PITTSBURGH — Two games, two UConn losses, two big performances by Pitt's Sam Young. By now, Connecticut could be excused for not wanting to see the Panthers again, yet the Huskies can't wait for the next matchup. Or maybe the next two.

Young dominated one of this season's biggest games with 31 points and No. 3 Pittsburgh likely secured one of the top seeds in the NCAA tournament, opening a 14-point lead early in the second half before holding off top-ranked Connecticut, 70-60, yesterday.

Pitt (28-3, 15-3 Big East) had never beaten a No. 1-ranked team in school history, only to accomplish it twice in less than a month — both times against Connecticut (27-3, 15-3), which still hasn't figured out how to slow down Young.

Pitt becomes the seventh school to beat a top-ranked team twice in a season, the last North Carolina over Duke in 1998.

"Every time I see those UConn jerseys, my eyes light up," said Young, who scored 25 points in Pitt's 76-68 win at Hartford on Feb. 16.

UConn coach Jim Calhoun used all the superlatives to describe Young — including "fantastic," "magnificent" and "very special" — yet he and his players are eager to see the Panthers again, perhaps in next week's Big East tournament. Or maybe beyond.

"I guarantee you we're going to see them again, nine times out of 10 we're going to see them in the Big East tournament and we're going to be ready for them," said the Huskies' Stanley Robinson, who had six points and 12 rebounds. "We could see them after that — in the NCAAs, semifinals or national championship or whatever."

Calhoun called the Panthers a potential national championship team, but still thinks he has the team to beat them.

"Do I think we can beat Pitt?" Calhoun asked. "Yes, but we are 0-2 and I don't have any graphic evidence to support that."

NO. 4 OKLAHOMA 82, OKLAHOMA STATE 78

NORMAN, Okla. — Blake Griffin had 33 points and 14 rebounds for his 25th double-double of the season, helping the host Sooners (27-4, 13-3) hold off the Cowboys (20-10, 9-7) to claim the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 conference tournament starting Wednesday at Oklahoma City.

Oklahoma State's James Anderson scored 37 points, including a 3-pointer to cut the Sooners' lead to 77-74 with just under two minutes. It was the closest the Cowboys would get.

NO. 5 MEMPHIS 74, TULANE 47

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Robert Dozier had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and two teammates also recorded double-doubles as the Tigers (28-3, 16-0 Conference USA) extended the nation's longest current winning streak to 22 games with a rout of the Green Wave (13-16, 7-9).

NO. 6 LOUISVILLE 62, WEST VIRGINIA 59

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Terrence Williams scored 20 points and Jerry Smith made two free throws for a 62-58 lead with 12 seconds left as the Cardinals (25-5, 16-2) beat the Mountaineers (21-10, 10-8) to clinch the Big East regular-season title and earn the top seed in the conference tournament.

NO. 9 KANSAS 83, TEXAS 73

LAWRENCE, Kan. — Sherron Collins had 21 points and seven assists, and the Jayhawks (25-6, 14-2) pulled away from the Longhorns (20-10, 9-7) down the stretch to extend the nation's longest home winning streak to 41 games and claim their fifth straight Big 12 title.

AUBURN 69, NO. 12 LSU 53

AUBURN, Ala. — Korvotney Barber had 16 points and 17 rebounds, and the Tigers (21-10, 10-6 Southeastern Conference) scored 42 points in the paint and outrebounded the regular-season champions 45-37 to upset the Tigers (25-6, 13-3), who have lost two straight.

NO. 25 SYRACUSE 86, NO. 13 MARQUETTE 79

MILWAUKEE — Jonny Flynn scored 20 of his 24 points after halftime, Andy Rautins finished with 20 points, and the Orange (23-8, 11-7 Big East) won in overtime, handing the Golden Eagles (23-8, 12-6) their fourth straight loss without injured guard Dominic James.

TEXAS A&M 96, NO. 15 MISSOURI 86

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Donald Sloan scored 16 points and the Aggies (23-8, 9-7 Big 12) were up by 26 points with about 16 minutes remaining, but allowed the Tigers (25-6, 12-4) to close to within seven points twice in the final five minutes minutes before holding on.

