Saturday, March 17, 2012

NCAA Round of 32 Saturday Results & Recaps, Early Games

East Region

Syracuse 75 Kansas State 59 - The region's top seed, Syracuse went down by seven early, but stormed past the 8th-seeded Wildcats, who shot just 31% against the active Orange zone and made only four of 17 three-point attempts.

While Kansas State struggled offensively, Syracuse turned up their game a few notches, shooting 51% for the game, including a sizzling 6-for-9 from three-point land. Dion Waiters led the Orange with 18 points and Scoop Jardine was especially effective in the second half, scoring 15 points with a 3-for-3 stroke on threes.

Even without their shot-swatting center, Fab Melo, the long Orange tallied eight blocks in the contest. Syracuse advanced onto the Sweet Sixteen round, to face the winner of the Vanderbilt-Wisconsin game, to be played later on Saturday.

Ohio State 73 Gonzaga 66 - For the third straight year, Ohio State advanced to the Sweet 16 with a helter-skelter win over the Gonzaga Bulldogs. Gerald Sullinger, who spent much of the game on the bench with foul issues, still finished with 18 points, tying him with Deshaun Thomas as the game's high scorers. Point guard Aaron Craft provided key buckets with 17, making seven of nine from the field with 10 assists.

Gonzaga, the region's 7-seed, stormed back from a 10-point deficit to tie the game at 61 on an Elias Harris 3-pointer, but #2 seed Ohio State was too much in the final minutes, keeping the Zags at bay the rest of the way. The Buckeyes will face the winner of the Florida State-Cincinnati game, a 3 vs. 6 contest.

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