Young, Pitt KO UConn again

Sam Young dominated one of this season's biggest games with 31 points and No. 3 Pittsburgh likely secured one of the top seeds in the NCAA Tournament, opening a 14-point lead early in the second half before holding off No. 1 Connecticut, 70-60, yesterday in Pittsburgh.

Pitt (28-3, 15-3 Big East) had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team in school history, only to accomplish it twice in less than a month - both times against UConn (27-3, 15-3), which hasn't figured out how to slow down Young.

The Panthers failed to gain a share of the Big East title when Louisville edged West Virginia last night, but did slip past UConn for the second seed.

Young scored the two biggest baskets of the game, ending a 12-0 run by UConn that got the Huskies to within 52-50 with 8:24 left.

Oklahoma 82, Oklahoma St. 78 - Blake Griffin scored 33 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to set a Big 12 season record and the No. 4 Sooners (27-4, 13-3) edged the visiting Cowboys (20-10, 9-7). Griffin moved past Kansas's Drew Gooden for the season record with 425 rebounds.

Memphis 74, Tulane 47 - Robert Dozier had 16 points and 12 rebounds and the host No. 5 Tigers (28-3, 16-0 Conference USA) extended the nation's longest winning streak to 22 games.

Louisville 62, West Virginia 59 - Terrence Williams scored 20 points and the No. 6 Cardinals (25-5, 16-2) clinched the Big East regular-season title with a win over the host Mountaineers (21-10, 10-8).

Kansas 83, Texas 73 - Sherron Collins had 21 points and seven assists, and the No. 9 Jayhawks (25-6, 14-2) claimed their fifth straight Big 12 title and extended the nation's longest home winning streak to 41 games by beating the visiting Longhorns (20-10, 9-7).

Auburn 69, LSU 53 - Korvotney Barber had 16 points and 17 rebounds as the host Tigers (21-10, 10-6 Southeastern) knocked off No. 12 LSU (25-6, 13-3).

Syracuse 86, Marquette 79 - Jonny Flynn scored 20 of his 24 points after halftime and the No. 25 Orange (23-8, 11-7 Big East) beat the No. 13 Golden Eagles (23-8, 12-6) in overtime, handing host Marquette its fourth straight loss.

Texas A&M 96, Missouri 86 - Donald Sloan scored 16 points and the host Aggies (23-8, 9-7 Big 12) fought off a late rally by the No. 15 Tigers (25-6, 12-4) for their fifth straight win.

Washington 67, Washington St. 60 - Quincy Pondexter scored 16 points to lead the No. 16 Huskies (24-7, 14-4 Pac-10) past the visiting Cougars (16-14, 8-10), clinching their first outright conference championship since 1953.

Richmond 80, Xavier 75 - Kevin Anderson scored a career-high 29 points to lead the host Spiders (17-14, 9-7 Atlantic 10) to an upset of the No. 17 Musketeers (24-6, 12-4).

UCLA 94, Oregon 68 - Josh Shipp scored a career-high 28 points and the No. 20 Bruins (24-7, 13-5 Pac-10) blasted the visiting Ducks (8-22, 2-16).

Arizona St. 83, California 66 - Jeff Pendergraph scored 27 points, helping the No. 21 Sun Devils (22-8, 11-7 Pac-10) end a three-game losing streak with a rout of the visiting Golden Bears (22-9, 11-7).

UMass 72, Rhode Island 71 - Chris Lowe scored on a layup with six-10ths of a second left to lift the visiting Minutemen (12-17, 7-9 Atlantic 10) over the Rams (22-9, 11-5).

Harvard 69, Yale 59 - Jeremy Lin scored 19 points and the visiting Crimson (14-14, 6-8 Ivy) closed the season by beating the Bulldogs (13-15, 8-6).

Colonial Athletic Association quarterfinals - Eric Maynor scored 16 of his 18 points in the second half to help top-seeded Virginia Commonwealth (22-9) earn a 61-52 win over Georgia State (12-20) in Richmond . . . Cam Long and Darryl Monroe scored 12 points apiece, allowing No. 2 seed George Mason (21-9) to hold off James Madison, 61-53 . . . Darius James hit two free throws with 20.2 seconds left to help Old Dominion (21-9) take a 52-51 win over Hofstra (21-11).

MAAC quarterfinals - Mike Evanovich scored 18 points as Fairfield (17-14) held off Manhattan, 68-61, in Albany, N.Y. Fairfield will face top-seeded Siena, a 77-52 winner over Canisius, in today's semifinals.

Big South final - Artsiom Parakhouski had 26 points and 18 rebounds and host Radford (21-11) beat VMI, 108-94, to win its first conference title in 11 years.

Atlantic Sun final - Mike Smith scored 22 points and East Tennessee State (23-10) clinched an NCAA Tournament berth by routing Jacksonville, 86-58, in Nashville.

Ohio Valley final - Steve Peterson hit his only basket of the game with two seconds left in the second overtime, boosting Morehead State (20-15) to a 67-65 win over Austin Peay (19-14) in Nashville.

Horizon semifinals - League player of the year Matt Howard had 24 points, leading No. 22 Butler (26-4) past Wright State, 62-57, in Indianapolis. The Bulldogs will go for a sixth conference title Tuesday night against Cleveland State (24-10), which got past Wisconsin-Green Bay, 73-67.

NCAA Div. 3 second round - Dylan Holmes had 19 points and 11 rebounds, sparking Salem State (23-6) to a 69-67 win over Widener (23-6) in Chester, Pa. . . . Steve DeLuca scored 21 points but Brandeis (18-9) couldn't overcome a 20-point deficit and dropped a 65-63 decision to host Franklin & Marshall (24-5) . . . Jimmy Bartolotta scored 27 points but MIT (21-9) was eliminated by Farmingdale State (26-3), 67-61, in Providence . . . Bridgewater State's Stace Garrick hit two threes in the final 37 seconds, powering the Bears (22-6) to a 78-76 win over host Middlebury (24-4) . . . Matt Walker scored 20 points, leading UMass-Dartmouth (27-3) to an 81-68 win over host WPI (21-6).

ECAC Div. 3 semifinals - Kevin Harrington scored 17 points and Rivier (16-12) upset Daniel Webster (18-10), 75-70, in Nashua. The Raiders will meet Becker in today's final in Newton after the Hawks (21-8) ousted top-seeded Lasell (19-10), 85-82.