NO. 16 WASHINGTON 67, WASHINGTON STATE 60

SEATTLE — Quincy Pondexter scored 16 points, Jon Brockman tied his career high with 18 rebounds in his final home game, and the host Huskies (24-7, 14-4) turned back the Cougars (16-14, 8-10) to clinch their first outright Pac-10 conference championship.

RICHMOND 80, NO. 17 XAVIER 75

RICHMOND, Va. — Kevin Anderson scored a career-high 29 points, Justin Harper added 20, and the Spiders (17-14, 9-7 Atlantic 10 Conference) made 19 of 23 free throws to upset the Musketeers (24-6, 12-4), who used a 20-7 run to close to 75-73 with 1:21 left, but got no closer.

NO. 20 UCLA 94, OREGON 68

LOS ANGELES — Josh Shipp scored a career-high 28 points and Darren Collison added 19 as the Bruins (24-7, 13-5) routed the Ducks (8-22, 2-16) to finish second in the Pac-10 behind No. 16 Washington.

NO. 21 ARIZONA STATE 83, CALIFORNIA 66

TEMPE, Ariz. — Jeff Pendergraph had 27 points and 10 rebounds in his final home game and James Harden, the Pac-10's leading scorer, had 20 points as the Sun Devils (22-8, 11-7) beat the Bears (22-9, 11-7) to snap a three-game losing streak.

NO. 22 BUTLER 62, WRIGHT STATE 57

INDIANAPOLIS — Horizon League player of the year Matt Howard had 24 points, leading the Bulldogs (26-4) past the Raiders (20-13) and into the conference tournament final Tuesday night against Cleveland State, which beat Wisconsin-Green Bay, 73-67, in the other semifinal.

WAC

UTAH STATE 89, SAN JOSE STATE 77

LOGAN, Utah — Jared Quayle scored 21 points to lead four teammate in double figures as the Aggies (27-4, 14-2 Western Athletic Conference) topped the Spartans (13-16, 6-10).

The Aggies led by as many as 20 points in the first half, taking a 43-27 halftime lead.

NEVADA 69, BOISE STATE 60

BOISE, Idaho — Brandon Fields scored 19 points and Luke Babbitt had 14 as the Wolf Pack (19-11, 11-5) led the entire game in beating the Broncos (19-11, 9-7).

Boise State closed to 62-58 when Mark Sanchez sank a pair of free throws with 1:49 left. But the Broncos failed to get any closer down the stretch.

IDAHO 59, FRESNO STATE 56

MOSCOW, Idaho — Mac Hopson scored 20 points and the Vandals (16-14, 9-7) took a 51-50 lead they never relinquished on Trevor Morris' 3-pointer with 2:12 to play to beat the Bulldogs (12-20, 3-13).

Brandon Sperling drove in for an uncontested layup to make it 57-56, but Hopson sealed the game when he hit two free throws with 13.8 seconds left.

ELSEWHERE

ATLANTIC SUN

East Tennessee STate 86, Jacksonville 58: Mike Smith scored 22 points, and the Bucs (23-10) clinched their first NCAA tournament berth since 2004 and their eighth overall by routing the Dolphins (18-13) to win the Atlantic Sun Conference tournament at Nashville, Tenn.

BIG SOUTH

Radford 108, VMI 94: Artsiom Parakhouski had 26 points and 18 rebounds, and Chris McEachin added 18 points as the Highlanders (21-11) beat the Keydets (24-8) at Radford, Va., to win their first Big South Conference championship in 11 years.

MISSOURI VALLEY

Northern Iowa 76, Bradley 62: Adam Koch had 22 points and nine rebounds, helping the top-seeded Panthers (22-10) pull away in the second half to beat the Braves (18-14) in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at St. Louis.

ILLINOIS STATE 73, CREIGHTON 49: Osiris Eldridge scored 21 points with four of his team's 13 3-pointers as the Redbirds (24-8) routed the cold-shooting Blue Jays (26-7) to advance to the finals of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament in St. Louis.

OHIO VALLEY

Morehead State 67, Austin Peay 65: Steve Peterson scored his only basket on a pullup jumper with 1.4 seconds left in double overtime, lifting the Eagles (18-15) over the Governors (19-12) in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament final at Nashville, Tenn.