Orange & Irish Advance In Big East – Top 25 News And Scores For March 14th

UNDATED (AP) — Nineteenth-ranked Syracuse and No. 24 Notre Dame have advanced to the Big East quarterfinals by winning on Wednesday.

James Southerland and Brandon Triche (trihsh) led the Orange to a 75-63 win over Seton Hall. Southerland hit five three-pointers in the first half and scored 17 of his 20 points by intermission. Triche finished with 17 points, including seven straight during a 19-2 run that put the Orange ahead 65-48 with 4:41 remaining.

Pat Connaughton scored a season-high 21 points and Tom Knight added a career-high 18 as the Irish knocked off Rutgers 69-61. Notre Dame hit 10 of their 17 three-point attempts, with Connaughton going 6-for-8.

No. 15 New Mexico reached the Mountain West semifinals with a 59-46 win over Wyoming. Tony Snell scored 15 points and Cameron Bairstow added 14 and eight rebounds to help the Lobos improve to 27-5.

LEWISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Bucknell has earned its second NCAA tournament berth in three seasons by winning the Patriot League tourney.

Mike Muscala scored six of his 20 points during a 10-2 run that gave the Bison a 51-40 lead with 3:52 left in a 64-56 win over Lafayette. The conference player of the year also had 11 rebounds, while Joe Willman added 14 points and eight boards to help Bucknell

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — San Jose State has fired basketball coach George Nessman after eight seasons on the job. The announcement was made one day after the Spartans' season ended a 9-20 campaign with a 67-49 loss to UTSA in the WAC tournament in Las Vegas.

Nessman had an 86-161 record in his tenure with the program, which is looking for an upgrade before its move to the more strenuous Mountain West Conference next season.