ESPN Men's Basketball

For as much as we talk about college basketball players getting the short end of the amateurism stick -- and of course they do -- let's not forget just how awesome being a big-time college basketball player could be. For one, it's college, which is awesome in and of itself. But there's also the ancillary benefits: the popularity, the adulation, the attention from ladies, the minor celebrity status among a group of your peers who genuinely feel a unique and unbounded connection with you and your performance on the court ... and, of course, the love you feel when you get a pedicure.

Or maybe that's just former Syracuse guard Dion Waiters. Waiters, who is a possible lottery pick in this summer's NBA draft, is chronicling his adventures in a diary for Dime Magazine. In his first entry, Waiters discusses his game and his decision, but the best passage involves the love he felt on campus and, yes, in his favorite local pedicure shop. True story:

It was hard to leave Syracuse though. That’s one of those times where just the love and support that you get, you can’t go anywhere in Syracuse without people recognizing you. Everybody knows you. Everybody knows. It felt good to be loved and knowing that every day or every time you’re on the court, you will find a kid in Syracuse who watches you out there chasing your dream. So like I said, I’m really rich when it comes to the Dome with 30,000 fans. On even a regular game, you’re going to have 25,000 fans. The support is crazy along with everything else. That’s what made my decision harder though. That’s why I took longer to decide what I was going to do.

When I would go to the mall in ‘Cuse and get a pedicure or something, get my feet done, people would be walking by just staring at you, taking pictures. It would be awkward a little bit but at the end of the day, it was all love.

All love, indeed. That sort of adulation is hard to replicate, especially for an NBA rookie who doesn't excel immediately. Fans might recognize you, but they rarely identify with you, and they certainly don't love you.

In any case, I'm more excited to receive the following visual: Dion Waiters at a neon-lit mall shop, sitting in a chair with cotton swabs between his toes, waving and smiling as Syracuse fans snap cell-phone photos. How have none of these pictures made it to the Internet? And is Waiters a paraffin man? Does he prefer the stone treatment? Will he still get his feet done at the local mall when he's making NBA money?

In any case, when Carmelo Anthony says things like "We were the Beatles up there," I can only assume this is what he means. Ah, college.

NEW ORLEANS -- It’s over.

The 2011-12 college basketball season wrapped up with a fascinating Final Four and national title game. Now, it’s time for some hardware.

Here’s my version of the 2012 All-Tourney team:

First Team

Anthony Davis (Kentucky): The Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player left his mark on college basketball by leading the Wildcats to the national title. He finished with 29 blocks in the 2012 NCAA tournament, No. 2 all time. Against Kansas, he became the first player to record 6 points, 16 rebounds, 6 blocks, 5 assists and 3 steals during an NCAA tournament game.

Jeff Withey (Kansas): The 7-footer blossomed in the NCAA tournament and really clogged the lane for the Jayhawks' defense. He was a big reason Davis finished 1-for-10 in the national championship game. Withey established a record for blocks in a tournament with 31 in this year’s installment.

Thomas Robinson (Kansas): The Wooden Award finalist didn’t go home with a ring. But he was crucial in his team’s run to the Final Four. The junior averaged 16.6 ppg and 12.5 rpg during this year’s tournament.

Doron Lamb (Kentucky): The sophomore’s 22-point performance (a game high) in the national title game was the culmination of an impressive run for the young star. He averaged 16.5 ppg during the NCAAs. Without Lamb, the Wildcats may have fallen short against the Jayhawks on Monday night.

Bradley Beal (Florida): The freshman fueled Florida’s run to the Elite Eight with a series of high-octane efforts. He had 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals during Florida’s 68-58 win over Marquette in the Sweet 16. He followed that with 14 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in his squad’s Elite Eight loss to Louisville.

Second Team

Tyler Zeller (North Carolina): The ACC Player of the Year helped the Tar Heels stay alive when Kendall Marshall suffered a serious wrist injury that kept him out of an overtime win against Ohio in the Sweet 16 and a loss to Kansas in the Elite Eight. He had 20 points and 22 rebounds against Ohio and he finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks against the Jayhawks.

Draymond Green (Michigan State): The versatile forward started the tournament with a triple-double against LIU-Brooklyn. He had 16 points and 13 rebounds in a win over Saint Louis in the third round. Green also played some point guard in that game. The Spartans scored only 44 points in a Sweet 16 loss to Louisville, but Green ended his career with 13 points and 16 rebounds.

Deshaun Thomas (Ohio State): His team’s season ended when Kansas launched a furious comeback in their Final Four matchup Saturday. Prior to his nine-point effort that night, however, Thomas had scored 31, 18, 24 and 14 points, respectively, in Ohio State’s four previous NCAA tournament games. If he comes back for another year, the Buckeyes will be a top-5 preseason squad.

D.J. Cooper (Ohio): Cooper scored 21 points during his team’s upset win over Michigan in the second round. He had 19 against South Florida. And he finished with 10 points and six assists during an overtime loss to North Carolina. Now, his former head coach has a new job as a result of his performances in the NCAA tournament. He should send Cooper a check. Once he’s finished with school, of course.

Dion Waiters (Syracuse): He had 18 points in his team’s 75-59 win against Kansas State in the third round. And in a tight Sweet 16 matchup with Wisconsin, he went 5-for-11 and scored 13 points. The athletic guard is going to the NBA, but he put together a solid string of performances on his way out.

Other noteworthy performances:

Norfolk State’s Kyle O’Quinn put his program on the national map with 26 points, 14 rebounds and 2 blocks during the biggest upset of the NCAA tournament, Norfolk State’s 86-84 victory over No. 2 seed Missouri in the second round.

Royce White used the NCAA tournament as an audition for NBA execs. He had 15 points and 13 rebounds against Connecticut in the second round. And he scored 23 points and grabbed nine boards in Iowa State’s loss to Kentucky in the third round.

Aaron Craft is a thief. The sophomore had 16 steals for Ohio State throughout the NCAA tournament and solidified his slot as one of America’s greatest on-the-ball defenders.

Lehigh’s C.J. McCollum scored 30 points in his team’s 75-70 victory over No. 2 seed Duke in the second round.

