McNamara Leads Syracuse, 58-57

Gerry McNamara came through again in the clutch.

In what’s becoming a familiar sight at the Big East tournament, the Syracuse senior guard made another big three-point basket to get the Orange to within one with 52 seconds left, assisted on Eric Devendorf’s go-ahead basket and caused a turnover with 1.5 seconds left in a 58-57 victory over Georgetown (21-9) in the semifinals Friday night at New York.

With Georgetown leading 57-53, McNamara, who finished with 17 points, made his fifth three-pointer.

Syracuse (22-11) will play in today’s title game against No. 15 Pittsburgh (24-6), which got 18 points from Antonio Graves in a 68-54 win over No. 2 Villanova (25-4). Villanova lost guard Allan Ray to an eye injury.

ATLANTIC COAST

J.J. Redick broke out of a shooting slump in time to score 25 points and lead No. 3 Duke (28-3) to an 80-76 victory over Miami (16-15) in a quarterfinal game at Greensboro, N.C.

In other games: Eric Williams scored 20 points to lead Wake Forest (17-15) to an 82-71 upset of No. 20 North Carolina State (21-9). The Demon Deacons will face Duke today.... Reyshawn Terry had 24 points and No. 10 North Carolina (22-6) overcame a sluggish start for a 79-67 win over Virginia (15-14).... Craig Smith had 21 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists to lead No. 11 Boston College (25-6) to an 80-66 win over Maryland (19-12). Boston College will next play North Carolina.

ATLANTIC 10

Chet Stachitas triggered a three-point flurry for St. Joseph’s (18-12), and the Hawks advanced to the conference title game with a 73-59 victory over Temple (17-14) at Cincinnati.

In another semifinal game, Josh Duncan scored a career-high 20 points to lead Xavier (20-10) to a 70-59 victory over Fordham (16-16).

BIG TEN

Paul Davis and Maurice Ager each scored 16 points to help Michigan State (22-10) to a 61-56 upset win over No. 9 Illinois (25-6) in a quarterfinal game at Indianapolis.

In other games: Jeff Horner scored 26 points to lead No. 20 Iowa (23-8) to a 67-57 victory over Minnesota (15-14), which got 29 points from Vincent Grier. Iowa will next face Michigan State.... Ron Lewis scored 17 points and No. 7 Ohio State (24-4) rallied from 12 points down in the second half in a 63-56 win over Penn State (15-14).... Marco Killingsworth and Marshall Strickland combined for 28 second-half points, as Indiana (18-10) held on for a 61-56 win over Wisconsin (19-11). Indiana will next play Ohio State.

BIG 12

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 20 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead No. 8 Texas (26-5) to a 77-70 win over Texas Tech (15-17) in a quarterfinal game at Dallas.

In other games: Joseph Jones had 21 points and Josh Carter had 15 to lead Texas A&M; (21-7) to an 86-53 win over Colorado (20-9). Texas A&M; will next face Texas.... Sasha Kaun scored 16 points and Mario Chalmers had 15 as No. 17 Kansas (22-8) held on for a 63-62 win over Oklahoma State (17-15).... Jamel White had 22 points and Nebraska (19-12) pulled off a 69-63 upset of No. 22 Oklahoma (20-8) to reach the semifinals against Kansas.

CONFERENCE USA

Shawne Williams scored 23 points and grabbed eight rebounds to pace No. 5 Memphis (29-3) to a 68-54 victory over Houston (20-9) in the semifinals at Memphis, Tenn.

In another semifinal game, Squeaky Johnson scored 12 points and had six assists to lead No. 24 Alabama Birmingham (24-5) to a 63-60 victory over Texas El Paso (20-9) and a spot in the title game.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Brandon Heath made the go-ahead three-pointer with 36 seconds left and San Diego State (23-8) held on for a 63-60 victory over Nevada Las Vegas (17-13) to reach the conference title game at Denver.

In another semifinal, Justin Williams had a triple-double -- 10 points, 15 rebounds and 12 blocked shots -- to lead Wyoming (14-17) to a 60-47 win over Utah (23-8).

PATRIOT

Kevin Bettencourt scored 23 points to help Bucknell (26-4) cap a perfect league season with a 74-59 win over Holy Cross (20-12) in the championship game at Lewisburg, Pa., to secure an NCAA tournament berth.

SOUTHEASTERN

Tre Kelley scored 25 points and South Carolina (17-14) advanced to the conference tournament semifinals with a 79-71 upset of No. 14 Tennessee (21-7) at Nashville.

In other games: Bobby Perry scored on a layup with 1:15 left to break a 61-61 tie, and Kentucky (21-11) rallied from an 11-point deficit to pull out a 68-61 victory over Alabama (17-12). Kentucky will next face South Carolina.... Glen Davis matched his career high of 28 points and finished with 13 rebounds to lead No. 17 Louisiana State (23-7) to a 92-73 victory over Vanderbilt (17-12).... Lee Humphrey scored a career-high 25 points and No. 16 Florida (25-6) held on for a 74-71 win over Arkansas (22-9). Florida will next face LSU.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Jaycee Carroll scored 18 points, including five free throws in the last 23 seconds, to help Utah State (23-7) to a 68-64 win over Louisiana Tech (20-12) in a semifinal game at Reno.

In another semifinal, Marcelus Kemp scored 25 points and Nick Fazekas had 20 to lead No. 21 Nevada (26-5) to a 70-59 win over New Mexico State (16-14), which was led by Elijah Ingram’s 17 points.