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 91-84 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.
The 6-foot-9 Onuaku is the school’s career leader in field-goal percentage (.649). He began the day averaging 10.7 points and 5.2 rebounds.
“He has a strain. We don’t know for sure if it’s any more than that. We’ll find out,” Boeheim said.
Georgetown’s Austin Freeman added 18 points in his third game since being diagnosed with diabetes. Jason Clark had 17 for the No. 8 seed Hoyas (22-9), who will play in the first semifinal tonight against fifth-seeded Marquette.
No. 1 KANSAS 80, TEXAS TECH 68: Cole Aldrich had 12 points and 18 rebounds in Kansas City, Mo., as the Jayhawks (30-2) advanced to the Big 12 semifinals by winning for the 2,000th time in school history, joining Kentucky and North Carolina in the 2,000-win club.
No. 7 WEST VIRGINIA 54, CINCINNATI 51: Da’Sean Butler took an inbounds pass and banked in a three-pointer from the head of the key at the buzzer to give the Mountaineers (25-6) the Big East quarterfinals victory.
No. 9 KANSAS ST. 83, OKLAHOMA ST. 64: Jamar Samuels scored 21 of his career-high 27 points in the first half, helping the Wildcats (25-6) advance to the Big 12 semifinals.
No. 8 NEW MEXICO 75, AIR FORCE 69: Darrington Hobson’s 28 points helped the Lobos (29-3) advance to the semifinals of the Mountain West Conference tourney in Las Vegas.
MARQUETTE 80, No. 10 VILLANOVA 76: Lazar Hayward gave the Golden Eagles (22-10) the lead for good with a three-pointer with 1:51 to play, then added the clinching free throws with 3.2 seconds left in the Big East quarterfinals.
No. 14 BYU 95, TCU 85: Jimmer Fredette set a tourney record with 45 points as the Cougars (29-4) broke BYU’s 60-year-old mark for wins in a season, advancing to the Mountain West Conference semifinals.
No. 15 TENNESSEE 59, LSU 49: Wayne Chism had 17 points and 10 rebounds as the Volunteers (24-7) overcame their worst first half of the season to win in the first round of the Southeastern Conference at Nashville, Tenn.
No. 21 BAYLOR 86, TEXAS 67: LaceDarius Dunn, benched with three quick fouls in the first half, rebounded with 17 of his 19 points after intermission as the Bears (25-6) advanced to the Big 12 semifinals.
No. 23 TEXAS A&M 70, NEBRASKA 64: Donald Sloan scored 23 points, and Bryan Davis had a key three-point play at the 1:01 mark, enabling the Aggies (23-8) to hold off the Cornhuskers (15-18) in the Big 12 quarterfinals.
No. 25 UTEP 76, UCF 54: Jeremy Williams scored 17 points, Randy Culpepper added 10 and Miners (25-5) advanced in the Conference USA tournament quarterfinals in Tulsa, Okla.
Women
No. 15 TEXAS 64, MISSOURI 59: Brittainey Raven scored 11 points as the Longhorns advanced to the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament in Kansas City, Mo.
No. 16 BAYLOR 72, COLORADO 65: Reserve Whitney Zachariason scored a career-high 17 points as the Bears (23-8) advanced to the Big 12 quarterfinals.
No. 20 OKLAHOMA STATE 76, KANSAS 69: Andrea Riley scored 37 points, and Toni Young added 16 to lead the Cowgirls (22-9) at the Big 12 tournament.