Cincinnati’s Sean Kilpatrick, a 6-4 guard, scored just eight points in his team’s second-round win over Texas. But when the lights came on in the later rounds, Kilpatrick showed off his star power. He had 18 points against Florida State in the third round. And he finished with 15 against Ohio State in the Sweet 16.

BOSTON -- A quick take on No. 2 seed Ohio State’s 77-70 victory over No. 1 seed Syracuse in Elite Eight action in the East Regional at TD Garden on Saturday night:

Overview: Unfortunately, the officiating was more of a story in this one than anyone would’ve liked. There were some truly questionable calls, on both teams. And while these are two physical teams and there was always going to be some contact, the crew of John Higgins, Michael Nance and Thomas O’Neill was often far too willing to blow the whistle.

Jared Sullinger picked up two quick fouls in the first half and was limited to four points (2-for-4 shooting) and three rebounds in only six minutes. Syracuse had more personal fouls at the half (12) than it had made field goals (10).

The result was an uneven flow to the game, with lots of stops and starts and not as much back-and-forth action.

Turning point: It came late in the second half. Ohio State had taken a 10-point lead early in the half on a combination of Sullinger offense and Aaron Craft defense, and forced Syracuse to play from behind.

The Orange chip, chip, chipped away at the Buckeyes lead for the next few minutes, cutting it all the way to one. But every time the Buckeyes absolutely had to have a bucket, their big man was there. Sullinger managed to stay on the floor in the second half, and showed what he’s capable of when he can avoid the whistles.

After Brandon Triche hit a 3 to pull Syracuse within one at 55-54, Sullinger got the ball on the right block and threw in a turnaround jumper off the glass to keep Ohio State ahead.

He consistently got the ball in the post, didn’t shy away from the inevitable contact (and, yes, occasionally benefited from a questionable call) and made more of his foul shots than he missed (9-for-12).

And when Syracuse was mounting a furious charge late -- including a 3-point play by Dion Waiters that cut the Buckeyes’ lead to three with 33.1 remaining -- Sullinger got the ball on the inbounds, got fouled and made one of two free throws to give Ohio State a four-point lead.

That essentially booked the Buckeyes’ trip to the next round.

Key player: Sullinger. The big man was the difference in the second half, scoring 15 points and giving Ohio State a steady offensive presence with which to combat the vaunted Syracuse zone.

Key stat: Free throws. In a game dominated by physical play and riddled with whistles, it figured that the team with the better showing at the free throw line would have a big advantage.

While Syracuse actually shot a better percentage, 80 to 73.2, Ohio State took 17 more freebies (42-25) and made 11 more (31-20).

What’s next: For Ohio State, a trip to New Orleans. For Syracuse, a trip home.

Next Saturday in the Final Four, Ohio State will face the winner of Sunday's Midwest final between No. 2 seed Kansas and No. 1 seed North Carolina in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

It’s the 11th Final Four appearance for Ohio State, the second under Thad Matta, and the first since 2007, when the Buckeyes lost in the national championship game to Florida.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

The Elite Eight begins with two intriguing matchups Saturday. Florida and Louisville overcame late-season challenges to reach this stage. Syracuse and Ohio State might be the most competitive matchup in the field.

(4) Louisville vs. (7) Florida, 4:30 p.m. ET, CBS

Things to know: Florida coach Billy Donovan once starred for Louisville's Rick Pitino at Providence. That’s the TV-friendly storyline that’s dominated the buildup to this Elite Eight matchup.

But first, we have to answer one question: How on earth did we end up with Florida and Louisville playing for a trip to New Orleans?

Prior to the NCAA tournament, the Gators had lost four of five. Three of those losses were by double digits. Before Louisville earned the Big East tournament crown, the Cardinals had lost four of six.

There just weren’t many reasons to consider this as a potential Elite Eight matchup once the Big Dance began. But both teams are riding serious momentum created by Sweet 16 upsets.

Louisville knocked off 1-seed Michigan State with one of the best defensive efforts in NCAA tourney history. The Spartans scored only 44 points, the lowest tally by a 1-seed since the introduction of the shot clock. Florida sent Marquette home after holding the Golden Eagles to 30.8 percent from the field.

The two teams have been carried by two athletes who’ve stepped up in the NCAA tournament.

Bradley Beal has recorded the following stat lines in Florida’s three NCAA victories: 14 points and 11 rebounds against Virginia; 14 points and 9 rebounds against Norfolk State; 21 points and 6 rebounds against Marquette. The freshman has competed like a veteran.

Louisville, No. 1 in Ken Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings, has been the beneficiary of Gorgui Dieng’s surprising NCAA tournament production. The 6-foot-11 sophomore from Senegal has recorded 12 blocks and 5 steals in the Big Dance.

Look for the Cardinals to pressure point guard Erving Walker (8 turnovers in three NCAA tournament games), harass Florida’s potent shooters and dare the Gators to challenge Dieng inside. Look for the Gators to rely on Beal to play catalyst again and slice and dice a Louisville defense that doesn’t match up well with him.

The journey: Louisville defeated Davidson, New Mexico and Michigan State to reach the Elite Eight. Florida earned its shot at New Orleans with wins over Virginia, Norfolk State and Marquette.

Monitor his progress: When Patric Young gets touches (just 13 points on 9 shots combined in team’s last two games), the Gators are a better team. With Dieng surging for Louisville, the Gators need Young to produce on both ends of the floor.

Numbers to impress your friends: Michigan State shot just 22.2 percent from the field against Louisville’s zone (45 of 48 half-court possessions), according to ESPN Stats & Information.

Game’s most crucial question: How will Louisville guard Beal?

The matchup: Peyton Siva vs. Walker. Two speedy point guards who aren’t afraid to attack bigger defenders.

Don’t touch that remote because … Both teams have overachieved thus far. And Dieng’s defensive prowess is worth watching.

(1) Syracuse vs. (2) Ohio State, 7:05 p.m. ET, CBS

Things to know: One of two No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchups in the Elite Eight, Syracuse versus Ohio State features an intriguing personnel matchup.

