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 11th-seeded Syracuse zoned Michigan State out of the tournament 55-53 on Sunday 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) in the Midwest Region semifinals Friday night.
Playing in his hometown with a chance to add another highlight-reel shot to this year’s 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 day and didn’t make a basket in the last 5:41.
The Orange forced the Spartans (30-5) to continually settle for 3-pointers, 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 said.
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.
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 times 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 missed their last 13 shots – plus Winston’s heave, which wasn’t recorded as a shot attempt .
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.
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