First Four to Sweet 16
No. 11 seed Syracuse takes down Spartans
DETROIT — Syracuse barely got into the NCAA men’s basketball tournament this year, with the selection committee granting it the 68th and final spot in the bracket.
The Orange have earned the right to keep dancing this March, though — and no one will be excited to tango with their famous zone defense.
Tyus Battle scored 17 points and Oshae Brissett added 15 as 11th-seeded Syracuse zoned No. 3 seed Michigan State out of the tournament, winning 55-53 to advance to the Sweet 16 for the fifth time this decade. Two years ago, while playing as a No. 10 seed, the Orange reached the Final Four for the sixth time in program history.
“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) in the Midwest Regional semifinals Friday.
Playing in his hometown with a chance to add another highlight to this year’s NCAA tournament, Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the Spartans (30-5) 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 them to settle for 3-point tries, and it worked brilliantly in a duel between Hall of Fame coaches. Tom Izzo’s squad took a program-record 37 shots from 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 said.
Syracuse has won three straight since being sent to Dayton, Ohio, for the First Four play-in games 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 Sunday, matching up with Michigan State about 75 miles from its campus as green-and-white clad fans packed 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 on the clock.
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.”
› Texas A&M 86, North Carolina 65 CHARLOTTE, N.C. — T.J. Starks scored 21 points, Tyler Davis had 18 with nine rebounds, and the Aggies overpowered the Tar Heels inside, upsetting the reigning national champions to make it two straight years a title holder missed the Sweet 16.
Texas A&M (22-12), the West Region’s No. 7 seed, did everything it had to do to hand second-seeded North Carolina (26-11) a rare loss in a home-state NCAA tournament game. The Aggies dominated the glass. They used their size to control the paint and block shots. And they pounced when the Tar Heels’ small-ball lineup couldn’t make an outside shot.
Robert Williams finished with 13 rebounds, helping the Aggies take a 50-36 edge while shooting 52 percent, including 10-for-24 from 3-point range.
Senior point guard Joel Berry II scored 21 points in his final game for North Carolina, which lost to Villanova in the 2016 title game but won it all last year by beating Gonzaga. Wisconsin eliminated Villanova in last year’s tournament.
The Tar Heels — who shot just 33 percent for the game — led 20-13 early before the Aggies went on a 15-0 run that changed the entire dynamic of the game. The Aggies led 42-28 at halftime and were up by 24 during the second half, and the Tar Heels never got closer than 17 again.
› Nevada 75, Cincinnati 73
NASHVILLE — Josh Hall converted an offensive rebound for the tiebreaking basket with 9.1 seconds left as seventh-seeded Nevada erased a 22-point deficit in the final 11 minutes of a stunning victory over No. 2 seed Cincinnati in the South Region.
The stirring comeback — the second-largest in tournament history — came just two days after the Wolf Pack (28-7) rallied from 14 points down to beat Texas for their first NCAA tourney victory since 2007.
Cincinnati (31-5) never trailed until Hall’s tiebreaking basket but watched its lead disintegrate as it failed to make a basket in the final 5:45. With the game tied in the closing seconds, a missed shot by Cody Martin led to the rebound for Hall, who made a move in the paint and then hit the winning basket.
The Bearcats were unable to get off a shot before the buzzer, losing control of the ball near the basket.
Martin had 25 points, seven assists, six rebounds and no turnovers to lead five Nevada players in double figures. Evans had 19 and Jarron Cumberland 17 for Cincinnati.
› Florida State 75, Xavier 70
NASHVILLE — Braian Angola scored 16 points to lead a balanced attack as ninth-seeded Florida State upset top-seeded Xavier in the West Region.
The Seminoles (22-11), who trailed 34-32 at halftime, also got 13 points from Trent Forrest, 11 from P.J. Savoy and 10 apiece from Phil Cofer and Terance Mann.
The Seminoles are in the Sweet 16 for just the fifth time overall, with their most recent appearance in 2011.
J.P. Macura had 17 points to lead Xavier (29-6).
› Kansas State 50, UMBC 43
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Barry Brown scored 18 points as Kansas State ended the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s brief but historic run in the tourney.
UMBC became the first 16 seed to beat a No. 1, destroying top-ranked Virginia 74-54 on Friday night. After pulling off the biggest upset in college basketball history, the Retrievers ran out of magic against the Wildcats.
As UMBC coach Ryan Odom emptied his bench with 9.4 seconds left, the crowd gave the Retrievers a standing ovation. The players hugged at midcourt. After the game ended, players walked over to the side of the court and gave their fans an appreciative wave. The dream had ended.
The Wildcats (24-11) move on to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2010, when they lost in the Elite Eight to Butler.
UMBC (25-11) had only had two field goals in the final six minutes and shot just 29.8 percent for the game. The Retrievers’ scrappy defense forced 18 turnovers, but they managed just three points off those.
› Purdue 76, Butler 73 DETROIT — Dakota Mathias sank a 3-pointer with 14.2 seconds left as second-seeded Purdue — minus star center Isaac Haas — held off 10th-seeded Butler in the East Region 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-point attempt, 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.
Martin finished with 29 points.
Purdue’s Vincent Edwards scored 20 points despite early foul trouble, and the 7-foot-3 Matt Haarms filled in capably for Haas, the 7-2 center who broke his elbow in Friday’s win over Cal State Fullerton. 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.