Syracuse has reached the Elite Eight, its first since 2003, via a zone that is anchored by depth, length and athleticism. The Orange have three of the toughest guards in the field -- Scoop Jardine, Dion Waiters and Brandon Triche. The trio scored 38 points combined against Wisconsin on Thursday. And the Cuse's frontcourt length is unmatched (C.J. Fair, Baye Keita, Rakeem Christmas).

It’s easy to focus on the 14 3-pointers that the Badgers hit against Syracuse in their one-point loss in the Sweet 16. But the final possession -- Jordan Taylor air-balled a 3-pointer -- showcased Syracuse’s defensive lockdown ability. The Badgers couldn’t find a good shot. Wisconsin shot 52 percent from the 3-point line against Syracuse but was 7-for-22 (31.8 percent) on 2-pointers.

Syracuse has everything a national championship contender needs. Ohio State, however, possesses the same profile.

Aaron Craft is the best pure point guard in the field. The sophomore is averaging 12.0 points, 4.0 steals and 6.3 assists in the NCAA tournament. The only blemish on his tourney experience thus far has been his issues with turnovers (11 in three games). That could be a problem against a Syracuse team that entered the Sweet 16 forcing turnovers on nearly one-quarter of its opponents’ possessions.

But Craft is not the Buckeyes' only weapon. Deshaun Thomas and Jared Sullinger comprise the best frontcourt in the field. The sophomores combined for 49 points and 18 rebounds in the Sweet 16 victory over Cincinnati. Syracuse’s chances of neutralizing the tandem decreased when Fab Melo was ruled ineligible for NCAA tournament play.

But the Buckeyes are also one of the top defensive teams in the country (No. 2 in Pomeroy’s adjusted defensive efficiency ratings). Syracuse loves to play an up-tempo game, considering its knack for forcing turnovers and scoring on the break. But the Buckeyes (73rd in Pomeroy’s adjusted tempo ratings) can run, too.

Both teams are talented enough to adjust to any situation and/or style. Look for Ohio State to go to Thomas and Sullinger early in the paint. Syracuse doesn’t have the beef to keep the duo from the bucket. Look for Syracuse to trap William Buford and Craft (eight combined turnovers against Cincinnati) and to attack Thomas and Sullinger on offense, seeking early fouls.

The journey: Ohio State defeated Loyola (Md.), Gonzaga and Cincinnati to reach the Elite Eight. Syracuse beat UNC Asheville, Kansas State and Wisconsin.

Monitor his progress: This is a William Buford game. The Buckeyes will need the senior in order to advance to New Orleans. His shooting touch could be a crucial weapon against Syracuse’s zone. But Buford has disappeared at times this season. He scored four points against Cincinnati in the Sweet 16. The Buckeyes will need more from him against Syracuse.

Numbers to impress your friends: Ohio State has scored 55 points off 39 forced turnovers in three NCAA tournament games.

Game’s most crucial question: Will Ohio State crack Syracuse’s zone, despite Craft’s turnover challenges and a 33.6 percent clip from the 3-point line?

The matchup: Craft versus Jardine. Jardine leads one of the best transition attacks in the country. Craft is one of the nation’s top transition defenders. Both have cracked double digits in turnovers in the NCAA tournament.

Don’t touch that remote because … This matchup features two teams with few weaknesses and plenty of star power.

BOSTON – The T-shirts were only gifts from Nike, concocted by some faceless marketing whiz, not crafted by clever seniors looking to send a message.

Still, if Syracuse players got together to try to formulate a motto for their team and for their season, they couldn’t have come up with better than the three words emblazoning their Ts:

By Any Means.

Syracuse has won 34 games this year, nail-biters and blowouts, won with defense and won with offense, with their starting center and without him.

The Orange just win, amazing even their seen-it-all coach with their pluck and knack for pulling victory from the jaws of defeat.

“If I wasn’t the coach, I’d be sitting there thinking, how are they going to win that game? They can’t win that one,’’ Jim Boeheim said last week. “And then they do.’’

And really that’s all that matters at this time of year. From October until February, a team has to justify its worth, prove it deserves a bid, prove it merits a high seed.

Now, though, the means needn’t justify the end. Pretty or ugly, easy or hard, it makes no never mind.

Syracuse opted for a plateful of the last Thursday night, surviving a Wisconsin shooting clinic that was equal parts awe-inspiring, amazing or terrifying, depending on your team color choice, to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time since its national title run in 2003, 64-63.

“Yeah, by any means, that’s perfect for us, that’s how we played today, how we’ve played all season,’’ sophomore guard Dion Waiters said. “By any means. It fits.’’

The means in this matchup came in the form of Fair and prayer. That would be C.J. Fair, who was so ineffective in Pittsburgh that reporters were probing for health issues or injury to explain his 1-of-10 shooting in the first two rounds of the tournament, and who out of nowhere shot 7 of 9 to finish with 15 points and seven rebounds on Thursday.

As for the prayer, that came from Waiters, who looked for a little divine intervention as Wisconsin, which shot a blistering 14 of 27 from the arc, had the ball, 15 seconds and a chance to win the game.

“I just kept saying, ‘Please don’t make it, please don’t make it, please God, let him miss,’’ Waiters said.

Whether it was a prayer or simply good defense, Waiters' request was heeded, with Jordan Taylor’s long-distance 3 falling short and Josh Gasser’s desperation heave missing on the buzzer.

“That clock just had to end,’’ Orange junior Brandon Triche said.

When it did, Taylor and his Wisconsin teammates lay prone on the floor. There is one way to beat a zone and UW executed it to near perfection, at one point draining six 3s in succession to go from down seven points to up by three.

But when the Badgers needed those shots, they couldn’t come up with them, missing their final five, including Taylor’s heave.

The loss once more denies Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan a chance to get out of the regional semifinal. The man who racked up Division III titles like a tie collection is now 1-4 in the Sweet 16.

“It was on the line, and I felt like I got my legs into it,’’ said Taylor, who finished with 17 points. “I knew it was a deep 3 but it felt good and then to see it kind of come up short was kind of heartbreaking.’’

One team’s heartache …

“This is one of the best games I’ve been involved in in a long time,’’ Boeheim said. “I think the best game anyone played against us and didn’t beat us.’’

