Brandon Triche scored the go-ahead basket early in overtime and No. 19 Syracuse advanced to the Big East championship game with a 58-55 victory over No. 5 Georgetown on Friday night in the final conference clash of their heavyweight rivalry.
The fifth-seeded Orange (26-8) will make their 15th appearance in the tournament title game and go for their sixth crown Saturday night at Madison Square Garden against No. 4 Louisville.
Triche, James Southerland, and backup center Baye Moussa Keita each had 13 points for Syracuse, trying to close its Big East tenure with one more title before bolting for the ACC next season.
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The Orange held top-seeded Georgetown (25-6) to 22 percent shooting from 3-point range with their 2-3 zone.
Georgetown erased a 12-point deficit, tying it at 49 with 1:47 left in regulation on free throws by Jabril Trawick.
Michael Carter-Williams had a chance to win for Syracuse, but missed at the buzzer.
Big East semifinals — Russ Smith scored 20 points to lead No. 4 Louisville (28-5) to a 69-57 victory over No. 24 Notre Dame (25-9), the third straight year the Cardinals beat the Fighting Irish in the semifinals. Peyton Siva added 12 points, 6 assists, and 7 steals.
Big 12 semifinals — Perry Ellis scored a career-high 23 points, Ben McLemore managed 10, and seventh-ranked Kansas (28-5) pulled away in the second half for a 88-73 win over Iowa State (22-11) in Kansas City, Mo . . . Rodney McGruder scored Kansas State's first 9 points of the second half to lead the 11th-ranked Wildcats (27-6) past No. 14 Oklahoma State (24-8) in a 68-57 victory.
Big Ten quarterfinals — Cody Zeller scored 24 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead No. 3 Indiana (27-5) past Illinois (22-12) with a 80-64 win in Chicago
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Conference USA semifinals — In Tulsa, Okla., Dwayne Davis scored 27 points to lead Southern Mississippi (25-8) to a 85-67 win over UTEP (18-14) . . . Chris Crawford had 30 points while hitting on eight 3-pointers to set career highs in both categories for the second straight game, and No. 20 Memphis (29-4) won, 85-74, against Tulsa (17-15).
Mountain West semifinals — Tony Snell scored 17 in Las Vegas to to lead No. 15 New Mexico (28-5) past San Diego State (22-10) in a 60-50 win.
SEC quarterfinals — Erik Murphy had career bests of 27 points and 12 rebounds to help 13th-ranked Florida (25-6) hammer LSU (19-12), 80-58, in Knoxville, Tenn . . . Levi Randolph scored 15 points as Alabama (21-11) managed a 58-48 win over Tennessee (20-12) . . . Dai-Jon Parker scored 12 points, and Vanderbilt (16-16) perhaps ended the defending national champions' season with 64-48 beating of Kentucky (21-11).
Pac-12 semifinals — In Las Vegas, Jordan Adams had 18 of his 24 points in the second half and No. 21 UCLA (25-8) beat No. 18 Arizona (25-7) for the third time this season.
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Women
CAA quarterfinals — Despite a 12-point, 17-rebound night from Jewel Tunstull, Northeastern (17-13) fell, 55-52, to Hofstra (14-16) in Upper Marlboro, Md . . . Elena Delle Donne had 19 points and No. 15 Delaware (28-3) extended its win streak to 23 games with a 51-43 win over UNC Wilmington (5-26).
NCAA Div. 2 East regional first round — Behind 27 point by Lauren Battista, No. 3 Bentley (28-1) handed LIU Post (19-9) a 68-57 defeat in Waltham . . . No. 12 Stonehill (24-4) got 32 points, 12 rebounds, and 5 assists from Mary Louise Dixon in a 78-66 win over Franklin Pierce (18-11).
NCAA Div. 3 semifinals — Mary Merg hit a 3-pointer to tie it at the end of regulation and a 2-pointer to win in overtime as Wisconsin-Whitewater edged Amherst, 64-62, in Holland, Mich. The 22d-ranked Warhawks (26-6) got 18 points for Merg, while Megan Robertson had 13 points and 11 rebounds for the No. 6 Jeffs (30-2) . . . Top-ranked DePauw (33-0) edged past 15th-ranked Williams (25-7), 59-56 . . . Holy Family (28-2) handed Assumption (22-8) a 68-62 defeat behind 13 points from Ana Cruz.