UCONN – 100 ‘Zona – 98 (OT)
Connecticut freshman Emeka Okafor fell a blocked shot shy of a triple-double with 19 points and 15 rebounds and Ben Gordon matched his career-high with 23 as the Huskies (13-4) won their sixth straight, defeating No. 12 Arizona 100-98. Jason Gardner scored 24 of his 30 points in the second half but was scoreless in the overtime for the Wildcats (13-6). Will Bynum missed a wide-open 3-pointer from the baseline for Arizona with two seconds to play in the overtime. Salim Stoudamire, who scored 20 points, made consecutive 3-pointers to start the overtime and gave Arizona a 97-91 lead, but Connecticut outscored the Wildcats 9-1 the rest of the way.
Pitts – 67 G’town – 56
Julius Page scored 16 points and Pittsburgh held Georgetown to 21 second-half points as the Panthers defeated the Hoyas 67-56 Saturday afternoon. The victory gave Pitt (18-3, 6-2 in the Big East) a two-game sweep over Georgetown (12-7, 3-4) for the first time since the Panthers joined the conference during the 1982-83 season. Georgetown held a 35-33 lead at the half but Pitt outscored the Hoyas 14-4 the first 6:23 of the second to take a 47-39 lead. The closest Georgetown would come to the Panthers after that was six points. Pitt managed to extend their lead to as many as 13 points in the second half.
Va. Tech -69 Syracuse – 81
DeShaun Williams helped Syracuse break out of a five-game slump with a career-high 28 points as the No. 10 Orangemen (17-4, 6-1 Big East) struggled past Virginia Tech 81-69 Saturday night. Syracuse had 15 turnovers in the first half and trailed 33-30 at halftime despite holding Tech to 29.6 percent shooting. The game was a struggle until the closing minutes. After Shumpert, who finished with 25 points, hit two free throws to tie it at 37 with 17:07 left, there were seven lead changes in the next 8:30. Perhaps the biggest plays came in succession right before James Thues hit two free throws to give the Orangemen the lead for good, 53-52, with 8:37 left.
P’vidence – 75 St.John’s – 70 (OT)
Maris Laksa had 18 points and 13 rebounds to lead Providence to a 75-70 overtime victory over St. John’s on Saturday night and a sweep of their season series. Christopher Anrin’s two free throws with 49 seconds left in regulation – his only points of the game – gave the Friars a 58-56 lead. Marcus Hatten tied it with a jumper in the lane 19 seconds later. After a Providence turnover with 23 seconds left, Hatten ran the clock down and missed a 15-foot jumper with three seconds left. Providence scored the first four points of the overtime and the Friars extended the lead to 70-62 with 1:24 left on two free throws by Linehan.