Truth be told, this game was a microcosm of that entire season -- an unexpected star, timely defense and an answered prayer has been both the Orange’s means and recipe all year.

Blessed with a roster deep enough to field a second team, Boeheim has the luxury of finding the hot hand and then feeding it well. In three NCAA tournament games, three different players have led the Orange in scoring.

Fair hadn’t been the guy in a while, though. He’s been on this side of terrible since the postseason began, 2-of-17 from the beginning of the Big East tournament through the third-round victory over Kansas State. He swears he never lost confidence because Boeheim never gave up on him -- Fair retained his starting position and kept playing minutes.

On Tuesday, he said he had a feeling -- not quite a premonition -- that he would play well against the Badgers. And then he promptly turned the ball over on his first touch and missed two free throws a few minutes later.

“I was like, ‘Oh man, this cannot happen,’ ’’ Fair said.

But with five minutes left until the halftime break, Waiters found Fair in transition and the sophomore slammed home the dunk, igniting the partisan Syracuse crowd and his own offensive game.

He’d tack on four more points in quick succession before intermission and keep rolling in the second.

“These were the same shots I was taking last week,’’ he said. “This time they were just going in.’’

Of course, it seemed like most everything was going in during this game. It was a mathematical misnomer, with Wisconsin shooting better from outside the arc than inside of it and Syracuse hitting nine fewer 3s.

And winning.

Which is why it makes only perfect sense that defense sealed the victory.

After watching the Badgers hedge toward Loyola Marymount’s seemingly untouchable record of 21 made 3s in 1990, Syracuse extended its zone a good two steps beyond the line.

Those extra inches made all the difference, pushing Taylor just enough out of his comfort zone to make that last shot difficult, it not downright impossible.

“We wanted to get a stop,’’ said Scoop Jardine, who with Waiters crowded Taylor on his final shot. “We knew it was going to be something with Jordan trying to penetrate or kick out to one of his shooters. We’ve been in that situation before throughout the year. … We believed in our defense. We didn’t panic, we stayed with them and we believed in it and got the stop to win the game.’’

By any means.

BOSTON -- A quick look at No. 1 seed Syracuse’s 64-63 victory over No. 4 seed Wisconsin in Sweet 16 action in the East Regional at TD Garden on Thursday night:

Overview: After all the talk about how Wisconsin would solve the vaunted 2-3 zone of Syracuse, it was the Wisconsin defense -- the top scoring defense in the country this season -- that struggled to contain the Syracuse offense early. Syracuse shot 63.6 percent in the first half, including 50 percent on 3-pointers, and led 33-27 at the break.

In a wild second half, the Orange weathered a furious storm of 3s from the Badgers and held on -- just barely -- for the win. The last time Syracuse won a game by one point in the NCAA tournament was the Sweet 16 in 2003, when the Orange beat Auburn 79-78 and went on to win the national championship.

Turning point: This was a game of punch-counterpunch in the second half. It seemed that whenever one side would hit a big shot, the other would invariably answer.

So after Jordan Taylor hit yet another big 3 -- he had four in the half -- to put Wisconsin up 59-56 with 7:05 to go, was there any doubt Syracuse would find a way to answer?

If there was any doubt in the Orange, it didn’t show. Baye Keita converted a layup, then Dion Waiters made one of his own to give Cuse back the lead at 60-59.

Taylor had a chance to win it for Wisconsin as time expired, but his heave was short and the Badgers couldn’t get a good shot off the air ball as the Orange escaped.

Key player: This was a balanced effort by the Orange. Four players scored in double figures, led by C.J. Fair with 15.

Key stat: This one’s easy -- without the 3, there’s no way the Badgers get back into the game at all. Wisconsin shot 51.9 percent from beyond the arc for the game and was 9-for-16 in the second half as it rallied to make things interesting at the end.

Syracuse also shot well from 3, hitting 55.6 percent for the game. The difference was in the number of shots. Wisconsin took 27 as it attempted to rally from a double-digit deficit, while Syracuse took only nine.

What’s next: Syracuse will now move on to the Elite Eight, where it will face No. 2 seed Ohio State on Saturday night in Boston.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

BOSTON -- Like so many other kids who grew up in and around Philadelphia, Bo Ryan made the in-season pilgrimage to the Palestra.

There, he would watch legendary Big 5 coaches such as Harry Litwack and Jack Ramsay and Jack Kraft ply their trade. He was just a kid, awed by the games and the coaches but he was also a future coach, mesmerized by the strategy and tactics.

“You talk about zones and you go to the Palestra when you’re 10 years old, 11 or 12 and you’re watching ball movement and body movement," Ryan said. “Those guys were so good in how they taught and how they cut and how they used skip passes."

Now the Wisconsin coach is hoping for a little osmosis.

His Badgers will face top-seeded Syracuse and the Orange’s vaunted 2-3 zone in the Sweet 16 on Thursday (7:15 p.m. ET).

Wisconsin doesn’t face a whole lot of zone in the Big Ten, but when the Badgers do, they’re pretty effective against it. So far in the tournament, Wisconsin is shooting 46 percent against zone defense, according to ESPN Stats & Information, including a tournament-best 47 percent from the 3-point arc.

The Badgers will need that and more against Syracuse to win.

“It’s nothing we haven’t seen," Jordan Taylor said. “We’ve all been playing basketball for years now. I know their 2-3 zone is a little different with the length that they throw at you, but it’s really no different.’’

Of course, the simplest way to beat a zone, as Ryan learned in those childhood Palestra visits, is to hit shots.

Wisconsin is fortunate in that it has plenty of guys who are comfortable shooting from outside.

The trick is to find guys who can connect.

“If you’re not hitting shots it gets in your head sometimes, then it’s kind of a multiplier effect -- 'Oh, am I going to make the next one?'’’ Ryan said. “We’ve watched every game that Syracuse has played and you’ve just got to work the ball, use good ball and body movement, and when you do get those shots, just believe they can go in.’’

Who to watch

Syracuse’s Dion Waiters: The Big East’s sixth man of the year is always critical for the Orange, but never more so than in the tournament. Against Kansas State, Syracuse was plus-17 with Waiters in the game and minus-1 without him.

