— NEW YORK — 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 Thursday.
Though still a strong candidate for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, Syracuse (28-4) sustained a potentially costly loss when its starting center was injured with 5:07 remaining.
Onuaku landed awkwardly after trying to block Greg Monroe’s shot down low. Whistled for a foul on the play, he grabbed his knee immediately and was tended to by medical staff and coach Jim Boeheim before being helped off the floor. The senior did not return and is expected to get an MRI exam.
Onuaku, who has struggled with knee pain throughout his career, had surgery last spring.
“He has a strain. We don’t know for sure if it’s any more than that. We’ll find out,” Boeheim said.
Marquette 80
No. 10 Villanova 76
NEW YORK — Lazar Hayward gave Marquette the lead for good with a 3-pointer with 1:51 to play, then added the clinching free throws with 3.2 seconds left, and the Golden Eagles went on to another close win, over No. 10 Villanova on Thursday in the Big East tournament quarterfinals.
Marquette (22-10), the fifth seed, advances to face eighth-seeded Georgetown in the semifinals Friday night. The loss for fourth-seeded Villanova (24-7), coupled with top-seeded Syracuse’s 91-84 loss to the Hoyas earlier, dropped the teams that had earned double byes to 0-2, and both came against teams they had beaten twice during the regular season.
The Golden Eagles have played 20 games against Big East opponents this season and 13 have been decided by four points or less. Marquette has learned how to win the close ones, taking eight of the last 13 games in that situation.
