Orange top Irish in Boeheim’s 300th Big East win

Jim Boeheim became the first coach with 300 Big East victories in the same manner he won many of the first 299 – with Syracuse playing tough defense and coming through in the clutch.

Gerry McNamara had 22 points to lead the seventh-ranked Orange (16-2, 3-0) to a 70-61 victory over Notre Dame (10-3, 2-1) on Monday night in South Bend, Ind., using a 14-0 run in the second half to overcome a six-point deficit.

Boeheim downplayed the milestone victory.

“That just means you’ve been around in this league for a long time,” he said.

“We played great defense down the stretch,” said McNamara, who sealed the victory with a 3-pointer with 65 seconds left.

Notre Dame was 0 for 7 from the field during the run with one turnover.

It was the fourth straight win at Notre Dame for Syracuse.

The loss ended Notre Dame’s winning streak at six games and prevented the Irish from going 3-0 in the league for the first time.

(25) Oklahoma 77, (12) Connecticut 65: At Norman, Okla., Taj Gray scored 23 points and Lawrence McKenzie added 18 as the Sooners (12-2) defeated the Huskies (9-3). Marcus Williams had 16 points for the Huskies.

Women’s basketball

(18) Georgia 97, Stetson 42: At Athens, Ga., Sophomore Cori Chambers scored a career-high 26 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the Bulldogs (13-4) over the Hatters (5-6).