Cuse in zone, tops MSU
DETROIT — Syracuse barely got into the NCAA tournament, getting the 68th and final spot.
The Orange have earned the right to keep playing in college basketball’s showcase. And, no one will be excited about facing that zone defense.
Tyus Battle had 17 points, Oshae Brissett scored 15, and
DETROIT
11th-seeded Syracuse zoned Michigan State out of the tournament, 55-53, yesterday to advance to the Sweet 16.
“No one plays zone like we do,” Brissett said. “We’re always moving — and we challenge every shot — so teams never get easy looks against us. That’s why nothing surprises me with our defense.”
Syracuse (23-13) will face second-seeded Duke (28-7) on Friday in the Midwest Region semifinals.
Playing in his hometown with a chance to add another highlight-reel shot to this year’s NCAA tournament, Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the third-seeded Spartans with a shot from about 45 feet just before the buzzer.
“It’s one of those shots you shoot as a kid,” he said softly. “I just came up short.”
The Spartans came up short, long and wide all afternoon and didn’t make a basket in the last 5:41.
The Orange forced the Spartans (30-5) to settle for 3-pointers all afternoon and it worked brilliantly in a duel between Hall of Fame coaches. Michigan State took a school record 37 shots beyond the arc, making just eight.
“The last couple of jump shots they threw up, they weren’t in the ballpark,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.
Syracuse has won three straight since being sent to Dayton for the First Four as what the selection committee chairman acknowledged was the final team to receive an at-large bid. In low-scoring games, the Orange beat Arizona State in Dayton and TCU in the first round. They overcame playing three games in five days and essentially playing a road game, matching up with Michigan State about 75 miles from its campus with green-andwhite clad fans packing the stands.
As poorly as Michigan State shot, it had chances to escape with a victory.
Miles Bridges missed a 3 with a chance to tie with 11 seconds left and teammate Joshua Langford missed a putback, but Syracuse turned the ball over with 7.9 seconds left.
The Orange fouled intentionally to avoid giving up a game-tying 3 twice in the closing seconds and the Spartans made two pairs of free throws to pull within a point both times.
“We’re always going to foul in those situations and it’s always worked for us,” Boeheim said. “I’ve seen too many guys when the guy makes a 3 and it goes into overtime.”
Paschal Chukwu connected on one free throw with 2.4 seconds left and the miss gave Michigan State a chance to win in dramatic fashion, but Winston couldn’t pull it off.
Syracuse took the lead for the first time in the second half with 4:22 left. And then the Orange held on as the Spartans to miss their last 13 shots.
Bridges’ college career likely is ending with a performance he would like to forget.
“It’s probably the saddest I’ve ever been in my life,” Bridges said.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo acknowledged he expects Bridges to go pro.
The sophomore star, who turned a chance to make millions in the NBA this season, was held scoreless for much of the first half and finished with 11 points on 4-of-18 shooting.
“Bridges is a great player, but we wanted to make him shoot from the outside,” Boeheim said.
Winston scored 15 points and Nick Ward added 10 for the Spartans, who shot just 26 percent.
Frank Howard fouled out with 13 points for the Orange, who made 36 percent of their shots.
Purdue 76, Butler 73 — Dakota Mathias sank a 3-pointer with 14.2 seconds left and the second-seeded Boilermakers, minus star center Isaac Haas, held off the 10thseeded Bulldogs to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year.
The Boilermakers (30-6) led by as many as 10 points in the second half, but Butler (21-14) cut the deficit to two and had the ball in the final minute. Kelan Martin missed a 3-pointer, and the shot by Mathias at the other end made it 76-71.
Martin scored with 2.1 seconds remaining, and P.J. Thompson missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving Butler another chance. The Bulldogs called a timeout with 1.8 seconds left, and Kamar Baldwin’s shot from near midcourt hit the rim — although it may have been waved off on a review even if it had gone in.
Vincent Edwards scored 20 points despite early foul trouble for Purdue, and Matt Haarms filled in capably for the injured Haas. The Boilermakers set a school record for victories in a season and are in the regional semifinals for the fourth time under coach Matt Painter. Purdue faces third-seeded Texas Tech on Friday in Boston.
Haas, the 7-foot-2 center who broke his elbow in Friday’s win over Cal State Fullerton, did not play. The 7-foot-3 Haarms started instead and had seven points and six rebounds.
Martin scored 29 points for Butler.
Haas warmed up before the game but wasn’t using his injured arm much, and an official said a few minutes before tipoff that the brace the big man was wearing hadn’t been approved for competition. Haarms, a redshirt freshman, started for the first time this season and missed an easy layup early on.
But Haarms settled in, blocking two shots in the half and finishing the first 20 minutes with seven points and five rebounds. Purdue rallied from a nine-point deficit and led 40-36 at the break.