“They have guys that could score 20," Ryan said. “They have probably more guys that could score 20 than most teams that you’re going to play.’’

Wisconsin’s Jordan Taylor: The senior point guard is not just the Badgers’ best scorer, he’s also their best ball handler. His 2.99 assists-to-turnover ratio will likely blister the NCAA record.

That’s critical because no one in the country capitalizes on mistakes better than the Orange. Syracuse gets 27 percent of its offense off turnovers, using miscues to start its break.

“He’s one of the best guards in the country," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said of Taylor.

What to watch

The pace. Few teams have been able to force tempo against the deliberate Badgers. Wisconsin averages only 59.2 possessions per game, the fewest in the country, but that doesn’t necessarily equate to trouble scoring. Wisconsin still scores 66.7 points per game.

All that is key for a Syracuse team that is especially strong on the break. Syracuse can and will score in a half-court set, but if the Orange can up the tempo on the Badgers, things could quickly get dicey for Wisconsin.

Guard play was the story of the early-afternoon games in the Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday. Here's a closer look at the wins by the Syracuse Orange and Ohio State Buckeyes, each of whom advanced to the Round of 16.

(1) Syracuse 75, (8) Kansas State 59

Syracuse’s win was the 47th in the Men’s Basketball Championship for head coach Jim Boeheim. That’s tied for the fifth-most all-time with John Wooden (who did all of his coaching before the tournament expanded to six rounds). Boeheim is two wins behind Jim Calhoun for fourth-most, 32 behind all-time leader Mike Krzyzewski.

The Syracuse bench dominated, going 10-for-15 from the field (including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers) and 10-for-11 from the free throw line. The Orange bench outscored Kansas State’s reserves, 33-0.

In particular, Syracuse was at its best with Dion Waiters on the floor. The Orange outscored Kansas State 47-30 in the 24 minutes in which he played, and tallied all 12 of their transition points with him in the game.

Scoop Jardine was also a catalyst. He scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half, and also had eight assists for the game, his most since February 8th.

During Jardine's career, Syracuse is 17-1 when he has at least eight assists. Syracuse held Kansas State to just 18 percent shooting (6-of-33) outside the paint. That's the lowest percentage by a Syracuse opponent on those types of shots in the last three Men's Basketball Championships.

The Orange shot 67 percent in the second half, including 5-for-5 from 3-point range.

Kansas State was able to hang in with Syracuse for much of the game because of its offensive rebounding. Jordan Henriquez had 11 of the team’s 25 offensive rebounds, one shy of the tournament record set by Bo Kimble in 1990.

Looking ahead, the Orange have lost their last three games in the Round of 16 since winning the national championship in 2003.

(2) Ohio State 73, (7) Gonzaga 66

The Buckeyes are headed to the Round of 16 for the third straight season, the longest such streak since the Sweet 16 began in 1975.

Ohio State’s Aaron Craft finished with his first career double-double, recording 17 points and 10 assists. His seven baskets tied a career high. Craft was 5-for-5 in the paint and finished with a team-best 10 of the Buckeyes’ 24 paint points.

In two seasons, Craft never had more than nine assists in a regular-season game, but he's now had at least 10 assists in the Round of 32 twice. Last year against George Mason in the Men’s Basketball Championship Round of 32, Craft had 15 assists.

Ohio State made nine 3-pointers, with Craft assisting on seven of them.

The Buckeyes accounted for 27 of their 73 points (37 percent) on 3-pointers, their highest percentage of points from 3-pointers in a game this season. Entering Saturday, they ranked last in the Big Ten in percentage of points from 3-pointers (20 percent).

Rebounding was also a key. Gonzaga dominated the offensive glass in the first half, with nine offensive rebounds and 13 second-chance points. The Buckeyes clamped down in the second half, limiting the Bulldogs to four offensive rebounds and two second-chance points.

Ohio State entered Saturday allowing opponents to grab only 25 percent of their missed shots, the best percentage in the Big Ten.

PITTSBURGH -- J.P. Primm led his team through the hallways of the Consol Energy Center, chanting, "It’s not the size of the dog.’’ His No. 16-seeded UNC Asheville team backed him in the fight and almost made history.

But like the 108 teams that came before them since 1985, the Bulldogs failed to rewrite the longest-held NCAA tournament tenet: A No. 1 seed has never lost to a 16tth seed since the tourney was expanded 27 years ago. In the end, UNC Asheville joined their underdog brethren and lost 72-65 to Syracuse.

Soon, maybe before this night is over, we will move on to another team, another Cinderella, and UNC Asheville will just be another footnote.

If only it were so easy for Primm to forget. The senior will relive this one for a long time, not just ruminating on what might have been, but also wondering if it should have been.

He and the thousands of UNC Asheville fans born in the two hours between opening tip and final buzzer headed to the exits left more disillusioned than disappointed.

“It’s frustrating when you play that hard and that tough for 40 minutes against one of the top teams in the country, to have a couple of calls that don’t go your way, it just takes the air out of you.’’

Primm was referring to two late-game calls that went against the Bulldogs. With 1:20 left and the Bulldogs trailing by four, Scoop Jardine appeared to miss the front end of a one-and-one. Instead Primm was called for a lane violation. Official Ed Corbett said the violation was clear, that Primm, who was outside the box, released before the ball hit the rim.

Instead of a miss and a Bulldog ball, Jardine then sank both free throws.

Then, down 66-63, Asheville turned up the defensive pressure with a full-court press that seemed to stifle the Orange. A toss to the sideline by the Asheville bench appeared to go off Brandon Triche's hands.

Instead Corbett ruled it tipped off an Asheville player. The play, Corbett said, was not reviewable. USA Today reported that John Adams, the NCAA's head of officiating for men's basketball, said on TruTv that "I'm not going to alibi for the gentlemen in the game. They work their butts off. When you see this call, it's either a foul or you give it to the other team that didn't knock the ball out of bounds. He didn't get it right."

Primm acknowledged that nothing was guaranteed, that even if the calls had gone for them, the Bulldogs still had work to do. He just wanted the chance.

“You’re in it and then that happens, it just deflates you. The air just goes right out of you,’’ he said. “I’ll watch it again and it will hurt. I just hope those guys watch it, too.’’

