Loss to Syracuse Is Painful for Connecticut

Gerry McNamara had 24 points and Craig Forth 14 points and 13 rebounds Sunday to lead No. 24 Syracuse to a 67-56 victory over the seventh-ranked Connecticut Huskies at Syracuse, N.Y.

It was the fifth consecutive win for defending national champion Syracuse, 21-6 overall and 11-5 in the Big East, and it 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 Connecticut was at a disadvantage. Center Emeka Okafor played in obvious pain and was not the factor he was in an 84-56 win by the Huskies in February. Okafor had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the first game. On Sunday, he finished with nine rebounds and a season-low two points, taking only two shots in 32 minutes.

In other men’s top 25 games:

Gerald Fitch scored 21 points for No. 9 Kentucky (23-4, 13-3 Southeastern) in an 82-62 victory over Florida (18-9 9-7) at Lexington, Ky. ... Merrill Andrews scored 16 points to lead Southwest Missouri State (19-13) to an 80-74 victory over No. 15 Southern Illinois (25-4) in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at St. Louis. ... Deron Williams’ free throw with 16.5 seconds left at Columbus, Ohio, was decisive for No. 18 Illinois (22-5, 13-3) in a 64-63 victory over Ohio State (14-15) that gave the Illini their first first outright Big Ten championship in 52 years.

WOMEN’S TOP 25 GAMES

No. 21 Vanderbilt (24-7) used a trapping defense to rally from an 18-point deficit in the second half in a 62-56 victory over No. 20 Georgia in the championship game of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Nashville. ... In the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament semifinals at Greensboro, N.C., No. 2 Duke (26-3) rallied from an eight-point deficit for a 70-63 victory over Maryland (17-12), and No. 10 North Carolina (24-5) defeated North Carolina State (17-14), 75-64.... In the Big East tournament quarterfinals at Hartford, Conn., No. 4 Connecticut (25-3) got only four points from Diana Taurasi but defeated Virginia Tech (22-7), 48-34; West Virginia (21-9) upset No. 23 Villanova (22-6), 58-47.... In the Big Ten semifinals at Indianapolis, No. 5 Penn State (25-4) held off No. 25 Michigan State (21-8), 58-54; Shereka Wright’s 31 points led No. 6 Purdue (26-3) to a 67-61 victory over No. 22 Ohio State (20-9).... In the Conference USA tournament title game at Fort Worth, No. 11 Houston (27-3) took its first league title with an 86-75 victory over No. 16 Texas Christian (24-6).