Syracuse Earns Berth by Beating Pittsburgh

Gerry McNamara was a big part of Syracuse’s national championship as a freshman in 2003. Three years later, the guard was the runaway most valuable player in the Orange’s surprising Big East tournament title run.

Syracuse repeated as conference champions by defeating No. 15 Pittsburgh, 65-61, on Saturday night at New York.

It was the first time in the Orange’s record four victories that they didn’t need late-game heroics from McNamara.

It was sophomore Josh Wright who clinched the title, making four free throws in the final 17 seconds.

But it was still McNamara’s tournament.

Syracuse became the lowest-seeded team to win the Big East tournament -- the Orange came in at No. 9 -- and the third team to repeat, joining Georgetown in 1985 and Connecticut in 1999.

The Orange (23-11) arrived in New York with their chances of claiming an at-large NCAA tournament berth iffy. They are leaving with an automatic bid and a folk hero.

“For us to come down here in the situation we were in and win is impressive,” McNamara said. “We won it, so I guess I was pretty motivated; we all were. This is the toughest year I’ve played and for us to battle they way we did and win this, like Coach [Jim Boeheim] said it’s one of the greatest.

“We won it last year, but it was a different story. We were a team that had a great regular season and we had a team that was experienced and this year we were new and we came down here and got it going.

“We were on the outside looking in coming down here, and now there’s a lot of teams looking at us.”

McNamara won the first-round game against Cincinnati with a three-point basket with less than a second to play.

He tied the score in a quarterfinal game against top-ranked Connecticut with five seconds left in regulation and the Orange won in overtime.

In the semifinal win over No. 23 Georgetown, he made a late three-point basket to bring the Orange to within one, then made the pass on the winning basket and forced a turnover on the Hoyas’ final possession.

In the championship against Pittsburgh (24-7), he had 14 points and six assists.

AMERICA EAST

Jamar Wilson had 29 points and host Albany (21-10) defeated three-time defending champion Vermont, 80-67, and earn the team’s first NCAA tournament berth. Vermont (13-17), which stunned Syracuse in overtime in the first round of last year’s NCAA tournament, was seeking its fourth consecutive NCAA berth.

ATLANTIC 10

Justin Doellman made two free throws with 5.1 seconds left and Xavier (21-10) blocked Dwayne Lee’s last two shots to hold on for a 62-61 victory over St. Joseph’s (18-13) for the tournament championship at Cincinnati. The Musketeers blocked five of the Hawks’ last six shots.

BIG TEN

Jeff Horner scored 14 points and Greg Brunner added 12 as No. 20 Iowa (24-8) defeated Michigan State, 53-48, to advance to the championship game at Indianapolis. Maurice Ager led Michigan State (22-11) with 21 points. The Hawkeyes will play No. 7 Ohio State (25-4), which held off Indiana, 52-51. J.J. Sullinger had 19 points and 13 rebounds for the Buckeyes. Roderick Wilmont led Indiana (18-11) with 16 points, but he missed a short shot at the buzzer that would have won it.

BIG 12

P.J. Tucker had a season-high 26 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 8 Texas (27-5) to a 74-70 semifinal victory over Texas A&M; (21-8) at Dallas, ending the Aggies’ eight-game winning streak. The Longhorns will meet Kansas in today’s championship game. The Jayhawks (24-7) rolled to a 79-65 victory over Nebraska (19-12) behind 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds from Mario Chalmers. Kansas has won 14 of its last 15 games.

CONFERENCE USA

Shawne Williams scored 18 points and Joey Dorsey had 10 points and 12 rebounds as No. 5 Memphis (30-3) cruised to a 57-46 victory over Alabama Birmingham (24-6) at Memphis, Tenn.

MID-AMERICAN

Senior Kevin Warzynski scored 21 points to help Kent State (25-8) to a 71-66 victory over Toledo (20-11) at Cleveland.

MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC

Jaz Cowan had 15 points, Jeff Granger scored 14 and Hampton (16-15) earned the conference’s automatic bid for the third time in the last six years with a 60-56 victory over Delaware State (20-13) at Raleigh, N.C.

MOUNTAIN WEST

Brandon Heath scored six of his 22 points in the final 1:08 of overtime to help San Diego State (24-8) defeat Wyoming, 69-64, in the championship game at Denver. The Cowboys (14-18) were close to entering the postseason despite a losing record when they took a four-point lead with 2:18 left in overtime. But Heath, who missed 20 of 27 shots, suddenly found his touch.

SOUTHEASTERN

Taurean Green scored 18 points and No. 16 Florida (26-6) defeated No. 17 Louisiana State, 81-65, in a semifinal at Nashville. The Tigers (23-8) had their seven-game winning streak ended. The Gators will play South Carolina (18-14), which defeated Kentucky, 65-61, behind 18 points from Tarence Kinsey. Kentucky is 21-12.

SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC

Peter Cipriano had 21 points and nine rebounds at Birmingham, Ala., and Southern (18-12) cruised to a 57-44 victory over Arkansas Pine Bluff (12-15) to win its first conference tournament championship in 13 years.

WESTERN ATHLETIC

Nick Fazekas had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Marcelus Kemp hit a key three-point basket with 46 seconds left in overtime to help No. 21 Nevada (27-5) defeat Utah State, 70-63, at Reno. Nate Harris scored 22 points for the Aggies (23-8).