Syracuse, N.Y. ? Gerry McNamara finally said good-bye to that Connecticut jinx, and so did the Syracuse Orangemen.

In their run to the national championship last year, the Orangemen were beaten badly twice by UConn and again lost to them in February, 84-56. And each time McNamara shouldered most of the blame, going a combined 4-for-33 for 15 points in the three games.

That all changed Sunday. McNamara scored 24 points, and Craig Forth had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 24 Syracuse to a 67-56 victory over the seventh-ranked Huskies.

“I’ve been waiting for this one,” said McNamara, who hit four three-pointers. “UConn has had my number.”

It was the fifth straight win for Syracuse (21-6, 11-5 Big East) and prevented the Huskies (24-6, 12-4) from tying Pittsburgh for the regular-season Big East championship and what would have been their ninth conference title.

But UConn was at a disadvantage. Center Emeka Okafor played in obvious pain and was not the factor he was the first time the teams played this year.

Okafor had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the first contest and allowed the Huskies to play the up-tempo game that had repeatedly buried the Orangemen. Sunday, he finished with nine rebounds and a season-low two points, taking only two shots in 32 minutes, and there were few fast-break baskets for the Huskies.

“I was just trying to go out and get a win,” said Okafor, who leads the nation with 19 double-doubles and is a strong contender for national player of the year. “I wanted to get a regular-season championship and try to end the regular season the right way.

“I did everything I could to try to play, and now we’ll do everything we can to be ready for the postseason.”

Charlie Villanueva, who tried to pick up the slack for the Huskies, finished with 13 points, Ben Gordon had 11 and Rashad Anderson 10. UConn, which leads the nation in rebounding margin, was outrebounded 40-33 by Syracuse.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun said Okafor would be re-evaluated as soon as the team returned home. He made no excuses for the loss.

“That (Okafor’s injury) had nothing to do with the game, and I told my team that,” Calhoun said. “If all we are is Emeka Okafor, then we should cancel any kind of bid that we get.”

Hakim Warrick finished with 19 points to lead Syracuse and Josh Pace had five points, eight rebounds and four assists and did not commit a turnover for the third straight game.

No. 9 Kentucky 82,

Florida 62

Lexington, Ky. — Gerald Fitch scored 21 points, and Erik Daniels added 15 points, 14 rebounds and six assists to lead Kentucky past Florida. The Wildcats (23-4, 13-3 Southeastern Conference) beat the Gators (18-9, 9-7) for the sixth straight time, and eighth in the last nine meetings. Both teams have clinched first-round byes in this week’s SEC tournament in Atlanta. Kentucky’s Chuck Hayes also had a double-double with 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Hayes and Daniels alone matched Florida’s rebound total of 26, as Kentucky finished with 53 rebounds.

SW Missouri State 80,

No. 15 Southern Illinois 74

St. Louis — Merrill Andrews scored 16 points to lead Southwest Missouri State to a shocker over Southern Illinois in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The Salukis (25-4) won the regular-season title with a 17-1 conference record and still are expected to receive an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament — as they have the past two years. The last 10 MVC regular-season champions have reached the NCAAs. Blake Ahearn and Anthony Shavies added 14 points apiece for fifth-seeded Southwest Missouri (19-13). Darren Brooks led Southern Illinois with 15 points, and Brad Korn scored 14.

No. 18 Illinois 64,

Ohio State 63

Columbus, Ohio — Deron Williams’ free throw with 16.5 seconds left provided the final margin in Illinois’ win over Ohio State, securing the Illini’s first outright Big Ten title in 52 years. The Illini (22-5, 13-3) have won at least a share of a Big Ten title in three of the last four seasons and four of the last seven. Dee Brown led the Illini with 18 points, Williams had 14 and Luther Head 13 as the Illini won their 10th game in a row — their longest streak since winning the first 11 games of the 1989-90 season. Terence Dials scored 22 points — hitting seven of nine shots from the field and eight of 10 free throws — and had nine rebounds for Ohio State (14-15, 6-10). Tony Stockman added 13 points.

No. 22 Arizona 106, Arizona State 81

Tucson, Ariz. — Chris Rodgers scored a career-high 20 points, and Arizona wrapped up its regular season with a victory over Arizona State.

Salim Stoudamire and Hassan Adams added 21 points apiece for the Wildcats (19-8, 11-7 Pac-10), who beat Arizona State for the 18th time in 19 tries.

Channing Frye scored 20, Andre Iguodala had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Mustafa Shakur had a career-best 11 assists with just one turnover for Arizona.

The freshman point guard’s previous best was seven assists.