Notre Dame wins second game in Big East tournament

Associated Press

NEW YORK

Luke Harangody came off the bench and hit three key free throws in the final two minutes, helping Notre Dame hold off No. 16 Pittsburgh 50-45 in the Big East tournament quarterfinals Thursday night for its season-best sixth straight victory.

Harangody and Tory Jackson each had 12 points in a bruising, defensive struggle. When the dust finally cleared, the Fighting Irish (23-10) had consecutive wins in the Big East tournament for the first time since joining the league for the 1995-96 season.

Brad Wanamaker scored 16 for Pittsburgh (24-8), knocked out in its Big East tournament opener as the No. 2 seed for the second straight year. Before that, the Panthers reached three finals in a row and seven in a span of eight seasons.

Georgetown 91, Syracuse 84

Chris Wright scored 27 points and No. 22 Georgetown sailed past No. 3 Syracuse with an impressive second-half surge.

Though still a strong candidate for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Syracuse sustained a potentially costly loss when starting center Arinze Onuaku injured his right leg with 5:07 remaining.

Onuaku landed awkwardly after trying to block Greg Monroe’s shot down low. .

Austin Freeman added 18 points and Jason Clark 17 for the No. 8 seed Hoyas (22-9).

Marquette 80, Villanova 76

Lazar Hayward gave Marquette the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 1:51 to play, then added the clinching free throws with 3.2 seconds left, and Marquette won another close game, this time over No. 10 Villanova.