The controversial finish masked the real story. Syracuse, insisting that neither Fab Melo's suspension nor any of the other issues would distract them, played an awful lot like a team with other things on its mind.

The Orange came out horribly flat, unable to solve Asheville's zone defense. Instead of looking for creases and seams, as teams do against Syracuse, they passed the ball around the perimeter, jacking up 13 3-pointers. They made only one.

“We haven’t attacked zones, even though we play it and work against it every day," Jim Boeheim said. “When you make those shots against zones, it’s a different world."

That allowed the Bulldogs to not only stay in it, but to take a four-point lead at the break. When you let a good team, regardless of the seed, hang around, you allow that little nugget of hope to blossom.

UNC Asheville, with four seniors on its roster, didn’t need much else.

The Bulldogs played about as smart and as hard a game as a team can play in their situation, resisting the urge to go-go-go like they usually do, opting instead to methodically and carefully pick apart the Syracuse zone. The Bulldogs dished out 17 assists on 21 made baskets, and despite leading scorer Matt Dickey shooting just 1-of-13 were never officially out of the game until it was over.

“Basketball is not a game of perfect,’’ Eddie Biedenbach said. “We made some mistakes and it cost us. But they made plenty of mistakes and some of them didn’t cost them. I don’t want to comment on officiating. I think to answer [the] question best, that big replay machine up on top, you heard the crowd reaction.’’

The reality is it is emotionally harder to lose close as a 16, but it is tougher to play as a top seed. The Bulldogs had nothing to lose. No one, save the guys in the locker room, really thought they had a chance to win this game.

On the other bench, since the Melo news broke on Tuesday, most people have been trying to figure out when, not if, Syracuse was going to lose.

“There’s always that team everybody wants to lose; that’s us,’’ Dion Waiters said. “I don’t know. Somebody has it in for Syracuse this year. There’s like a black cloud following us around or something.’’

The Orange have used the run of bad news to circle the wagons even tighter, adopting an us-against-the-world mentality. “I don’t think it’s the whole world,’’ Boeheim joked. “Three-quarters, maybe. I think there’s some people in China that aren’t upset with us.’’

But right now the enemy is within.

Syracuse looked lousy against Cincinnati in the Big East tournament. Afterward, they swore they’d learn from that game, that they’d regroup and come out swinging in the only tournament that really mattered.

Instead they created more doubters in their debut.

They are the big dogs in this tournament.

They need to find the fight.

Syracuse has played through immense adversity.

Bernie Fine was dismissed amid a sexual abuse scandal. Head coach Jim Boeheim made comments backing the assistant that he later retracted. A media firestorm ensued.

Yet the Orange stayed focused.

It looks like a team that’s built for a Final Four run. It's a balanced squad.

And this just in … Syracuse is a very deep team. The Orange have a 10-man rotation.

Dion Waiters is one of the most dynamic reserves in the nation. They’re led by a veteran guard in Scoop Jardine. Kris Joseph is one of the most talented players in the country.

The Orange have been doubted all season. But they just keep winning. And they’ve found that success despite a serious off-court distraction involving Fine. Plus, Fab Melo missed games due to academic trouble. And they still didn’t collapse.

I think this is a resilient squad that can compete with any team in the field.

But it’s not perfect.

Syracuse will fall when a team exposes and capitalizes on its rebounding woes (the Orange have struggled all year with giving up second-chance opportunities).

During a 64-61 overtime victory against Georgetown in February, the Hoyas had a 20-12 advantage on the offensive glass.

Ball control will be pivotal, too. Syracuse forces 16.6 turnovers per game and uses that defensive prowess to spur its crucial transition game.

A team that limits turnovers can make Syracuse play more honest. It'll lose when an opponent can take advantage of the gaps in Boeheim’s zone. In its only two losses of the season, Notre Dame shot 50 percent from beyond the arc and Cincinnati connected on 45 percent of its attempts from the 3-point line. Makes Vandy an intriguing team in the East region.

But a successful opponent will also have to be strong enough defensively to force the Orange to operate in the half court. They love to run and score on the break. They’re not, however, as creative with their half-court game.

They’re great when they’re running. Hard to stop on the break, but a successful opponent will slow them down and force them to use the shot clock instead of relying on quick buckets in transition.

I know the Orange didn’t have Melo against Notre Dame, but in Syracuse’s two losses, they were bullied by Jack Cooley and Yancy Gates inside. Their interior guys are long and athletic, but they’re not that strong or physical.

A successful opponent will have to take advantage of that.

Strength inside, second-chance buckets, slowing Cuse in transition and connecting on 3s against that zone will be keys against this Syracuse team that’s only lost twice this year.

NEW YORK -- Jim Boeheim argued on Thursday afternoon that college basketball players don’t care about distractions; players just want to play, the Syracuse coach said.

He was talking about his own team, which has rolled along despite a police investigation into alleged child abuse by a former Syracuse associate head coach, and an NCAA investigation into Cuse's drug-testing policy.

He could have been talking about all the teams in the Big East tournament semifinals.

Notre Dame lost Tim Abromaitis early to knee injury, a loss that coach Mike Brey admitted at least stunned the Irish early on. And then the Irish shook it off, grabbed the ball and rolled along.

Louisville doubled as a MASH unit, with more players in the training room than on the practice floor. The incomplete and ever-changing lineups meant the Cards took some lumps along the way. Yet here they are.

And then there is Cincinnati, one half of the brawl with Xavier that stained the game and both proud schools. Some wondered if the Bearcats would recover. Instead that embarrassing fight became the team’s turning point.

Now it is March and it is simply about basketball for everyone.

The question isn’t how will you deal. It’s who wants it.

Syracuse-Cincinnati

What to watch

The Bearcats at the 3-point line: In the regular season, Cincinnati hopped all over the Orange by draining four quick 3-pointers to build an early lead. Syracuse ultimately won, but that 3-point barrage kept the game tight.

