Georgetown claims 1st in Big East

WASHINGTON — On an afternoon that Otto Porter Jr. didn’t make a field goal until the second half, No. 5 Georgetown used stifling defense to close its Big East rivalry against No. 17 Syracuse with a 61-39 victory Saturday that gave the Hoyas the regular-season conference title.

Georgetown sent Syracuse off to the Atlantic Coast Conference with the Orange’s lowest-scoring Big East game.

Porter finished with 10 points, but the national player of the year candidate contributed in plenty of other ways, as usual, with eight rebounds and seven assists.

Markel Starks scored 19, and freshman D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera had 15 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Hoyas (24-5, 14-4), who will be the No. 1 seed at the Big East tournament next week in New York.

Syracuse (23-8, 11-7) was led by Michael Carter-Williams’ 17 points.

Memphis 86, UAB 71

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Joe Jackson had 17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds on Saturday to help No. 25 Memphis complete an undefeated season in Conference USA with a victory over UAB.

Chris Crawford led Memphis scorers with 20 points, hitting 5 of 10 shots beyond the arc, while Geron Johnson had 19 points.

Miami 62, Clemson 49

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Down to its third try and last chance, Miami came through.

Kenny Kadji scored a season-high 23 points to help the sixth-ranked Hurricanes win the Atlantic Coast Conference championship outright by beating Clemson 62-49 on Saturday.

Louisville 73, Notre Dame 57

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Gorgui Dieng had 20 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks to help No. 8 Louisville earn a share of the Big East Conference title with a victory over No. 24 Notre Dame.

Peyton Siva added 13 points and five assists in his final home game for the Cardinals (26-5, 14-4 Big East), who finished tied for first place with Georgetown and Marquette. Louisville receives a bye into Thursday’s quarterfinals at the Big East tournament, where coach Rick Pitino’s team will defend its 2012 title.

Dieng and Siva were honored before the game as part of Louisville’s senior day festivities. Dieng, a junior center from Senegal, is expected to enter the NBA draft after the season.

Garrick Sherman led Notre Dame (23-8, 11-7) with 14 points. The Fighting Irish will next play Wednesday in the conference tournament at Madison Square Garden.

Louisville shot 67 percent (16 of 24) for its best first half of the season. But Notre Dame held the Cardinals without a field goal for nearly six minutes early in the second half to cut the lead to 45-40 on Pat Connaughton’s 3-pointer with 12:56 left.

Oklahoma State 76, Kansas St. 70

STILLWATER, Okla. — Le’Bryan Nash scored 24 points, Marcus Smart added 21 and No. 13 Oklahoma State hurt No. 9 Kansas State’s chances to win the Big 12 championship by beating the Wildcats 76-70 on Saturday.

The Wildcats (25-6, 14-4 Big 12) came into the day tied with rival Kansas for the conference lead, but were left needing the Jayhawks to lose on the road at Baylor later Saturday to come away with their first conference title since 1977 in the Big Eight.

Kentucky 61, Florida 57

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Julius Mays’ two free throws with 9.4 seconds remaining capped Kentucky’s comeback from a seven-point deficit for a upset of No. 11 Florida that revived its NCAA tournament prospects.

Archie Goodwin’s 16 points led the way in a game that Wildcats coach John Calipari described Friday as “do or die” for his defending national champions. Kentucky needed a signature win to maintain its hopes for an NCAA tournament bid.

Marquette 69, St. John’s 67

NEW YORK — Vander Blue’s driving shot fell through the rim as the overtime buzzer sounded, giving No. 15 Marquette a victory over St. John’s at Madison Square Garden, and a share of the Big East regular season championship, their first title since joining the conference in 2005-06.

Blue had 16 points, including four of Marquette’s six in overtime, for the Golden Eagles (23-7, 14-4 Big East), who finished second in the Big East last season and were picked seventh in the preseason conference poll in November. This was their fourth straight win and sixth in seven games and the Golden Eagles get a bye to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Saint Louis 78, La Salle 54

ST. LOUIS — Dwayne Evans had 16 points and 17 rebounds and No. 16 Saint Louis hit 17 of its 20 shots in a pull-away second half, clinching a share of the Atlantic 10 title with a victory over La Salle.

Kwamain Mitchell had 19 points and six assists on Senior Day for Saint Louis (24-6, 13-3 A-10), which won its first conference title since 1970-71 in the Missouri Valley. Rob Loe matched his career best with 20 points, hitting all seven shots and the Billikens shot 58 percent overall, one game after shooting a season-worst 30 percent in an overtime loss at Xavier.

Saint Louis has won 12 of 13 and can take the title outright if VCU loses at Temple on Sunday.

Tyrone Garland had 15 points off the bench for La Salle (21-8, 11-5).

Arizona 73, Arizona St. 58

TUCSON, Ariz. — Nick Johnson scored 17 points, Solomon Hill added 12 in his final home game and No. 18 Arizona earned a first-round bye in next week’s Pac-12 tournament with a rout over rival Arizona State.

A late-season slide left Arizona (24-6, 12-6 Pac-12) needing a win or some help to avoid playing next Wednesday in the conference tournament. The Wildcats took care of it themselves, building a 15-point lead in the first half and answering a big second-half run by the Sun Devils with one of their own.

Utah 72, Oregon 62

SALT LAKE CITY — Jason Washburn had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Jarred DuBois added 15 points and several key baskets down the stretch to propel Utah past No. 19 Oregon.

Jordan Loveridge and Brandon Taylor chipped in 14 points apiece for the Utes (13-17, 5-13), who won consecutive Pac-12 games for the first time since joining the league. It also marked the first time Utah beat a ranked Pac-12 opponent in league play.

Pittsburgh 81, DePaul 66

ROSEMONT, Ill. — J.J. Moore scored 21 points off the bench and No. 20 Pittsburgh shot a school-record 72 percent to beat DePaul in the Panthers’ last Big East regular-season game.

The next stop for surging Pittsburgh is its final Big East tournament, which begins Tuesday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Panthers (24-7, 12-6), who will move into the Atlantic Coast Conference next season, have won 11 of their last 14 games and six of eight on the road.

UCLA 61, Washington 54

SEATTLE — Shabazz Muhammad scored 21 points, Larry Drew II came up with another huge shot against Washington, and No. 23 UCLA clinched the Pac-12 Conference regular season title with a win over the Huskies.

UCLA earned its third regular-season crown under coach Ben Howland. The Bruins won the title outright after Oregon was upset at Utah.

Memphis 86, UAB 71

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Joe Jackson had 17 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds to help No. 25 Memphis complete an undefeated season in Conference USA with a victory over UAB.