Syracuse gets Melo
NEW YORK — Freshman center Fab Melo scored a career-high 12 points, including two layups in the final 2 minutes, and No. 11 Syracuse beat No. 17 St. John’s 79-73 Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament.
Brandon Triche had a season-high 22 points for the fourth-seeded Orange (26-6), who will meet ninth-seeded and 21st-ranked Connecticut (24-9) in the semifinals tonight. The Huskies beat top-seeded Pittsburgh 76-74 on Kemba Walker’s buzzer-beating jumper Thursday.
Melo, a 7-foot native of Brazil who has been inconsistent in his rookie season, gave the Orange the lead for good at 70-68 with a layup off an inbounds pass with 2 minutes left.
Dwight Hardy had 22 points for the Red Storm (21-11).
Pittsburgh native and Red Storm senior guard D.J. Kennedy tore a ligament in his right knee in the first half and will undergo surgery and miss the NCAA tournament.
No. 14 Louisville 81, Marquette 56
Mike Marra hit six 3-pointers and had 22 points to lead the Cardinals to an Big East quarterfinal victory
Third-seeded Louisville (24-8) will play second-seeded Notre Dame tonight in the semifinals.
Marra was 6 of 10 from 3-point range and led Louisville’s 13-for-31 effort from behind the arc (41.9 percent) as the Cardinals won their fifth in six games and moved on to the Big East semis for the third time. They won their only Big East tournament title in 2009.
Jimmy Butler had 14 points for 11th-seeded Marquette (20-14).
No. 4 Notre Dame 89, No. 25 Cincinnati 51
Ben Hansbrough led a brutally efficient Fighting Irish attack with 23 points to help fourth-ranked Notre Dame dismantled one of the nation’s best defenses Thursday night in an 89-51 quarterfinal rout of the Bearcats in the Big East tournament.
The league’s player of the year had plenty of help.
Carleton Scott scored 18 points and Tim Abromaitis had 17 for the Irish (26-5), who have already won more games than in any other season under longtime coach Mike Brey.
Dion Dixon scored 15 points and Yancy Gates, coming off a career-best 25 in a second-round win over South Florida, managed 12 for Cincinnati. But the duo got very little help.
Penn State 61, Indiana 55
At Indianapolis, Jeff Brooks finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, Talor Battle scored 13 and the sixth-seeded Nittany Lions held off the Hoosiers in the first round of the Big Ten tournament.
The win may help Penn State (17-13) make its case with the NCAA’s selection committee. Four teams, including Penn State, entered the tournament with 9-9 conference records.
Indiana (12-20) was led by Christian Watford with 15 points. The Hoosiers closed with their third straight losing season — the first time that’s happened since 1967-70.
