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Another Saturday, another exciting set of results from the Big East!
#2/2 Syracuse 71, Connecticut 69 - The Orange led 43-29 at the half, and a Kris Joseph three pointer on Syracuse's first possession of the second half pushed the lead all the way to 17 points. But they would only shoot 34.5% in the second half and a 14-3 UConn run would tie the game at 63 with 4:19 remaining. It was nip and tuck the rest of the way until a Fab Melo tip dunk put Syracuse ahead for good and a C.J. Fair block of Roscoe Smith in the closing seconds clinched the Big East regular season title for the Orange.
#8/8 Georgetown 67, Villanova 46 - JayVaughn Pinkston had to miss this game for the Wildcats after twisting his ankle by landing on a ball during pregame warmups, but I don't know how much it actually mattered to this game. Any Marquette fans watching must have had flashbacks to the NCAA Tournament game against Michigan State as Villanova wouldn't break into double digits until Dominic Cheek came up with a steal and a dunk to make the score 25-11 with less than four minutes left in the first half. They would cut the Hoyas' lead down to 7 by halftime, but a Villanova stretch of nearly five minutes without a field goal in the second half let Georgetown take complete control of the game. The win puts the Hoyas in 4th place in the Big East by themselves until after today's Cincinnati-South Florida game.
St. John's 61, #20/18 Notre Dame 58 - The Irish shot 4-31 behind the three point arc - including a 1 for 9 outing from noted Marquette killer Pat Connaughton - and that was enough to keep the Red Storm in the game long enough for freshman Amir Garrett to hit a driving layup in the closing seconds to thrill the Madison Square Garden crowd and give St. John's their first win over a ranked team in 11 tries this season. The loss breaks Notre Dame's program record nine game winning streak in Big East play.
Rutgers 77, Seton Hall 72 (OT) - Apparently the Scarlet Knights didn't appreciate this game being called "very attainable" as a win for the Pirates by SI.com's Andy Glockner in this week's Bubble Watch. Four Rutgers starters scored in double figures led by Dane Miller's season high 21 points. Rutgers had a chance to win in regulation after Jordan Theodore tied it at 65 with two free throws with 12.7 seconds left, but Gilvydas Biruta dribbled the ball off his leg. The loss puts the Pirates' NCAA Tournament hopes in danger.
Providence 73, DePaul 71 - All is right with the world as DePaul coughs up a home game and Providence sends the Blue Demons back to the basement of the Big East. LaDontae Henton led all scorers with 24 points, including the game winner with 1.7 seconds left. Henton then turned around and clinched the win by blocking Cleveland Melvin's last chance attempt.