NEW YORK -- For a couple of hours Friday night, Madison Square Garden was a blast from the past. The Big Bad East had returned. Then UConn and Syracuse slammed on the gas pedal.

In the first Big East tournament semifinal, a physical battle that sparked before the opening tip, No. 5 Pittsburgh clothes-lined Boston College, 61-48.

Panthers forward Donatas Zavackas sent a message as the teams crossed paths before the national anthem, bumping a couple of BC players. Then he threw 19 points and 11 boards at 'em, including two 3-point daggers that put the game away in the second half.

	History says Brandin Knight won't let his tweaked ankle keep him on the bench in Saturday's title game.

"He's the ultimate in toughness," said Pitt coach Ben Howland of his bruiser. "He's afraid of nothing, and nobody."

That includes Craig Smith, BC's freshman forward, who was coming off a career-high 33 points and 11 rebounds against St. John's in the quarterfinals. Zavackas drew Smith's second foul midway through the first half, with a third thrown in after Smith got T'ed up, taking him out of the game.

Pitt's suffocating defense took practically everyone from BC out of their game -- the Eagles shot only 28.6 percent and were outrebounded 44-29.

"They defended extremely well," said BC coach Al Skinner. "They always do, night in, night out."

But what about Brandin Knight? With 6:52 left to play and the game in hand, the Garden crowd gasped as Knight limped off the floor with an injured right ankle. Howland said afterward that Knight has a strained tendon, and will be a game-time decision for Saturday's championship game. But Knight was grimacing badly on the bench before limping to the locker room.

Knight's injury was eerily similar -- if not in anatomy, then at least in his gate -- as when he dragged his twisted knee back onto the Garden floor in double-overtime against UConn in last year's Big East title game. The Panthers would lose to the Huskies, 74-65, and Knight's knee was the topic of discussion into the first round of the NCAAs.

UConn and Syracuse certainly didn't limp onto the floor in the second semifinal. But the No. 11 'Cuse never caught up to Connecticut, falling 80-67.

The Huskies' game plan was to attack, attack, and attack some more. When Syracuse pressed full-court, UConn didn't just try to break it, they tried to beat it. And more often than not, they did.

"We're a fast-break team," said UConn assistant George Blaney. "We're one of the fastest teams in America."

Not that this game wasn't physical, too. UConn's defensive game plan was to stop Syracuse's freshman sensation, Carmelo Anthony, as best they could. Anthony set up shop on the block from the get-go, and kept pounding away at defenders. But as often as he got to the line (10 for 13), he only shot 9 of 28 from the field.

"I don't think we stopped him," said Huskies guard Rashad Anderson, chuckling. "He had 30 points!"

Well, 29 actually. But UConn put the clamps on the rest of the Orange, and some role players stepped up on the other end. Anderson had 21 points, while fellow freshman Marcus White pulled down 14 boards.

One thing's for sure -- both of Saturday's combatants are battle-tested after the past two days. UConn's high-octane offense will try to run over Pitt's fierce defense. They staged a classic in last year's championship game, with UConn emerging victorious and Taliek Brown providing one of this event's most memorable 3-pointers. But Pitt knocked off UConn at home in their only match-up this season.

On paper Pitt appears poised for their first Big East championship, this being the Panthers' third straight year in the final game. The Panthers have not left the top 10 this season. They've won eight straight games. But what if they've lost their starting point guard and senior leader?

"Knowing Brandin the way we know him, it will take a lot to keep him out of that game," said Howland.

Nevertheless, the Panthers are brimming with confidence. In fact, Knight sat the last nine minutes of the first half against BC in foul trouble -- and Pitt went on a big run anyway. When Knight was injured in last year's championship game, Howland felt he had to switch to a zone defense to survive. This year he says he's confident enough to stick with man-to-man, no matter what. And on offense, Pitt has great balance - six players score in double figures.

But UConn's not ready to give the title away. "Everybody wants another ring," said the junior point guard Brown. "We're all about the rings."

Pitt just wants in on the party.

Kieran Darcy is a writer for ESPN The Magazine and frequent contributor to ESPN.com.