Conference tournaments UPDATE, late games, 3/9/12, Cincy Upsets Syracuse

Big East: Cincinnati 71 Syracuse 68 - Cincinnati turned in the biggest upset of championship week, knocking off #2 Syracuse, handing the Orange just their second loss of the season. The Bearcats built a big, early lead and held on in the final minute against a furious Syracuse rally which cut the lead to one, but a run-out off a made Dion Waiters free throw sealed the victory. Waiters led all scorers with 28 points, but Yancy Gates and Sean Kilpatrick each had 18 for the Bearcats, who will play in the tournament final against the winner of tonight's Louisville - Notre Dame game.

Big Ten: Michigan 73 Minnesota 69 OT - Michigan outlasted Minnesota in overtime to advance in the Big Ten tourney. Minnesota's chances of making the NCAA's field will be in the hands of the selection committee. Wolverine freshman guard Trey Burke paced all scorers with a career high 30 points on 11 of 14 shooting with three trifectas. Michigan is looking like a 3 or 4 seed in Sunday's selection process.

Conference USA: Marshall 73 Southern Miss. 62 - Continuing to thunder though Conference USA, the Herd used Damier Pitts' 24 points and five rebounds to advance to Saturday's conference tourney final against regular season champion Memphis, which reached the final with an 83-52 rout of UCF.

In the ACC, Duke advanced against Virginia Tech with a 60-56 win.

Conference Tourneys UPDATE: Key LATE games, 3/8/2012

Big Ten: Minnesota 75 Northwestern 68 OT - With both teams fighting for their NCAA tournament lives, it was Minnesota prevailing in overtime, in an opening round Big Ten tourney tilt. Even though Minnesota advances and can pad its resume with another win, they are still in doubt for the big dance due to their sub-par 6-12 conference record. Northwestern can now only sit and wait for selection Sunday to see if the committee deems their 8-10 conference resume as sufficient to make the field of 68. Could Northwestern or Minnesota end up in a play-in game? Stranger things have happened. Minnesota's Andre Hollins led all scorers with 25 points, making 10 of 18 shots, including five of 10 from 3-point range.

Conference USA: Marshall 105 Tulsa 100 3OT - The 20-12 Thundering Herd kept its slim tournament hopes alive with a triple overtime victory in the conference tournament quarterfinals. Though the Herd is still not guaranteed anything, the win over Tulsa probably got them on a short list for the NIT, but they can now aim higher, with a Friday meeting with Southern Miss, with whom they split a pair of games during the regular season. DeAndre Kane went 15-35, for a career high 40 points to pace Marshall.

Big East: Louisville 84 Marquette 71 - In one of the more stunning upsets thus far, Louisville upset #9 Marquette in a Big East quarterfinal game, leading all the way, getting 18 points, 8 assists and 8 rebounds from point guard Peyton Siva. Kyle Kuric led the Cardinals with 20 points, despite a 7-for-19 shooting effort. Louisville led the entire game and dominated the glass, with 48 rebounds to Marquette's 35.

Big 12: Missouri 88 Oklahoma St. 70 - Kim English scored a game high 27 points and Marcus Denman poured in 24 as the #5 Missouri Tigers advanced to the semi-finals of the Big 12 tournament. The Tigers will face the winner of the Texas-Iowa State game with an eye toward playing Kansas in the tourney final and possibly earning a #1 overall seed in the NCAAs. The Jayhawks and Tigers split a pair of regular season games, each team winning on their home court.