Arinze Onuaku

It's officially called the West Regional. But it might as well be the Philadelphia-area-fan-familiarity regional. Starting with No. 1 seed Syracuse, the region also showcases No. 3 seed Pittsburgh and No. 6 Xavier. Syracuse and Pittsburgh are Big East rivals of Villanova. Xavier competes with Temple, La Salle, and St. Joseph's in the Atlantic Ten. The Orange are the fourth overall No.1 seed behind Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke. Syracuse opens the tournament in Buffalo on Friday against American East tourney champion Vermont.

There is the temptation to say that Villanova ran into the hoop equivalent of a buzz saw when it set foot in the Carrier Dome three days ago and was routed by a Syracuse team clicking at both ends of the floor. But the reality is this: The Wildcats have lost three of their last four games. The team, once seen as a possible No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, now must focus on the next two games to fix things before next week's Big East tournament. The Wildcats (23-5 overall, 12-4 league)

Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins provided another memorable moment in Syracuse's storybook season. They combined for 35 points and the Orange beat St. John's, 85-66, last night in their first game as the No. 1 team in the nation since they were atop the poll in 1989-90. Onuaku finished with a season-high 21 points and had eight rebounds. Rautins had 14 points and seven assists. "It's a blessing. I've been here 5 years and it's the first time my mom's seen me play here," Onuaku said.

Pittsburgh wasn't about to become the latest Big East powerhouse to bow out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown had 17 points each, leading six Panthers who scored in double figures as third-seeded Pittsburgh shook off a slow start to rout No. 14 seed Oakland, 89-66, in a West Regional game in Milwaukee yesterday. The Panthers were well aware of what happened Thursday, when Big East teams Georgetown, Notre Dame and Marquette all lost to lower seeds.

This time, there was no buzzer-beater miracle shot for Murray State. Instead, there was a great buzzer-beating defensive play by Gordon Hayward to save Butler in the West Regional. The fifth-seeded Bulldogs prevented a last-second, three-point attempt when Hayward deflected a pass by Isaiah Canaan to preserve a 54-52 victory over 13th-seeded Murray State in a second-round NCAA tournament game in San Jose, Calif. After knocking the basketball away, Hayward bolted down the court and dived on the loose ball as time expired.

Neumann-Goretti product Rick Jackson scored a career-high 28 points, 17 in the second half, and No. 4 Syracuse recovered from an eight-point deficit to beat host Providence, 99-85, last night. Andy Rautins scored a season-high 28 points, Jackson added nine rebounds and Arinze Onuaku had 12 points and nine boards for the Orange (26-2, 13-2), who clinched a double-bye into the quarterfinals of the Big East tournament. After Jamine Peterson hit a three-pointer to open the second half and give the Friars a 55-47 lead, Syracuse scored the next 14 points.

Cleveland State coach Gary Waters figured his team was headed for overtime. Cedric Jackson thought otherwise. The senior guard took an inbounds pass from J'Nathan Bullock with 2.2 seconds left, turned and swished a two-handed, 60-foot shot at the buzzer to give the Vikings a shocking, 72-69 victory over No. 11 Syracuse last night in the Carrier Dome. "I looked up to see if there was a chance but knew there wasn't enough time," Jackson said. "It was a prayer. It's not an everyday shot.

Finding itself with a second chance in four days to protect a 20-point lead, Villanova managed to make life a wee bit easier on coach Jay Wright and the blue-clad fans who helped pack the Wachovia Center yesterday. Of course, it helped that the 17th-ranked Wildcats had Dante Cunningham on their side. The 6-foot-8 senior matched a career high with 31 points and repeatedly came up with big buckets to thwart any Syracuse comeback attempt, leading Villanova to a 102-85 win over the No. 20 Orange in front of a sellout crowd of 20,390 that included former Syracuse basketball player Donovan McNabb.

NEW YORK - Syracuse's Scoop Jardine has come full circle, the older teammate now helping a freshman cope with the demands of being a college student as well as a potential star basketball player. But this is a special freshman to Jardine. This is Dion Waiters, who lived with Jardine and his grandmother in South Philadelphia from seventh grade until the time the older player headed for Syracuse. Jardine, the 6-foot-2 former Neumann-Goretti star, said Waiters' mother gave her blessing to the living arrangement so that he would be around basketball players, not out on the streets.

