NEW YORK, 14 March 2005 — Hakim Warrick scored 20 points and grabbed 13 rebounds to lead No. 16 Syracuse over West Virginia, 68-59, in the Big East Tournament championship game at Madison Square Garden.
Gerry McNamara added 16 for the Orange (27-6), who won the Big East Tournament for the first time since 1992. Josh Pace contributed 13 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the win. Tyrone Sally scored 13 for West Virginia (21-10).
The Orange used a late first-half surge to take a 10-point lead into the break. Leading 31-29, Demetris Nichols hit from three-point range to spark the spurt. McNamara followed with another three and a layup by Terrence Roberts in the closings seconds gave the Orange a 41-31 advantage. Syracuse continued to add to its run in the second half, scoring 10 of the first 12 points to open a commanding 51-33 advantage. West Virginia’s Kevin Pittsnogle opened the second half with his first basket to cut the Orange lead to eight, but McNamara was fouled on a three-point attempt and made all three foul shots to give Syracuse a 44-33 advantage. Roberts scored the next four points and Warrick completed a three-point play with 16 minutes left to cap the run for an 18-point lead.
The Mountaineers, though, answered with a 17-4 run to pull within five, 55-50. West Virginia, however, would get no closer, as the Orange built their lead back to 11, 62-51, with 3 1/2 minutes remaining.
McNamara’s three-pointer from the top of the arc with 1:30 set a new school single-season record and put the Orange ahead, 65-53. The lead grew to 15 with under a minute left before the Orange finished the nine-point win. Syracuse shot 59 percent from the field (17-for-29) in the opening half and outrebounded the Mountaineers, 17-11.
West Virginia went 12-for-27 from the floor in the first half (44 percent) and made five three-pointers, including two by Frank Young.
Illinois Through to Fifth Conference Final
In Chicago, Deron Williams had 12 points, five rebounds and five assists to lead top-ranked Illinois to a 64-56 win over Minnesota in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament from the United Center on Saturday.
Luther Head led the Illini (31-1) with 14 points, while James Augustine added 11 points and 14 boards in the win. Illinois will make its fifth appearance in the conference final on Sunday versus Wisconsin.
Illinois, the Big Ten regular season champion and top seed in the tournament, reached the tourney final in each of the past two years and won it all in 2003.
The win for the Illini comes just one day after head coach Bruce Weber’s mother passed away. Weber’s 81-year-old mother, Dawn, died Friday morning.
