Connecticut Gets Revenge, Routs Syracuse

Connecticut point guard Khalid El-Amin, not about to forget what Syracuse did to his team a month ago, helped the No. 4-ranked Huskies beat the No. 24-ranked Orangemen, 70-58, on Sunday at Syracuse, N.Y.

Richard Hamilton scored 26 points and El-Amin had 21 as Connecticut, 25-2 overall and 16-2 in the Big East, won the regular-season conference championship outright for the fifth time in six seasons.

It was a different story than the Feb. 1 game at Hartford, Conn., as Syracuse (19-10, 10-8) handed Connecticut its first loss of the season, 59-42, when the Huskies were without injured starters Jake Voskuhl and Hamilton.

“We definitely had something to prove, especially without those guys [in the first game] and because they beat us,” El-Amin said. “We wanted to come out and show we’re really the best team in the Big East.”

The Huskies fell behind by 10 points early, but took control with a 23-3 run in the final eight minutes of the first half.

No. 3 Michigan State 60, No. 23 Purdue 46--Morris Peterson, the team scoring leader although he has only started three games, scored all eight of his points in a 12-2 second-half run at West Lafayette, Ind., that led to a school-record 15th consecutive victory for the Spartans (26-4, 15-1 in the Big Ten).

Purdue (19-11, 7-9) saw its hopes for a seventh consecutive NCAA appearance diminish. The Boilermakers play Michigan on Thursday in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament in Chicago.

Tennessee 68, No. 13 Kentucky 61--Tony Harris scored 18 points and Brandon Wharton had 17 at Knoxville, Tenn., as the Volunteers (20-7, 12-4) swept their border-state rivals for the first time since 1979 and won the Southeastern Conference East Division title. The defending national champion Wildcats (22-8, 11-5) closed the regular season with their fourth consecutive road loss.

No. 17 College of Charleston 77, Appalachian State 67--Danny Johnson scored 21 points and made an important three-point shot down the stretch as the Cougars (28-2) rallied for a victory over the Mountaineers (21-8) in the championship game of the Southern Conference tournament at Greensboro, N.C. College of Charlestonwill take a 25-game winning streak into the NCAA tournament.

Massachusetts 57, No. 24 Temple 49--Monty Mack made five three-point shots and had 18 points as the Minutemen (13-15, 9-7) held the Owls (19-9, 13-3) to only two baskets for nearly the entire second half en route to the Atlantic 10 victory at Amherst, Mass.

TOURNAMENTS

Ohio Valley--In an encore performance, Aubrey Reese made a running one-handed shot from just inside the three-point line at the buzzer to give Murray State (27-5) a 62-61 victory over Southeast Missouri State (20-9) in the championship game at Nashville. In January, Reese made a leaning shot with one tenth of a second left to give the Racers a 71-70 victory over Southeast Missouri State. Murray State will be making its third consecutive NCAA appearance.

Colonial Athletic Assn.--Jason Miskiri’s three-point shot with 1:05 left gave George Mason (19-10) a four-point lead, and the Patriots made six of eight free throws in the final 45 seconds of a 63-58 victory over Old Dominion (24-8) in the championship game at Richmond, Va. George Mason will get an automatic NCAA tournament berth in its first winning season since 1989-90.

Midwestern Collegiate--Michael Hicks scored five points in the third overtime and made a critical steal as Butler (20-8) defeated Wisconsin Green Bay, 68-65, in the semifinals at Chicago. Butler plays top-seeded Detroit (23-5), an 80-65 winner over Cleveland State (14-14), Tuesday night for the championship and automatic NCAA tournament berth. Wisconsin Green Bay is 20-11.

Sun Belt--Lee Lampley blocked a shot and then had a three-point basket with 51 seconds left for Western Kentucky (13-15) in a 76-66 victory over Louisiana Tech (19-9) in the semifinals at Lafayette, La. The Hilltoppers play Arkansas State (17-11), an 87-69 winner over Florida International (13-15), for the championship and automatic NCAA tournament berth Tuesday night.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Automatic Bids

Schools that have received automatic bids to the NCAA basketball tournament. All bids are by virtue of conference tournament championships with the exception of the Ivy League and the Pacific 10, which do not conduct postseason tournaments.

* College of Charleston, Southern

* George Mason, Colonial Athletic Association

* Murray State, Ohio Valley

* Samford, Trans America Athletic

* Stanford, Pacific 10

* Winthrop, Big South