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Big East Tournament: UConn, Syracuse, Louisville, And Notre Dame Head To Semifinals

The Big East tournament is down to the final four teams and all have a legitimate shot to win the championship.

UConn kicked things off with a thrilling two-point win over No. 1 seed Pitt. The Panthers held double-digit leads at a few points in the game, but couldn’t hold off the Huskies. Pitt repeatedly failed to grab defensive rebounds in the second half, and with the score tied, Kemba Walker hit a jump shot at the buzzer to win the game for UConn, 76-74. UConn played its third game in three consecutive days and may run out of steam, but with Walker, you have to give them a fighting chance to win the whole thing.

After trailing St. John’s at halftime, Syracuse stormed back to win the next game, 79-73. The game was fairly sloppy and the two teams combined for 34 turnovers. Even worse than losing the game, the Red Storm may have lost D.J. Kennedy for a while as he left the game early with a knee injury. Lavin called it a “serious knee injury.” Losing Kennedy for the NCAA Tournament would be a big blow as he’s the team’s third leading scorer and the top rebounder.

Notre Dame routed Cincinnati, 89-51, in its quest for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. With Pitt’s loss in their first game of the tournament, if the Irish go on to win the conference championship, they have a compelling argument for getting a No. 1 seed over the Panthers. They would have the same number of losses (five) as Pitt, they own a road win over Pitt, and they would be fresh off of beating some pretty impressive teams.

In the day’s final game, Louisville took care of Marquette – winning handily, 81-56. Mike Marra, who averages only about six points per game, had a career game leading all scorers with 22 points. He shoots under 30% from three-point distance, but was six of ten from that range in the contest.

UConn will take on Syracuse on Friday while Louisville will play Notre Dame.

Photographs by dizfunk used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.