By The Associated Press

NEW YORK – Gerry McNamara is making his final Big East tournament one to remember.

The senior guard led Syracuse to an 86-84 overtime victory over No. 1 Connecticut on Thursday in the quarterfinals, tying the game on a 3-pointer with 5.5 seconds left in regulation and helping the Orange end any talk about whether or not they deserve an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.

On Wednesday, his 3-pointer with less than a second to play gave ninth-seeded Syracuse (21-11) a 74-73 victory over Cincinnati. He topped that performance in the quarterfinals by scoring 17 points and handing out 13 assists, one short of the tournament record.

The loss shouldn’t affect the No. 1 seed expected to go to Connecticut (27-3), but it ended a 10-game winning streak in the Big East quarterfinals for the Huskies, the regular season co-champions with Villanova.

Syracuse, the defending champions in this tournament, face No. 23 Georgetown in the semifinals.

The Orange, who lost twice to Connecticut during the season, led 39-28 at halftime and a 3 by McNamara extended the lead to 49-35 with 16:43 to go. The Huskies, who trailed 10-0 just 2:30 into the game, started chipping away and were within 62-56 with 7:24 to play.

McNamara hit a 3 to restore the lead to nine points, but Connecticut tied the game with a 9-0 run capped by four free throws by Hilton Armstrong.

Rashad Anderson’s 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in regulation gave Connecticut the lead for the first time, 72-71.

Josh Wright missed a shot with 12 seconds left, and Denham Brown made two free throws with 11 seconds left to make it 74-71. McNamara took the inbound pass and dribbled to just outside the 3-point line and drilled his third 3 of the game to tie it.

(2) Villanova 87, Rutgers 55

NEW YORK – Allan Ray scored 19 of his 26 points in the second half as Villanova advanced to the semifinals of the Big East tournament.

Will Sheridan added 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Wildcats (25-3), who will play the winner of the late Pittsburgh-West Virginia game on Friday night.

Villanova, the Big East’s regular-season co-champion with No. 1 Connecticut, trailed by one early in the second half but prevented the type of upset that eliminated the Huskies earlier in the day. Quincy Douby scored 31 points – 24 in the first half – to lead 10th-seeded Rutgers (18-13).

(5) Memphis 75, Tulane 56

MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Rodney Carney scored 18 points, and Darius Washington added 15 in the quarterfinals of the Conference USA tournament.

Top-seeded Memphis benefited from an aggressive defense and great outside shooting, going 11-of-28 from outside the arc.

The Tigers (28-3) will face the winner of Thursday’s late game between Central Florida and Houston in the semifinals Friday.

Shawne Williams added 13 points for Memphis. Chris Moore led the Green Wave (12-17) with 21 points.

Temple 68, (6) Geo. Washington 53

CINCINNATI – Temple’s matchup zone left George Washington’s high-powered offense in a shambles, setting up the upset in the Atlantic 10 tournament quarterfinals.

George Washington (26-2) was only the fourth team to make it through the A10 regular season without a loss. The unblemished record ended against a team known for making opponents look bad at tournament time.

The Colonials came into the game as the only one-loss team in Division I, riding an 18-game winning streak. The Owls (17-13) held the conference’s top offense to 33 percent shooting from the field while forcing 19 turnovers.

Antywane Robinson led Temple with 19 points.

(13) UCLA 79, Oregon St. 47

LOS ANGELES – Ryan Hollins scored a season-high 17 points in the Pac-10 tournament quarterfinals.

Hollins also had eight rebounds, helping the Bruins to a 39-25 advantage on the boards. Arron Afflalo added 16 points, Michael Roll nine and Jordan Farmar seven.

Marcel Jones scored 19 points and to lead Oregon State (13-18).

(23) Georgetown 62, Marquette 59

NEW YORK – Brandon Bowman went 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in the final minute to help Georgetown advance in the Big East tournament.

Steve Novak hit his sixth 3-pointer with 5.6 seconds left to bring Marquette within 60-59.

But Bowman restored the three-point lead with two free throws with 5.1 seconds left. Jerel McNeal missed a 30-footer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.

Georgetown (21-8) will face Syracuse on Friday night in the semifinals. Jeff Green had 16 points, nine rebounds and five assists to lead the Hoyas. Ashanti Cook added 16 points. Novak finished with 18 points and Wesley Matthews scored 14 points for Marquette (20-10).

No. 24 UAB 69, SMU 55

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – Lawrence Kinnard scored 12 points as four UAB players finished in double-figures in the Conference USA tournament quarterfinals.

As usual, the Blazers’ defense contributed to the offense. UAB forced 26 turnovers, leading to 27 points. UAB (23-5) won its seventh straight and nine of 10. Richard Jones also finished with 12 points, while Paul Delaney and Marvett McDonald each added 11 for the Blazers.

Bryan Hopkins led the 10th-seed Mustangs (13-16) with 13 points, but was 5-of-15 from the field, while Devon Pearson had 10 points and a career-high 17 rebounds. UAB will play Texas-El Paso in the semifinals.

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AP-ES-03-09-06 2145EST