The guards: There are an awful lot of good ones in this game -- Scoop Jardine, Brandon Triche, Dion Waiters and Michael Carter-Williams for Syracuse. Dion Dixon, Cashmere Wright and Sean Kilpatrick for Cincinnati. Syracuse’s backcourt has to take care of the basketball as it has all season -- the Orange had only four turnovers against Connecticut on Thursday -- and the Bearcats need their guards to crack the Orange’s zone.

Who to watch

Yancy Gates: The Cincinnati big man had a terrific game against Georgetown in the quarterfinals, helping the Bearcats come back to beat the Hoyas. He was equally effective against Syracuse in the regular season, scoring 16. The caveat: The Orange were without Fab Melo. Gates needs to be tough, especially on the boards, which is Syracuse’s one Achilles heel, for Cincinnati to win.

What’s at stake

The Orange could walk off the court and still claim the No. 1 seed on Sunday. Cincinnati, making its first Big East tournament semifinal appearance, is playing to up its slot on Selection Sunday.

Louisville-Notre Dame

What to watch

The pace: Notre Dame will want to slow it down, and Louisville will want to go. If the Cardinals can somehow push the Irish out of their comfort zone -- which coach Rick Pitino doesn’t necessarily expect -- it’s a huge advantage for Louisville.
The scoreboard: First, to see if it moves. Though the Cardinals prefer to push tempo, they aren’t exactly an offensive juggernaut. The game against Marquette was more exception than rule. They don’t score a lot of points, nor do the Irish. Second, to see how many overtimes it goes. These teams have played at least one extra stanza in their past four meetings, and six of the past nine.

Who to watch

Peyton Siva: The Louisville point guard did not play well against the Irish in the regular season; he was a nonfactor with only eight points. He’s been sensational in the Big East tournament. In two games, Siva has 32 points, 10 steals and nine assists, and he has played 70 of a possible 80 minutes.

What’s at stake

The Irish have never played for the Big East tournament title, going 0-for-4 in semifinal games -- including last year, when Louisville upset the favored Irish. Louisville, meantime, has played for the title three times since joining the league.

NEW YORK -- Three seats in on the bench, Scoop Jardine jumped around like a little kid -- high-fiving Michael Carter-Williams, motioning to his teammates on the court to get back on defense or to slow down the tempo.

In other words, Jardine acted like a happy scrub.

Only Jardine isn’t exactly accustomed to being a spectator. He’s a senior, with at most eight more games left in his collegiate career. He’s a guy who averaged 30 minutes a game last season.

And there he was, logging all of three minutes in the second half.

Smiling.

“I know a lot of people would say that this is hurting my future or whatever, but if we win, everybody will get noticed," Jardine said. “Of course I’d rather be out there, but this is about winning a national championship. If I’m having a bad game, Dion [Waiters] can pick me up. If Dion is having a bad game, Brandon [Triche] can pick him up. If it’s not Brandon, it’s me. We’re all on the same page. We’ve got each other’s back."

All season, everyone has pointed to Syracuse’s depth as a reason it could win a national championship.

Lost in translation of the definition of depth: unselfishness. This hockey-line rotation that coach Jim Boeheim can call on wouldn’t work if starters were pouting when they're yanked or subs were crabby that they aren’t starters.

That's why guys like Jardine can sit back and enjoy the show while others run it. Syracuse is now 31-1 and in the Big East tournament semifinals courtesy of a 58-55 win against Connecticut.

“They’ve all bought into the fact that this is what they have to do to win games," Boeheim said. “I’m sure they don’t always like it. I know Scoop doesn’t like sitting out like that, but they want to win."

In a lot of ways, the Orange defy the modern-day standard for championships. There is no obvious future NBA star on this team, no current lottery pick.

There’s no collegiate star, for that matter.

In a typically tight game against Connecticut, Syracuse won on the deft shooting of James Southerland, who scored only 10, but each of those points was critical -- including a 3-pointer that cut a onetime Huskies lead of eight to one, a jumper that gave Cuse a six-point cushion and two free throws to ice the victory.

Forgive UConn coach Jim Calhoun if he didn’t concentrate his scouting on the junior.

Southerland hadn’t hit double digits in scoring since the Notre Dame loss on Jan. 21. In between, he’s tossed up three goose-egg games.

“It felt really great out there, especially being at home and all," said the Queens, N.Y., native. “The first one I felt was good; the second was kind of rushed. It’s good my teammates are here for me. They’re not giving up on me just because I missed two shots, and it feels good."

That the Orange have so many choices was especially obvious against Connecticut, which hasn’t been able to develop a consistent third scorer all season. Shabazz Napier tried to do too much, taking ill-advised forced 3s or driving to the hoop with too much recklessness, and shot 5-of-17.

Jeremy Lamb didn’t do enough, finishing with only 10 points.

And aside from Andre Drummond, no one else did much of anything.

Now the Huskies will wait to see whether they did enough as a team to merit an NCAA tournament bid.

“We probably have as many quality wins as anybody in our position," Calhoun said. “I am not going to make a pitch for it. I trust the basketball committee, and there’s no doubt in my mind they will look at it, and if what they say is true, that they want you to play good people, I think 22 out of 32 top 100 teams is probably a pretty good schedule."

Syracuse, of course, has no worries. At this point, there is no imaginable scenario that would keep the Orange out of a No. 1 seed with ticketed dates in Pittsburgh and Boston.

Before that, of course, Syracuse has business to finish in New York. The Orange have not won a Big East tournament title since 2006, when Gerry McNamara worked his Garden magic.

“We want to win," Jardine said. “It’s that simple."

And if that means being head cheerleader instead of leading scorer, the Orange to a man are just fine with that.

Editor’s Note: To see our expert picks for each of the nation’s 12 top conferences, click here. To cast your vote in these races, visit SportsNation.

A quick look at the player and coach of the year races in the Big East:

Player of the year

Syracuse is far and away the best team in the Big East Conference.

Which is great when it comes to winning games, but a real problem when you’re trying to sort out player of the year trophies.

Usually you can at least find one obvious candidate from the best team in the conference. With the Orange, that’s impossible. Together they are unbeatable, but individually they almost cancel one another out. Is Scoop Jardine more valuable than Kris Joseph? Does Joseph do more than Fab Melo? How about Dion Waiters, the guy who comes off the bench to rank second on the team in scoring?

