Wednesday's Shootaround: Three conference champs, some bubble action, and bye-bye Cinci and Minne

Two conferences were won outright last night:

• Syracuse 85, St. John's 66: Who'd you have winning the Big East this year? Villanova? West Virginia? I don't even think the most die hard Syracuse fans would have picked the Orange in the preseason, and certainly not after they lost to Le Moyne. But last night, the Orange secured the outright Big East title by stomping on the Johnnies during Senior Night. In their final game in the Carrier Dome, Arinze Onuaku had a season-high 21 points and 8 boards while Andy Rautins added 14 points and 7 dimes. How far will this team go in March? Let the debating begin.

• UTEP 80, Marshall 76: So none of us had Syracuse in the preseason. How many of you thought UTEP would win the Conference USA crown? No one either? Well, the Miners did just that last night, beating Marshall to win their 13th game in a row and clinch the C-USA title. Down 10 at the end of the first half, Randy Culpepper hit a three to beat the halftime buzzer, then nailed three in a row to start the second half as the Miners took the lead and pushed it to as much as 11. But Marshall took advantage of its size inside, getting to the offensive glass as they went on a 21-7 run to take a 72-68 lead. But Culpepper (who scored 22 of his 32 points after the half) and Derrick Caracter (he had 10 of his 18 points in the final five minutes) were just too much. The next question is now where the Miners will end up regarding postseason play. To be frank, its difficult to see a team that was this dominant in a competitive C-USA not making the field of 65.
  

Ohio State 73, Illinois 57: Syracuse and UTEP weren't the only unexpected teams to clinch a conference regular season crown last night. Ohio State clinched a share of the Big Ten title last night with their win over the Illini. Evan Turner had 16 points, 12 boards, and 5 assists in the win while William Buford (16 points, 7 assists, 6 boards) and Jon Diebler (21 points, 7-14 from three) also played well.

But the bigger story is Illinois lost again, dropping them to 18-12 overall and 10-7 in the Big Ten. The Illini still have to play Wisconsin this weekend, and seeing as they have locked themselves into the five slot in the Big Ten standings, they will be getting either the Badgers, Michigan State, or Purdue in their first game in the Big Ten tournament. At this point, with the losses they have this season, Illinois might want to win two games if they want to feel safe come Selection Sunday.

Five other games last night held significant bubble implications:

• Vanderbilt 64, Florida 60: The Gators are now in a danger zone. They looked pretty good after beating Tennessee last week, needing only to avoid losing out to feel comfortable with their standing heading into the SEC Tournament. Well, the Gators are on the verge of doing just that, as they lost a nail-biter to Vanderbilt at home last night. With just one regular season game left on the schedule -- a trip to Rupp to play the Wildcats on Senior/One-and-done-freshmen day on national TV Sunday afternoon -- Florida now may need to make a run in the SEC tournament if they want to lock up a bid. In this one, Florida found themselves down big early to a hot shooting Commodore team, but were brought back by the stellar play of their front line, particularly Vernon Macklin, who had 21 points and 9 boards. Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker struggled, hitting just 3-24 from the floor combined. Boynton missed a three with under 10 seconds left that would have won the game.


• Clemson 91, Georgia Tech 80: The Tigers won for the fifth time in six games since Demontez Stitt came back from an injury and have all but locked up a bid. With the game tied at 41 near the end of the first half, the Tigers exploded for a 25-7 run. They were hitting threes, they were forcing turnovers, and they were getting dunks in transition -- textbook Clemson basketball. Tech, on the other hand, looked bad in the second half. They have now lost 8 of 9 on the road and are sitting at 7-8 in the ACC. All of a sudden, their matchup with Virginia Tech this weekend means a lot. A loss, and the Yellow Jackets may be heading to the NIT.


• Marquette 69, Louisville 48: Marquette sliced up Louisville's zone and allowed Samardo Samuels, their biggest matchup problem, just five shots and no free throws as they used an 18-0 run spanning both halves to move all alone into fifth place in the Big East. Marquette has won nine of ten games, including three in overtime, to clinch their spot in the NCAA tournament. Louisville is just about there as well. If they beat Syracuse at home this weekend, they are absolutely in. Even with a loss to the Orange, Louisville should get an at-large bid so long as they can win their first game in the Big East tourament.


• Villanova 77, Cincinnati 73: Villanova won for just the second time in their past five games, as they went into Cincinnati and knocked off a desperate Bearcat team. Scottie Reynolds scored all 17 of his points in the second half and sealed the win with two free throws with 3.2 seconds left. Cinci came back from 16 down in the second half to cut the lead to just one, but the Wildcats were too much. This loss all but eliminates Cinci from bubble contention.
  


• Michigan 83, Minnesota 55: Minnesota was still in the bubble conversation until yesterday, when they went into Ann Arbor and got embarrassed by a Michigan team with nothing left to play for. DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris combined for 45 points in the win.
  

Other notable scores

• Missouri 69, Iowa State 67 OT: Zaire "Mr. Big Shot" Taylor lived up to his reputation, tying the game in regulation and OT before hitting a buzzer beater to give Mizzou the W.
• Gonzaga 78, Cal St. Bakersfield 59: Gonzaga tuned up for the WCC tourney by whooping up on CSB.
• UNC 69, Miami FL 62: Blah, blah, blah. UNC won their 2,000th game. The only reason anyone should care is that it was this Heels team that did it.