Orange's 2-3 zone pushes out Spartans

MIDWEST REGION

SYRACUSE 55, MICHIGAN STATE 53

DETROIT -- The last team selected for the field of 68 is going to the round of 16.

Tyus Battle had 17 points and Oshae Brissett scored 15, lifting 11th-seeded Syracuse to a 55-53 victory over third-seeded Michigan State on Sunday and into the NCAA Tournament's Sweet 16.

Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the Spartans with a shot from about 45 feet just before the buzzer. The Spartans, flummoxed by Syracuse's 2-3 zone, didn't make a basket in the last 5:41.

The Orange (23-13) forced the Spartans (30-5) to settle for three-pointers all afternoon and it worked brilliantly for Hall of Fame Coach Jim Boeheim against Hall of Fame Coach Tom Izzo.

The Spartans took a school record 37 shots beyond the arc, making just eight of them.

"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."

Syracuse has won three consecutive 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.

Miles Bridges missed a three 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 three 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 three 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 make a long shot to be hailed in his hometown.

Syracuse took the lead with 4:22 left for the first time since it was ahead 14-12. The Orange held onto slim leads because they forced 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.

The sophomore star, who turned down a chance to go pro last year, was held scoreless for much of the first half and finished with 11 points on 4 of 18 shooting, making just 3 of 12 shots.

"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.

CLEMSON 84, AUBURN 53

SAN DIEGO -- Gabe DeVoe scored 22 points and Elijah Thomas had 18 points and 11 rebounds for Clemson, which closed the first half with a 25-4 run that helped it beat cold-shooting Auburn and advance to the Midwest Region semifinal.

In a matchup between Southern schools better known for football, the No. 5 seed Clemson Tigers proved far more adept on the hardwood than the No. 4 seed Auburn Tigers.

The blowout victory put Clemson (25-9) into the Sweet 16 for the fourth time overall and the first since 1997, earning it a spot against Kansas in the regional semifinal.

Auburn, which played this season under the cloud of a federal investigation into corruption in college basketball, finished 26-8.

The final 10½ minutes of the first half were a nightmare for Auburn, which made only 6 of 33 shots (18.2 percent) in the first half and 17 of 66 overall (25.8 percent).

Jared Harper made a jumper with 10:33 before halftime to pull Auburn to 18-15. The Tigers then missed their next 18 field goals as Clemson raced to a 43-19 halftime lead.

Chuma Okeke made two free throws for Auburn, but the Tigers still couldn't hit a field goal. They got two more free throws by Mustapha Heron with 1:20 to go.

Auburn finally snapped the drought from the field when Bryce Brown hit a three-pointer 44 seconds into the second half. All that did was pull the Tigers within 21 points.

Heron and Bryce Brown scored 12 points apiece for Auburn and Horace Spencer had 10.

Sports on 03/19/2018

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