Arinze Onuaku crashed to the floor and clutched his right knee, writhing in pain at Madison Square Garden. Suddenly, top-seeded Syracuse had more to worry about than a loss in its Big East Tournament opener. Chris Wright scored 27 points and No. 22 Georgetown sailed past the third-ranked Orange with an impressive second-half surge that yielded a 91-84 victory in the quarterfinals yesterday. Though still a strong candidate for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Syracuse (28-4)

NEW YORK - Syracuse's Scoop Jardine has come full circle, the older teammate now helping a freshman cope with the demands of being a college student as well as a potential star basketball player. But this is a special freshman to Jardine. This is Dion Waiters, who lived with Jardine and his grandmother in South Philadelphia from seventh grade until the time the older player headed for Syracuse. Jardine, the 6-foot-2 former Neumann-Goretti star, said Waiters' mother gave her blessing to the living arrangement so that he would be around basketball players, not out on the streets.

Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku will not play tonight against Butler in the West Regional semifinal in Salt Lake City. Orange coach Jim Boeheim says the 6-9 center is doing better, but will not be available for the Butler game. Onuaku has an injured right quadriceps. Boeheim didn't speculate on whether Onuaku could to play Saturday if the team advances. Onuaku averaged 10.5 points and 5.1 rebounds this season for Syracuse, which defeated Vermont by 23 and Gonzaga by 22 points without the center in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

Scoop Jardine's time at Syracuse began with scandal, and included setbacks and second chances before becoming a story of redemption. As a freshman, the Neumann-Goretti product was suspended two games after being linked to a stolen identification card. He sat out the next season with a medical redshirt after suffering a stress fracture in his left leg. And this year, despite being the only experienced returning point guard, he was assigned to the bench. But when many would have given up, Jardine kept fighting.

This time, there was no buzzer-beater miracle shot for Murray State. Instead, there was a great buzzer-beating defensive play by Gordon Hayward to save Butler in the West Regional. The fifth-seeded Bulldogs prevented a last-second, three-point attempt when Hayward deflected a pass by Isaiah Canaan to preserve a 54-52 victory over 13th-seeded Murray State in a second-round NCAA tournament game in San Jose, Calif. After knocking the basketball away, Hayward bolted down the court and dived on the loose ball as time expired.

Pittsburgh wasn't about to become the latest Big East powerhouse to bow out in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Jermaine Dixon and Gilbert Brown had 17 points each, leading six Panthers who scored in double figures as third-seeded Pittsburgh shook off a slow start to rout No. 14 seed Oakland, 89-66, in a West Regional game in Milwaukee yesterday. The Panthers were well aware of what happened Thursday, when Big East teams Georgetown, Notre Dame and Marquette all lost to lower seeds.

It's officially called the West Regional. But it might as well be the Philadelphia-area-fan-familiarity regional. Starting with No. 1 seed Syracuse, the region also showcases No. 3 seed Pittsburgh and No. 6 Xavier. Syracuse and Pittsburgh are Big East rivals of Villanova. Xavier competes with Temple, La Salle, and St. Joseph's in the Atlantic Ten. The Orange are the fourth overall No.1 seed behind Kansas, Kentucky, and Duke. Syracuse opens the tournament in Buffalo on Friday against American East tourney champion Vermont.

During the Big East Conference tournament, you'll see a matchup that exceeds its billing, one that will have you talking to your friends for days about what a great game it was. Such a matchup took place this week at Madison Square Garden when longtime rivals Syracuse and Georgetown, both nationally ranked and headed for the NCAA tournament, went at it in arguably the week's best game, one the Hoyas won, 91-84. The caliber of the opponents and the quality of the game made it worthy of a championship contest.

Arinze Onuaku crashed to the floor and clutched his right knee, writhing in pain at Madison Square Garden. Suddenly, top-seeded Syracuse had more to worry about than a loss in its Big East Tournament opener. Chris Wright scored 27 points and No. 22 Georgetown sailed past the third-ranked Orange with an impressive second-half surge that yielded a 91-84 victory in the quarterfinals yesterday. Though still a strong candidate for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, Syracuse (28-4)

Arinze Onuaku and Andy Rautins provided another memorable moment in Syracuse's storybook season. They combined for 35 points and the Orange beat St. John's, 85-66, last night in their first game as the No. 1 team in the nation since they were atop the poll in 1989-90. Onuaku finished with a season-high 21 points and had eight rebounds. Rautins had 14 points and seven assists. "It's a blessing. I've been here 5 years and it's the first time my mom's seen me play here," Onuaku said.

Fifth-year seniors Andy Rautins and Arinze Onuaku made their final home game at Syracuse one to remember, combining for 35 points and the Orange beat St. John's, 85-66, last night in their first game in two decades as the No. 1 team in the nation. Syracuse (28-2, 15-2 Big East) moved from No. 4 to the top spot yesterday. It was the first time the Orange were there since a six-week stint in 1989-90, and they apparently like the view. Onuaku finished with a season-high 21 points and had eight rebounds.