NCAA Tournament Late Night Games
By dtadmin
Marquette 66-62 Syracuse
(AP) CLEVELAND — Typical Big East Conference game — tough defense, banging bodies, the usual. Just not in a Big East Conference arena.
In the final minute, Marquette’s defensive pressure forced a critical Syracuse turnover, and Darius Johnson-Odom hit a 3-pointer from one giant stride beyond the arc with 26 seconds to play. Eleventh-seeded Marquette, which had never beaten Syracuse in Big East play until this season, then hung on to defeat the third-seeded Orange, 66-62, in the N.C.A.A. tournament’s Round of 32 at Quicken Loans Arena.
Marquette (22-14) will play North Carolina in the East Region’s Round of 16 on Friday in Newark. Syracuse, which was seeking its third consecutive berth in the Round of 16, finished 27-8.
The key turnover occurred in a tie game with 51.6 seconds to play, when Syracuse nearly committed a five-second violation trying to inbound the ball in the forecourt. Dion Waiters finally tossed to Scoop Jardine, but Jardine stumbled and stepped on the halfcourt line for a backcourt violation — one of Syracuse’s 18 turnovers.
Marquette then worked the ball around to Johnson-Odom, whose shot made it 62-59. Johnson-Odom, who finished with 17 points, kept his shooting-hand pose for several seconds as he backpedaled down the court. Jardine, harassed defensively by the Golden Eagles’ stopper, James Butler, most of the second half, missed a wild 3-point attempt off the backboard and fouled Junior Cadougan with 16 seconds left.
Cadougan sank both foul shots for a 64-59 lead.
The game stayed close throughout the second half. It was 53-53 when Marquette’s Jae Crowder made two foul shots with 5 minutes 13 minutes to play, but Syracuse’s Kris Joseph — playing with four fouls — swept down the lane and dunked two-handed off a feed from Rick Jackson, whom the Golden Eagles doubled in the low post. A foul shot by Dwight Buycks and a basket by Cadougan put Marquette up by 1 with 3:46 left.
Kansas 73-59 Illinois
(AP) Tulsa, Okla. • Twin brothers Marcus and Markieff Morris combined for 41 points and 24 rebounds, powering top-seeded Kansas past Illinois 73-59 on Sunday night to ensure the Jayhawks wouldn’t make an opening-weekend exit from the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year.
The Morris twins scored 24 of Kansas’ first 29 points in the second half, punctuated by consecutive two-handed slams by Markieff that made it 62-51 with 3:51 to play. After an Illinois turnover at the other end, the twins each followed Tyshawn Taylor in making leaping spins into teammates to start a timeout.
The Jayhawks (34-2) avoided revisiting their loss to another No. 9 seed, Northern Iowa, exactly a year earlier and also on Oklahoma soil. Instead, they’re moving on in a bracket filled with upsets.
No. 11 seed VCU and 12th-seeded Richmond will join them in the Southwest regional semifinals in San Antonio. Kansas plays Richmond on Friday.
Mike Davis led the Fight
ing Illini (20-14) with 17 points and seven rebounds.
Florida St. 71-57 Notre Dame
CHICAGO — There are times when a lower-seeded NCAATournament team needs a little magic to win the kind of gameFlorida State did here on Sunday night. A shot that just beats the final buzzer. A ball that bounces one way instead of the other.
The Seminoles, seeded 10th in the Southwest region, needed no such magic. From start to finish during their 71-57 victory against No. 2 seed Notre Dame, Florida State was the superior team. And now the Seminoles are headed to San Antonio and to Florida State’s first Sweet 16 since 1993.
Back then that run, which ended in the Elite Eight, wasn’t so much of a surprise. This one is.
The Seminoles, who will play 11th-seeded VCU on Friday, were supposed to be overmatched by one of the best shooting teams in the nation. They were supposed to wilt against the Fighting Irish and their five senior starters.
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