisville, Ky.

PACWEST WOMEN

HAWAI'I-HILO 60, BRIGHAM YOUNG-HAWAI'I 50: Hina Kimitete made 6 of 7 3-pointers en route to 24 points, and Sheila Azevedo added 13, leading the visiting Vulcans (5-3, 1-1) past the Seasiders (4-5, 0-1), who got 22 points and 13 rebounds from Latoya Wily in a Pacific West Conference game last night at Cannon Activities Center in La'ie.

NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR 74, CHAMINADE 52: Tanaia Keyes scored 24 points, Jennifer Dreessen added 12 points and 12 rebounds, and the Argonauts (4-9, 1-1) rallied from a 37-30 halftime deficit to beat the Silverswords (0-10, 0-2), who scored just 15 points in the second half at Belmont, Calif.

RANKED MEN

NO. 5 Connecticut 61, No. 25 West Virginia 55: Jeff Adrien scored 17 points, Hasheem Thabeet added 13 points and 13 rebounds and the Huskies (13-1, 2-1 Big East) held off the Mountaineers (11-3, 1-1) at Morgantown, W. Va., to help coach Jim Calhoun move past Lefty Driesell into seventh place on the NCAA career wins list with 787.

Arkansas 67, No. 7 Texas 61: Michael Washington scored 22 points, including a driving dunk and free throw with 22.5 seconds remaining for a 65-61 lead, to help the Razorbacks (12-1) upset the Longhorns (11-3) at Fayetteville, Ark., a week after knocking off then-No. 4 Oklahoma.

PACWEST MEN

BRIGHAM YOUNG-HAWAI'I 94, HAWAI'I-HILO 91: Nathan Sims scored 20 points, including a layup for a 92-91 lead with 25 seconds left, and Jermaine Odjegba made two free throws with no time left as the Seasiders (7-1, 1-0) beat the Vulcans (7-4, 1-1) in a Pacific West Conference game at Cannon Activities Center in La'ie.

Trenson Akana added 19 points, Odjegba had 16 and Lucas Alves 13 for BYUH. John Smith scored 30 and Jay DeMaestri added 16 to lead the Vulcans.

CHAMINADE 56, NOTRE DAME DE NAMUR 53: Mohamed Tangara had 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Cartier Carter made two free throws for a 55-53 lead with 52 seconds left as the visiting Silverswords (4-6, 1-1) held off the Argonauts (4-8, 1-1) at Belmont, Calif.