Weather | Sports | Forums | Comics | Classifieds | Calendar | Movies

Syracuse solves UConn

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Gerry McNamara finally said goodbye to that Connecticut jinx, and so did the Orangemen.

In their run to the national title last year, the Orangemen were badly beaten twice by UConn and again lost to the Huskies in February 84-56. And each time McNamara shouldered most of the blame, going a combined 4-for-33 for 15 points in the three games.

That all changed Sunday. McNamara scored 24 and Craig Forth had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 24 Syracuse to a 67-56 victory over the No. 7 Huskies.

"I've been waiting for this one," said McNamara, who hit four 3-pointers. "UConn has had my number."

It was the fifth straight win for Syracuse (21-6, 11-5) and prevented the Huskies (24-6, 12-4) from tying Pittsburgh for the regular-season Big East championship.

UConn center Emeka Okafor played with obvious back pain and finished with nine rebounds and a season-low two points, taking two shots in 32 minutes.

"I was just trying to go out and get a win," said Okafor, who leads the nation with 19 double doubles. "I wanted to get a regular-season championship and try to end the regular season the right way."

SW MISSOURI ST. 80, NO. 15 SOUTHERN ILL. 74: Merrill Andrews scored 16 to lead Bears to an upset win in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis. The Salukis (25-4) won the regular-season conference title at 17-1 and are expected to get an at-large NCAA Tournament bid. Southwest Missouri State faces Northern Iowa, a 63-56 winner over Wichita State, in tonight's title game.

NO. 18 ILLINOIS 64, OHIO ST. 63: Deron Williams' free throw with 16.5 seconds left provided the final margin, securing the visiting Illini's first outright Big Ten title in 52 years. Illinois (22-5, 13-3) has won at least a share of a Big Ten three of the past four seasons and four of the past seven. Dee Brown led the Illini with 18 points.

NO. 21 KU 84, MISSOURI 82: Reserve David Padgett scored with two seconds left to give visiting Kansas a victory in the final game at the 32-year-old Hearnes Center. Wayne Simien scored 22 for Kansas (20-7, 12-4 Big 12). Arthur Johnson scored a career-high 37 for the Tigers.

NO. 22 ARIZ. 106, ARIZ. ST. 81: Chris Rodgers scored a career-high 20 to lead the visiting Wildcats. Salim Stoudamire and Hassan Adams added 21 points apiece for Arizona (19-8, 11-7 Pac-10), which beat Arizona State for the 18th time in 19 tries.

MARYLAND 70, VIRGINIA 61: Chris McCray scored 15 of his career-high 20 in the second half to rally the host Terps from a double-digit deficit.

WINTER PARK - Eckerd captured its second Sunshine State Conference tournament title and an automatic bid to the NCAA II South Region, defeating Florida Southern 67-57. The Tritons won their only other tournament title in 1994.

Eckerd (20-10) qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year and third time in the past four. The Tritons, seeded sixth, play No. 3 Florida Southern on Saturday in a first-round game at Valdosta (Ga.) State.

Sophomore guard Steve Berg, named tournament MVP, scored 21 off the bench.

"We beat the top two seeds in two days," coach Tom Ryan said. "We're happy to make it back to the tournament."

SUN BELT: Middle Tennessee knocked off three-time defending champion Western Kentucky 76-62 in the quarterfinals in Bowling Green, Ky.

COLONIAL: George Mason ended N.C.-Wilmington's two-year reign, beating the Seahawks 80-66. The Patriots meet Virginia Commonwealth, an 84-67 winner over Old Dominion, for the title tonight in Richmond, Va.

JAMES MADISON: Sherman Dillard resigned as coach after leading the Dukes to a 7-21 record in his seventh season at the school.

OBITUARY: Jack Leaman, who coached Julius Erving in college and was associated with the Massachusetts program for more than 40 years, died. He was 71 and was most recently a broadcaster for the team.