BIG EAST CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT ROUNDUP

updated 9:26 p.m. ET March 10, 2009

NEW YORK - Will Walker and Dar Tucker scored 17 points apiece and DePaul ended its 18-game losing streak with a 67-57 victory over Cincinnati on Tuesday in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

The 16th-seeded Blue Demons (9-23) avoided the most losses in a season in school history and advanced to the second round against eighth-seeded Providence on Wednesday.

Mac Koshwal had 12 points and nine rebounds for DePaul, which last won Dec. 28 against Alcorn State.

Deonta Vaughn had 15 points for the Bearcats (18-14), who dropped to 0-3 all-time in the Big East tournament.

Cincinnati led 41-38 before the Blue Demons went on a 15-2 run during which the Bearcats missed 13 of 14 shots from the field.

Tucker, limited to five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, scored all his points in the second half — nine in the final 5:30.

St. John's 64, Georgetown 59
Paris Horne scored 23 points and the Red Storm earned its first win in the Big East tournament since 2003.

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Sean Evans had 12 points and 13 rebounds for St. John’s (16-16), which made just one appearance in the tournament at Madison Square Garden over the past five years. The 13th-seeded Red Storm advanced to the second round where they will face fifth-seeded and 21st-ranked Marquette.

Chris Wright had 14 points and Greg Monroe added 13 for the 12th-seeded Hoyas (16-14), who were ranked as high as No. 9 in the country this season but have lost 11 of their last 15 games.

Georgetown used a 12-0 run to take a 49-46 lead with 6:04 to play. Horne’s three-point play with 3:42 left gave the Red Storm the lead for good at 53-52, and they went 6-of-7 from the free throw line the rest of the way, finishing 24-of-29 from there for the game.

Notre Dame 61, Rutgers 50
Tory Jackson scored all 12 of his points in the second half to lead Notre Dame to a 61-50 victory over Rutgers on Tuesday night in the opening round of the Big East tournament.

Kyle McAlarney added 11 points for the 10th-seeded Fighting Irish (18-13), who will play seventh-seeded West Virginia in the second round on Wednesday.

Hamady Ndiaye had 14 points for the 15th-seeded Scarlet Knights (11-21), who lost 18 of their last 20 games.

Notre Dame managed a 28-19 lead after a sluggish first half that saw the Irish shoot 33 percent (9-for-27), while Rutgers hit just 25 percent (8-for-32).

Jackson accounted for the last six points of a 12-0 run that gave Notre Dame a 45-32 lead with 11:32 to play. The Scarlet Knights went 5:01 without scoring, missing seven shots and committing two turnovers during the drought.

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Rutgers went on an 8-0 run to get within 45-40 on a drive by Corey Chandler with 8:11 left. But Jackson then hit his only 3-pointer of the game.

The Scarlet Knights managed to get within 55-50 on another drive by Chandler with 1:11 left, but free throws by Tyrone Nash and Ryan Ayers sandwiched a breakaway layup by Chandler for the final margin.

Luke Harangody had seven points and 11 rebounds for the Irish, who were outrebounded 46-38.

Notre Dame, which entered the game leading the Big East in 3-point shooting at 40.1 percent, finished 8-for-18 from behind the arc with McAlarney going 3-for-6.

The win was the fifth straight over Rutgers for the Irish, who were ranked as high as No. 7 this season until losing six straight games.

Rutgers finished 21-for-63 from the field (33 percent), while Notre Dame was 20-for-57 (35.1 percent).

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