N. Dame – 116 G’town – 111
Matt Carroll scored seven of his 30 points in the fourth overtime and Notre Dame won its fifth straight, outlasting Georgetown 116-111 Saturday in the highest-scoring game in Big East history. Carroll scored the final seven points for Notre Dame (17-6, 7-3), connecting on a 3-pointer and then making four free throws over the final 46 seconds. Notre Dame freshman point guard Chris Thomas was the only player to go all 60 minutes and he finished with 22 points, 12 assists and eight rebounds. His jumper with just under two minutes left in the fourth overtime gave the Irish the lead for good at 109-108. Mike Sweetney had career-highs of 35 points and 20 rebounds for Georgetown (14-8, 5-5) but was one of four Hoyas to foul out. Wesley Wilson (26 points), Kevin Braswell (12 points, 10 assists) and Gerald Riley (eight points) all fouled out, leaving Georgetown with an inexperienced lineup over the final two minutes of the fourth overtime. The Hoyas had chances to win at the end of regulation and each of the first three overtimes. Braswell hit a jumper in the final seconds of the third overtime, but it was waved off because the shot clock had expired moments before.
uConn – 85 St. Johns – 87
St. John’s guard Marcus Hatten had a career-high 34 points, while Caron Butler and Ben Gordon each matched theirs for Connecticut, but the Red Storm held off the Huskies in overtime, 85-83, on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden. With the loss, the Huskies slipped to 15-6 and 7-3 in the Big East, while SJU improved its record to 16-7 and 6-5 in the league. With just over five minutes remaining before the break, UConn head coach Jim Calhoun was issued a pair of technical fouls and ejected from the game. Trailing 72-69, Butler went to the line with five seconds remaining and hit all three of his shots to even the game. St. John’s had its shot to win, but Hatten’s runner rolled off the rim and the game went into overtime. The lead changed hands two times and the score was tied twice in the extra period, but a Eric King lay in with 1:57 to go put St. John’s up for good. Butler led the way for the Huskies as he finished the night with 29 points and a career high 15 rebounds.
Pitt – 75 Syracuse – 63
Brandin Knight scored 11 of his 16 points in the final 5:34 as No. 21 Pittsburgh overcame a 14-point deficit in the second half to beat No. 17 Syracuse 75-63 Sunday. Knight was held in check most of the game before breaking through at the end. He hit two 3-pointers, made two free throws and hit a layup off a steal in a 16-6 run for Pittsburgh (21-4, 9-3 Big East). Preston Shumpert led all scorers with 28 points, as Syracuse (18-7, 7-4) lost for the fifth time in seven games. Ontario Lett gave the Panthers a 51-50 lead with 7:05 left, their first since about three minutes into the game. Lett’s basket started a 16-6 run that gave Pittsburgh a 65-56 lead with 3:36 left. Pittsburgh controlled the boards, as they finished with a 37-27 rebounding advantage.