BOSTON – No. 24 Pittsburgh impressively snapped a three-game losing streak and made sure the Big East race will come down to the final weekend of the regular season.

Chris Taft had 12 points and eight rebounds to lead the Panthers to a 72-50 victory over no. 5 Boston College last night. That kept the Eagles, who are leaving for the Atlantic Coast Conference after the season, from clinching a share of the Big East title.

The Eagles (23-3, 12-3) could still win the conference outright or share it if they beat Rutgers on Saturday. No. 15 Connecticut, which is a half-game behind BC, plays Georgetown tonight and no. 13 Syracuse on Saturday.

Pittsburgh, which holds the fifth and last spot right now for a first-round bye in the Big East tournament, will finish the regular season at Notre Dame on Saturday.

Antonio Graves scored 13 points and Carl Krauser and John DeGroat each had 10 points and seven rebounds for Pitt (19-7, 9-6), which has beaten Boston College six straight times, including victories in the last three Big East tournaments. Pittsburgh, which had been ranked as high as 10th this season, lost three straight to drop from 17th to 24th in the AP poll.

Even with a chance to clinch the conference title, B.C. barely put up a fight.

Craig Smith scored 22 points for B.C. but, as a sign of the team’s failure, airballed a free throw with 5:47 left and the Eagles trailing 59-45. The second shot hit the back of the rim and meekly rolled off.

Pitt outrebounded the Eagles 49-27 overall and outshot them 48% to 31%. It was B.C.’s lowest offensive output of the season. In the first half, B.C. shot 29% (10-for-34) from the field.

Boston College won its first 20 games and attained its highest ranking ever – no. 3 – before losing two of its last three games. Another sellout crowd came to say goodbye to the senior class and Heisman Trophy winner Doug Flutie jammed with the band, playing the drums on “Johnny B. Good.”

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GONZAGA 87, N. COLORADO 60

Ronny Turiaf, playing his final home game, scored 22 points and no. 12 Gonzaga wrapped up its regular season with its 10th consecutive victory.

Gonzaga (23-4) went 13-0 in the new McCarthey Athletic Center this season, and has a 25-game home winning streak, second-longest in the nation to Oklahoma State’s 28-game streak.

In other top 25 action yesterday, no. 20 Oklahoma beat Texas, 74-58.

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ILLINOIS ON TOP FOR 13TH STRAIGHT WEEK

Illinois was no. 1 in the Associated Press college basketball poll Monday, the Illini’s 13th straight week on top and their fifth consecutive poll as a unanimous choice.

The Illini (28-0) beat Northwestern in their only game last week. Coupled with a loss by Michigan State, that was enough for them to win their second straight Big Ten title.

The 13-week run at no. 1 is the longest since Kansas was on top for 15 straight polls in 1996-97. Five weeks as a unanimous choice of the 72-member national press panel is the longest such streak since Duke’s five-week run in 2001-02.