The No. 4 seed Syracuse Orange smothered the No. 3 seed Marquette Golden Eagles and advanced to Atlanta for the Final Four in the NCAA tournament in the East Region Saturday afternoon, 55-39.
The Orange stifled the Golden Eagles as Syracuse advanced to its first Final Four since the Orange won the 2003 tournament.
Marquette scored the first points of the game on a Vander Blue 3-pointer but struggled to score for the next 12 minutes. Syracuse took advantage by going on a 19-4 run that gave the Orange a 19-7 lead with 6:33 to go in the first half.
Over the next three minutes it looked like Marquette had finally figured out the Syracuse 2-3 zone as the Golden Eagles went on an 8-0 run and cut the Orange lead to three points. James Southerland ended the Golden Eagles run with a 3-pointer that took Syracuse into halftime up 24-18.
Marquette continued to struggle from the floor in the second half as the Orange steadily built its lead to as many as 19 points.
Southerland led the Orange with 16 points. C.J. Fair added 13 points while Michael Carter-Williams contributed 12 points and 10 rebounds. Although the Orange shot better than the Golden Eagles, Syracuse only connected on 19 of 50 field goal attempts.
Blue and Davante Gardner had 14 points each for the Golden Eagles. Syracuse held Marquette to 22.6 percent from the floor and 3 of 25 from behind the arc. Marquette also struggled to control the ball on offense as the Golden Eagles turned the ball over 13 times compared to six turnovers by Syracuse.
Syracuse will face the winner of No. 3 Florida vs. No. 4 Michigan in the Final Four next Saturday.
For more information, visit www.NCAA.com.
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