Villanova temporarily lost one of its top players against Pittsburgh on Friday night, then lost the game 68-54 in the semifinals of the Big East tournament at Madison Square Garden.
Villanova, the second-seeded team in the tournament, struggled against a big, physical and inspired Pittsburgh team. The sixth-seeded Panthers advanced to tonight's championship game against ninth-seeded Syracuse.
Villanova played most of the second half without its second-leading scorer, Allan Ray, who sustained an injury to his right eye with 19 minutes 28 seconds remaining when he was poked by Carl Krauser of Pittsburgh during a scramble for a loose ball.
PHOTO: AP
Ray was taken to St. Vincent's Manhattan Hospital for observation. Ray, a senior guard, entered Friday night's game averaging 19.4 points a game.
"We just got a report from the doctor at the hospital, and it is great news," Villanova coach Jay Wright said after the game. "It actually looked a lot worse than it was. Al is going to be released, and he has vision."
The Wildcats shot 35.2 percent from the floor. Antonio Graves scored 18 points to lead Pittsburgh (24-6). Randy Foye scored 26 points to lead Villanova (25-4). Kyle Lowry (10 points) was the only other player to reach double figures for the Wildcats. This was the first meeting this season between the two teams.
PHOTO: AP
Tonight's game will be first Big East championship matchup in which both competitors had to play on three consecutive nights to reach the finals.
Syracuse 58, No. 23 Georgetown 57
For two thrilling afternoons at the Big East tournament this week, Gerry McNamara's clutch shooting reminded everyone at Madison Square Garden of the transcendent power of postseason basketball.
McNamara made miraculous 3-pointers to save Syracuse in victories against eighth-seeded Cincinnati and top-seeded Connecticut that assured the Orange a berth in the NCAA tournament.
On Friday night, McNamara managed to add to his repertory of rescues in a 58-57 victory against Georgetown in the semifinals. Syracuse (22-11) will defend its tournament title against Pittsburgh (24-6) on Saturday night. The sixth-seeded Panthers advanced Friday night with a 68-54 victory against second-seeded Villanova.
McNamara scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, all while hobbled by a nagging groin injury.
McNamara not only delivered a clutch 3-pointer, which has almost become expected this week, but he dished the winning assist to give Syracuse its only lead of the game and then sealed the victory by forcing a turnover with 1.5 seconds remaining. The late flurry capped Syracuse's recovery from a 15-point halftime deficit.
"I don't think a Syracuse team has ever been considered a Cinderella, but its starting to look like the shoe fits," the Syracuse assistant Mike Hopkins said. He then look at McNamara in the locker room and smiled, "I know that we definitely have the luck of the Irish."
Jason Richardson scored a career-high 44 points to win a shootout with Dwyane Wade and lead the Golden State Warriors to a 111-106 victory Friday, snapping Miami's 10-game winning streak.
Wade scored a season-high 42, making it the first time in Heat history that a player for both teams scored at least 40 points.
The Heat had the longest current winning streak in the NBA, although none of their past 10 games was against a team now above .500. That included the last-place Warriors, who snapped a four-game losing streak and won on the road for the first time in seven tries since the All-Star break.
The Warriors won for the first time in their past 11 games in Miami.
Nuggets 108, Raptors 97
At Toronto, Andre Miller scored 23 points, and Denver overcame the loss of Carmelo Anthony to be Toronto.
Anthony didn't return after leaving the game in the third quarter with a strained left hamstring. He went to the dressing room and later tried riding a stationary bike.
The Nuggets were already missing center Marcus Camby, who dressed but didn't play because of a strained Achilles'.
Earl Boykins had 18 points and Greg Buckner added 17 for the Nuggets. Reggie Evans was scoreless but grabbed 20 rebounds in 39 minutes.
Mike James led Toronto with 26 points, but he fouled out with 4:16 left.
Magic 102, Cavaliers 73
At Orlando, Florida, Carlos Arroyo had 17 points and seven assists, leading a strong effort by Orlando's reserves.
Tony Battie was the only Orlando starter in double figures with 13 points and 13 rebounds, but four reserves -- Arroyo, Darko Milicic (11 points), Keyon Dooling (13) and little-used Bo Outlaw (12) hit the mark.
The win snapped a six-game losing streak for Orlando, which had previously lost 18 of its last 20, and a four-game winning streak for the Cavaliers.
LeBron James had 25 points and seven rebounds, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Flip Murray each scored 13 for Cleveland. Drew Gooden added nine points and 12 rebounds.
Bucks 92, Celtics 86
At Boston, Michael Redd scored 26 points, including the go-ahead basket midway through the fourth quarter, and Milwaukee beat Boston to snap a three-game losing streak.
The Bucks also extended their lead to four-and-a-half games over the Celtics for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Paul Pierce scored 24 points and added eight assists for the Celtics. It was only the second time in the last 15 games he failed to reach 30 points.
All five starters scored in double figures for the Bucks, who won for only the third time in 10 games. Bobby Simmons scored 18 points and Jamaal Magliore added 16. T. J. Ford and Andrew Bogut each scored 11.
Lakers 100, Spurs 92
At San Antonio, Kobe Bryant scored 29 points, and Los Angeles limited Tim Duncan to only 12 to beat San Antonio.
Bryant broke open the game by hitting five straight shots over a span of 6:36 in the second quarter. The Lakers (33-30) have won four of five.
San Antonio dropped a half-game behind Dallas for the lead in the Southwest Division and the best record in the Western Conference. The Spurs (48-14) have lost two of their last three games after winning seven straight.
Bryant shot 11-for-29, while Duncan went 5-for-12 in 32 minutes.
Brent Barry and Michael Finley came off the bench to lead San Antonio with 16 points apiece. Barry played 18 minutes.
Ohio State was placed on three years' probation on Friday and ordered to erase all references to its 1999 trip to the Final Four and three other tournament appearances under former coach Jim O'Brien.
The decision by the NCAA does not affect this season's team, which is 24-4 and ranked seventh in the country.
"The positives are closure," Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in Indianapolis before the game. "We're going into the Big Ten tournament and we want our student-athletes to have the opportunity to participate in this tournament understanding there won't be any sanctions they have to deal with. ... They can play without that stress."
The banner hanging from Value City Arena's rafters will be altered to erase any mention of the team's run to the national semifinals in 1999, and record books will be changed to delete pictures and statistics for the four tournament teams that included ineligible player Boban Savovic. The university must also repay about US$800,000 in tournament revenues from 1999-2002.
"The news we got today was great for the university, but the players in this locker room knew we were going" to the NCAA tournament, said center Terence Dials, the Big Ten's player of the year. "I would have been really shocked if they would have said we couldn't go."
If O'Brien gets a job at another college in the next five years, he and his new school must appear before the NCAA's infractions committee to discuss whether he will face additional limits.
"I wouldn't even dream of asking any other program to jump through hoops to give me an opportunity to get back in," O'Brien said by telephone from Boston.
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