The Associated Press

COLUMBUS - Deron Williams' free throw with 16.5 seconds left provided the final margin in No. 18 Illinois' 64-63 win over Ohio State, securing the Illini's first outright Big Ten title in 52 years.

"Nothing comes easy for us," coach Bruce Weber said. "It hasn't come easy all year. We were 1-2 and 3-3 (in the Big Ten) and a lot of people doubted. But the players kept saying, 'Big Ten champs!' in every huddle, at practice, in games or whatever.

"And 11-1 later, here we are."

The Illini (22-5, 13-3) dominated most of the game, leading by as many as 16 points in the first half and 17 in the second, before a furious Ohio State (14-15, 6-10) comeback in the final nine minutes.

"That was a little scary, wasn't it?" backup center Nick Smith said as he signed postgame autographs.

Williams hit a free throw to give the Illini a 64-60 lead. Ohio State countered on a 3-pointer by Tony Stockman with 6.2 seconds remaining.

After a timeout, the Illini inbounded to Williams, an 86 percent free-throw shooter, who was fouled with 5.2 seconds left.

Williams missed the first of a one-and-one situation, however, and Ohio State's Terence Dials rebounded. Brandon Fuss-Cheatham brought the ball the length of the floor as time slipped away.

ILLINOIS (22-5)-Head 5-10 2-5 13, Powell 4-6 1-2 9,Augustine 4-8 0-0 8, Williams 3-8 5-7 14, Brown 7-14 0-0 18, McBride 0-0 0-0 0, Randle 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 0-0 0-0 0, Ingram 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 24-47 8-14 64.

OHIO ST. (14-15)-Billings 0-4 2-2 2, T.Dials 7-9 8-10 22, Radinovic 2-2 2-4 6, Fuss-Cheatham 2-4 0-0 4, Stockman 4-10 2-2 13, Sullinger 1-9 3-4 5, Harris 3-5 0-0 8, N.Dials 1-1 0-0 3, Jenkins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 20-44 17-22 63.

Halftime-Illinois 34-22. 3-point goals-Illinois 8-19 (Brown 4-8, Williams 3-6, Head 1-5), Ohio St. 6-12 (Stockman 3-6, Harris 2-2, N.Dials 1-1, Billings 0-1, Sullinger 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Illinois 28 (Powell 8), Ohio St. 27 (T.Dials 9). Assists-Illinois 13 (Williams 6), Ohio St. 14 (N.Dials 5). Total fouls-Illinois 18, Ohio St. 14. A-16,445.

No. 24 Syracuse 67, No. 7 Connecticut 56

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Gerry McNamara finally said good-bye to that Connecticut jinx, and so did the Syracuse Orangemen.

In their run to the national championship last year, the Orangemen were badly beaten twice by UConn and again lost to them in February, 84-56. And each time McNamara shouldered most of the blame, going a combined 4-for-33 for 15 points in the three games.

That all changed on Sunday. McNamara scored 24 points and Craig Forth had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead No. 24 Syracuse to a 67-56 victory over the seventh-ranked Huskies.

"I've been waiting for this one," said McNamara, who hit four 3-pointers. "UConn has had my number."

It was the fifth straight win for Syracuse (21-6, 11-5 Big East) and prevented the Huskies (24-6, 12-4) from tying Pittsburgh for the regular-season Big East championship and what would have been their ninth conference title.

But UConn was at a disadvantage on this day. Center Emeka Okafor played in obvious pain and was not the factor he was the first time the teams played this year.

Okafor had 25 points and 11 rebounds in the first contest and allowed the Huskies to play the up-tempo game that had repeatedly buried the Orangemen. On Sunday, he played in obvious pain and finished with nine rebounds and a season-low two points, taking only two shots in 32 minutes, and there were few fast-break baskets for the Huskies.

"I was just trying to go out and get a win," said Okafor, who leads the nation with 19 double-doubles and is a strong contender for national player of the year. "I wanted to get a regular-season championship and try to end the regular season the right way."

CONNECTICUT (24-6)-Boone 0-1 0-0 0, D.Brown 2-8 4-6 8, Okafor 1-2 0-2 2, Gordon 4-13 0-0 11, T.Brown 3-7 2-2 8, Villanueva 6-8 0-0 13, Armstrong 2-2 0-1 4, Tooles 0-0 0-0 0, Anderson 4-13 0-0 10. Totals 22-54 6-11 56.

SYRACUSE (21-6)-Warrick 7-14 5-7 19, Nichols 2-7 0-0 5, Forth 7-9 0-0 14, McNamara 7-19 6-6 24, Pace 2-8 1-4 5, Roberts 0-0 0-0 0, McNeil 0-1 0-0 0, McCroskey 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 12-17 67.

