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Syracuse ends No. 3 Pitt’s streak

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Syracuse guard Josh Pace, right, rejects a second-half shot attempt by Pittsburgh's Chris Taft during the Orangemen's upset win Sunday.

Syracuse guard Josh Pace, right, rejects a second-half shot attempt by Pittsburgh’s Chris Taft during the Orangemen’s upset win Sunday.

Gene J. Puskar, Associated Press

Gerry McNamara, held scoreless by No. 3 Pittsburgh for the equivalent of nearly a game and a half, hit a go-ahead 3-pointer and two key free throws in overtime and Syracuse ended the Panthers' 40-game home winning streak with a 49-46 upset Sunday in Pittsburgh.

Pitt's streak was the second-longest in Division I, behind only Duke's 41-game run. The Panthers (25-3, 11-3) had been 34-0 at home since opening the Petersen Events Center last season and hadn't lost in Pittsburgh since being surprised by Notre Dame 56-53 on Jan. 12, 2002, at Fitzgerald Field House

Hakim Warrick scored 17 points for the defending national champion Orangemen (19-6, 9-5), who stayed in the running for the No. 4 seed in the Big East tournament and damaged Pitt's chances of winning the conference regular-season title. Syracuse tied Seton Hall for fourth place.

Pitt (25-3, 11-3), confused and ineffective the entire game against Syracuse's switching defenses, dropped into a first-place tie with Connecticut and Providence.

NO. 5 DUKE 70, FLORIDA ST 65: At Tallahassee, Fla., Luol Deng scored 20 points and fifth-ranked Duke converted its last 12 free throws to clinch at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference's regular season title.

Duke (24-3, 12-2 ACC) has a two-game lead over North Carolina State with two games remaining for each team.

Successive dunks by Shelden Williams midway through the second half gave the Blue Devils a 51-47 lead and they never looked back.

NO. 9 KENTUCKY 70, LSU 64: At Baton Rouge, La., Gerald Fitch scored 23 points, including 5-of-8 3-pointers, to help No. 9 Kentucky (21-4, 11-3) clinch the Southeastern Conference's Eastern Division title.

NO. 12 NORTH CAROLINA 71, NO. 14 N.C. STATE 64: At Raleigh, N.C., Rashad McCants scored 22 points and hit two key 3-pointers late to help No. 12 North Carolina recover after allowing a big first-half lead slip away.

NO. 13 PROVIDENCE 103, ST. JOHN'S 78: At New York, Ryan Gomes had 19 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 13 Providence set a Big East record for points in a first half.

NO. 20 KANSAS 79, OKLAHOMA 58: At Lawrence, Kan., Wayne Simien scored 26 points and Keith Langford added 22 to help No. 20 Kansas (18-7, 10-4 Big 12) improve to 7-0 in conference home games.

NO. 22 WISCONSIN 82, PURDUE 46: At Madison, Wis., Mike Wilkinson's 23 points and 12 rebounds helped No. 22 Wisconsin hand Purdue its worst loss in the series that began in 1906.

Syracuse 49

Pittsburgh 46