Syracuse, Villanova fall in Big East

Chris Wright scored 27 points and No. 22 Georgetown sailed past third-ranked Syracuse, 91-84, in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament Thursday at New York.

Syracuse (28-4) is left to wonder whether it has done enough to earn a No. 1 seeding in the NCAA tournament, but also has to worry about Arinze Onuaku. He hurt his right knee and did not return to the game, and was expected to get an MRI exam when the team returned home.

Austin Freeman added 18 points and Jason Clark 17 for the No. 8-seeded Hoyas (22-9), who will play Marquette in the first semifinal Friday night. The Golden Eagles knocked off No. 10 Villanova, 80-76.

In other Big East quarterfinals, Luke Harangody came off the bench and made three key free throws in the final two minutes, helping Notre Dame (23-10) hold off No. 16 Pittsburgh, 50-45, for its season-best sixth straight victory. And West Virginia avoided an upset when Da’Sean Butler took an inbounds pass and banked in a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the seventh-ranked Mountaineers a 54-51 victory over Cincinnati.

Big 12

Cole Aldrich had 12 points and 18 rebounds, and No. 1 Kansas became the third team to reach 2,000 wins by pulling out an 80-68 victory over scrappy Texas Tech in the quarterfinals at Kansas City, Mo. Kansas (30-2) slogged through a sloppy first half before pulling away to join Kentucky and North Carolina in the 2,000-win club.

In another quarterfinal, Donald Sloan scored 23 points and Bryan Davis had a key three-point play helping No. 23 Texas A&M (23-8) top Nebraska, 70-64.

ACC

Derrick Favors had 18 points and nine rebounds to help Georgia Tech (20-11) hold off North Carolina, 62-58, in the first round at Greensboro, N.C. The Tar Heels (16-16) lost their tournament opener for the first time since 2004. Tracy Smith scored 19 points as North Carolina State (18-14) edged Clemson (21-10), 59-57.

Mountain West

Darrington Hobson scored 28 points to help No. 8 New Mexico defeat Air Force, 75-68, at Las Vegas and set a school record for wins in a season. New Mexico (29-3) has won 15 straight but led by only three points with 41/2 minutes left. The Lobos will face San Diego State, which held off Colorado State, 72-71. In another quarterfinal, Jimmer Fredette set a tournament record with 45 points and Brigham Young (29-4) broke the school’s 60-year-old mark for wins in a season with a 95-85 victory over Texas Christian.

WAC

Tai Wesley, Brian Green and Pooh Williams each scored 18 points to lead Utah State to its 16th straight victory, 84-60, over Boise State in the quarterfinals at Reno. The top-seeded Aggies (26-6) will play Louisiana Tech in the semifinals Friday. The Bulldogs got 31 points and 11 rebounds from Jamel Guyton in a 74-66 victory over Fresno State.

Elsewhere ...

Northwestern’s Michael Thompson scored 11 of his 16 points during a late run, leading the Wildcats (20-12) past Indiana, 73-58, in the Big Ten first round at Indianapolis. In the Southeastern Conference at Nashville, Alex Tyus scored 24 points, and Florida ended a three-game skid by beating Auburn, 78-69.