Halftime-32-32. 3-Point Goals-Connecticut 6-22 (Gordon 3-8, Anderson 2-9, Villanueva 1-2, D.Brown 0-3), Syracuse 5-14 (McNamara 4-10, Nichols 1-3, McCroskey 0-1). Fouled out-Forth. Rebounds-Connecticut 33 (Okafor 9), Syracuse 40 (Forth 13). Assists-Connecticut 11 (Gordon 6), Syracuse 14 (McNamara 6). Total Fouls-Connecticut 17, Syracuse 15. A-32,944.

No. 21 Kansas 84, Missouri 82

COLUMBIA, Mo. - Reserve David Padgett scored with two seconds left to give Kansas the victory in the final game at the 32-year-old Hearnes Center.

Arthur Johnson scored a career-high 37 points and had eight rebounds for Missouri (9-7 Big 12). But the Tigers, in need of a victory to bolster their hope of an NCAA Tournament berth, fell just short after rallying from a 10-point deficit in the final 4:54.

KANSAS (20-7)-Simien 8-15 6-8 22, Graves 3-3 0-0 6, Langford 7-13 2-2 19, Miles 6-10 0-0 15, Giddens 5-9 0-0 14, Padgett 3-5 0-0 6, Lee 0-1 1-2 1, Moody 0-0 1-2 1, Hawkins 0-0 0-0 0, Case 0-0 0-0 0, Niang 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 32-56 10-14 84.

MISSOURI (15-12)-Bryant 2-11 0-1 5, Johnson 13-17 11-17 37, McKinney 3-7 1-2 10, Kroenke 0-0 0-0 0, Paulding 4-9 5-7 14, Conley 4-13 2-4 10, Gardner 2-3 0-1 6, Young 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-60 19-32 82.

Halftime-Tied 40-40. 3-Point Goals-Kansas 10-18 (Giddens 4-7, Miles 3-5, Langford 3-6), Missouri 7-18 (McKinney 3-3, Gardner 2-3, Paulding 1-2, Bryant 1-4, Conley 0-6). Fouled out-Graves. Rebounds-Kansas 38 (Simien, Langford 7), Missouri 33 (Johnson 8). Assists-Kansas 17 (Miles 8), Missouri 11 (McKinney 4). Total fouls-Kansas 26, Missouri 15. A-13,611.

No. 22 Arizona 106, Arizona St. 81

TUCSON, Ariz. - Chris Rodgers scored a career-high 20 points and Arizona wrapped up the regular season with the victory.

Salim Stoudamire and Hassan Adams added 21 points apiece for the Wildcats (11-7 Pac-10), who beat Arizona State for the 18th time in 19 tries.

Channing Frye scored 20 points and had 11 rebounds and Mustafa Shakur had a career-best 11 assists with just one turnover for Arizona.

ARIZONA ST. (10-17)-Hill 0-3 0-0 0, Angounou 1-4 0-0 2, Diougu 8-16 3-4 19, Braxton 3-11 0-0 6, Kruger 7-13 2-2 22, Wooden 3-5 1-2 7, Moore 8-12 0-0 19, Low 0-0 0-0 0, Smith 1-4 1-3 3, Allen 0-1 0-0 0, Fameni 1-4 1-2 3. Totals 32-73 8-13 81.

ARIZONA (19-8)-Adams 8-14 2-2 21, Iguodala 6-13 0-0 12, Frye 7-9 6-8 20, Shakur 3-8 1-2 7, Stoudamire 5-11 8-9 21, Rodgers 8-10 1-1 20, Walters 0-1 0-0 0, Radenovic 0-1 0-0 0, Ranne 0-2 0-2 0, Torres 1-2 0-0 3, Muhlbach 0-0 0-0 0, Brase 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 39-72 18-22 106.

Halftime-Arizona 46-32. 3-Point Goals-Arizona St. 9-20 (Kruger 6-10, Moore 3-5, Allen 0-1, Hill 0-2, Braxton 0-2), Arizona 10-25 (Rodgers 3-4, Adams 3-7, Stoudamire 3-7, Torres 1-2, Shakur 0-1, Iguodala 0-2, Ranne 0-2). Fouled out-None. Rebounds-Arizona St. 41 (Diogu 14), Arizona 38 (Iguodala 11). Assists-Arizona St. 22 (Kruger 6), Arizona 28 (Shakur 11). Total fouls-Arizona St. 17, Arizona 14. A-14,587.