UConn Takes 5th Big East Title

Richard Hamilton scored 26 points and Khalid El-Amin added 21 as No. 4 Connecticut ran past No. 24 Syracuse 70-58 Sunday to win the Big East championship outright for the fifth time in six seasons.

The victory for Connecticut (25-2, 16-2 Big East) -- its 11th straight road win in the conference over two seasons -- gives the Huskies the top seed in the Big East tournament and leaves Syracuse (19-10, 10-8) with something to prove if it hopes to make the NCAA tournament.

This one was a measure of revenge for the Huskies, who were soundly beaten by Syracuse, 59-42, four weeks ago. That was UConn's first loss of the season, snapped the Huskies' 16-game Big East winning streak and ended their 31-game home winning streak.

Hamilton and starting center Jake Voskuhl sat out that one with injuries, and Voskuhl again sat out on Sunday with an aching foot. But with Hamilton back, that's all the Huskies needed.

UConn, which fell behind by 10 points in the first half, got its high-octane offense in gear in the second half and ran away with the game.

Syracuse, which played well at the beginning of the game, did not score a basket for a span of 8:30 -- including the final 3:13 of the first half -- as Connecticut rallied from an eight-point deficit with an impressive 23-3 run. And the dynamic duo accounted for all but three of the points.

Syracuse shot just 25.8 percent for the period while the Huskies hit 69.6 percent, thanks to 10 fast-break layups or dunks.

A layup by El-Amin tied the game at 28-28 with 19:36 left, and a fast-break layup by Rashamel Jones less than a minute later put the Huskies in front for the first time in the game, and that's where they stayed.

In the first game, the Orangemen held a 49-20 rbounding advantage. On Sunday, without Voskuhl, the Huskies dominated the glass 37-27 and denied center Etan Thomas the ball. He attempted just two shots in the half and finished with 11 points and six blocks.

Ryan Blackwell led Syracuse with 20 points, and Jason Hart added 11.

Syracuse could do little wrong at the outset, scoring the first nine points while holding the Huskies to one basket on their first 11 shots. Hart hit a 3-pointer as the shot clock expired to put Syracuse up 12-2 with 14:30 left.

But despite some stiff Syracuse defense -- the Orangemen blocked six shots in the period -- UConn slowly began to peck away at the lead, and it was Hamilton, who had 11 points in the half, who led the way.

After setting up Edmund Saunders for an easy layup underneath, Hamilton converted a three-point play with 8:35 left to move the Huskies within 20-15.

A slam-dunk by Hamilton off a court-long pass by Albert Mouring that caught Syracuse off guard narrowed the lead to 22-19. Hamilton's running jumper from along the baseline made it 28-26 as time expired.

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