Freshman Omar Calhoun scored 15 points, including three 3-pointers in the deciding second-half run, and Connecticut beat No. 6 Syracuse, 66-58, on Wednesday night in Hartford, Conn., in the last scheduled game between the national powers.
Syracuse will play next season in the Atlantic Coast Conference while Connecticut will stay in the realigned Big East.
There is no chance they would meet again this postseason because Connecticut has been banned from the Big East and NCAA tournaments as punishment for failing to post a passable Academic Progress Rate score.
Their last game was a close one until Calhoun started hitting 3-pointers.
He started the run with a 3 that gave the Huskies (17-6 overall, 7-4 Big East) the lead for good at 45-42 with 9:49 to play.
Calhoun’s others 3s were the last two baskets of a 13-4 run that gave the Huskies a 55-46 lead with 6:14 to play. The Orange (20-4, 8-3), which dropped into a three-way tie for first place in the conference with Georgetown and Marquette, came up empty in four of six possessions during the run.
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