Syracuse finishes title run

? Gerry McNamara was a big part of Syracuse’s national championship as a freshman in 2003. Four years later, the guard was the runaway MVP in the Orange’s surprising Big East tournament title run.

Syracuse repeated as conference champions by beating No. 15 Pittsburgh, 65-61, on Saturday night. It was the first time in the Orange’s last four victories that they didn’t need late-game heroics from McNamara.

It was sophomore Josh Wright who clinched the title victory, making four free throws in the final 17 seconds.

But it still was McNamara’s tournament.

“Gerry had as good a four games here as anybody I’ve ever seen,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “He just wanted to win.”

Syracuse became the lowest-seeded team to win the Big East tournament – the Orange came in at No. 9 – and the third school to repeat, joining Georgetown in 1985 and Connecticut in 1999.

The Orange (23-11) arrived this week in New York with their chances of claiming an at-large NCAA Tournament berth as on the bubble as a team can get. They are leaving with an automatic bid and a folk hero.

“For us to come down here in the situation we were in and win is impressive,” McNamara said.

In the championship against Pittsburgh (24-7), McNamara had 14 points and six assists. He had three three-pointers, giving him a tournament-record 16.

Carl Krauser had 16 points and five assists for the Panthers.

Big Ten

No. 7 Ohio St. 52, Indiana 51

Indianapolis – J.J. Sullinger had 19 points and 13 rebounds, and Matt Sylvester made a layup with 37.4 seconds left to lead Ohio State to its first tournament championship game since 2003. Ohio State (25-4), the regular-season conference champion, has won seven straight and will face No. 20 Iowa today.

Roderick Wilmont led Indiana (18-11) with 16 points, but he missed a short jumper at the buzzer that would have won it.

No. 20 Iowa 53, Michigan State 48

Indianapolis – Jeff Horner scored 14, and Greg Brunner added 12 as Iowa (24-8) advanced to the tournament final for the first time since 2002. Maurice Ager led Michigan State (22-11) with 21 points and was the only Spartan to make a field goal in the final eight minutes.

Pac-10

No. 13 UCLA 71, California 52

Los Angeles – Jordan Farmar led four UCLA players in double figures with 19 points, and the Bruins (27-6) won their first tournament title since 1987.

The Golden Bears (20-10) were led by Ayinda Ubaka with 18 points and Leon Powe with 17 points and eight rebounds in their first tourney final. They haven’t won a conference title of any kind since 1960.

SEC

No. 16 Florida 81, No. 17 LSU 65

Nashville, Tenn. – Taurean Green scored 18 to lead five Gators in double figures, and Florida advanced to the tournament title game for the third straight year and sixth time overall. With freshman Tyrus Thomas resting his sprained left ankle for the NCAA Tournament, the Tigers (23-8) snapped a seven-game winning streak. Joakim Noah scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds for the Gators (26-6), who will play South Carolina today.

WAC

No. 21 Nevada 70, Utah State 63, OT

Reno, Nev. – Nick Fazekas had 23 points and 14 rebounds, and Marcelus Kemp hit a key three-pointer with 46 seconds left in overtime to help Nevada (27-5) win the Western Athletic Conference championship. Nate Harris scored 22 for the Aggies (23-8).