All four will get and deserve votes but Syracuse is truly a sum-of-its-parts squad, one where every piece is critical but none more than the others. Someone on this team could win Big East POY -- and if we were voting, we’d lean Waiters -- but it’s not likely.

So who are the obvious candidates? There are two front-runners – Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom and West Virginia’s Kevin Jones.

Johnson-Odom has been terrific for a team that has been rock steady all year. Second in the Big East (behind Jones) in scoring, he averages 18.4 points per game. He’s scored in double figures in every game he’s played in save one -- suspended for the first half against West Virginia, he had nine.

Jones, in the meantime, had to be great for coach Bob Huggins’ young team to survive -- and the senior forward has been great. Along with leading the league in scoring and rebounding (20 points and 11 boards), he’s put up 18 double-doubles this season.

Some other long shots to consider: Marquette's Jae Crowder, Notre Dame’s Jack Cooley, Georgetown’s Jason Clark and Seton Hall’s Herb Pope. St. John’s freshmen D’Angelo Harrison and Moe Harkless have been terrific but there’s another newcomer award for them.

It’s a tough pick between the two favorites and I waffle daily but I’d probably lean Johnson-Odom because he has not only been sensational, his team has been, too.

Coach of the year

Interesting test case here -- do you reward the guy who has steered the loaded roster to near perfection or do you celebrate coaches who have had surprising success?

Jim Boeheim is one trip to South Bend away from perfection, achieving such rarefied air despite dealing with the fallout from the Bernie Fine scandal in December. Outsiders might argue that a kindergartener could coach a team with so much depth and talent. What looks easy, though, isn’t always. Managing a team -- especially in this day and age, when premier players come in with premier egos -- is not easy.

And Boeheim hasn’t steered a team to near perfection in any old league. He’s done it in the Big East.

Mike Brey and John Thompson III, meantime, took the opposite run to success. Neither is supposed to be here.

The Irish were picked ninth in the league, and that was before Tim Abromaitis blew out his knee. After that? No one figured Brey’s team to be of any consequence.

But Brey, who memorably retooled his team two years ago after Luke Harangody’s injury, has done it again. Notre Dame is 12-5 in the league, vying for a top-four finish. Brey, who won coach of the year honors last year, has imbued his team with confidence, handing over the keys to the sophomore backcourt of Eric Atkins and Jerian Grant, and letting them run the show.

Thompson’s year at Georgetown has been equally impressive and equally surprising. The Hoyas were picked 10th in the preseason coaches’ poll after losing Chris Wright and Austin Freeman to graduation.

Instead, Georgetown is knotted with Notre Dame at 12-5. Henry Sims has been an eye-opener, the ideal point-center for the Hoyas’ Princeton style, and Otto Porter is arguably among the top freshmen in the conference.

Outsider choices: Mike Dunlap and Stan Heath. Dunlap is supposed to be an assistant, helping Steve Lavin. Instead, while Lavin recuperates from prostate cancer surgery, Dunlap has been running the show at St. John's, and running it with a roster stuffed to the gills with freshmen. Heath, meantime, has pulled himself off the hot seat and the Bulls into the conversation, taking South Florida to its best finish since joining the Big East.

This is another can’t-go-wrong choice. And hey, could you argue with Marquette's Buzz Williams winning it too? Not me.

My pick: Boeheim. The name of the game is winning, and no one in the league has done that better this year than the Syracuse coach.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Syracuse has some glaring weaknesses.

The Orange are not a great rebounding team and give up way too many second chances on the defensive glass. They're not a deadly outside shooting team. They don't have a bona fide superstar who can take over in late-game situations.

All of those flaws were laid out for the world to see Monday night against Louisville, the team that has exploited Syracuse's liabilities more than any other the past few years.

Yet here's the undeniable good news for the nation's second-ranked team. The Orange found a way to trudge through a defensive morass and pull out the 52-51 victory -- their 26th win in 27 tries this season -- against one of the hottest clubs in the Big East.

"We really didn't play well, especially from the guard position," senior point guard Scoop Jardine said. "We didn't score the ball like we usually do. But we fought all game, on the road against a tough Big East team that really has had our number. And that speaks highly of our team."

Much like last week's 64-61 overtime win against Georgetown, Syracuse struggled to make shots. Rick Pitino's matchup zone caused confusion just as it had in Louisville's seven-game winning streak in this series dating back to 2006. The Orange connected on just 34.4 percent from the field and went 1-for-15 from the 3-point arc, its second-worst showing from long range in the past 15 seasons.

Kris Joseph bailed his team out against Georgetown, scoring 29 points and drilling six 3s. But on Monday, Joseph picked up his fourth foul early in the second half and wasn't much of a factor with just two field goals. Jardine, who had 21 points in a hot shooting day over the weekend versus Connecticut, was 0-for-8 from the floor and didn't score.

"Normally, when your two best players are struggling in college basketball you can't win, at home or especially on the road," coach Jim Boeheim said. "And they both struggled mightily tonight."

Boeheim, though, has arguably the deepest well of talent in the country to draw from, and that played a key role Monday. The Syracuse bench scored as many points (26) as the starters, led by 13 from C.J. Fair, who scored the game-winner. It's that depth that makes the Orange dangerous, especially when guys like James Southerland and Baye Keita -- the eighth and ninth men Boeheim called upon Monday -- can contribute six crucial points down the stretch when every basket is precious.

"We've got a lot of guys, and everybody believes in each other," sixth man Dion Waiters said. "We're not just a one-man show."

That depth also gives Boeheim the versatility to play different styles. This month alone, Syracuse has won track meets against St. John's and Connecticut by scoring 95 and 85 points, respectively. And they've won hand-to-hand combats versus Georgetown and Louisville.

On Monday, with the outside shot not falling, the Orange took advantage of their length inside by getting to the rim as often as possible. Of their 21 field goals, 18 were either layups or dunks. That became even more pronounced in the second half, when their only points outside the paint or the free throw line came on an eight-foot jumper by Brandon Triche.

The game was really won, however, on the defensive end. Louisville is deeply flawed offensively itself, especially when point guard Peyton Siva can't penetrate and create open looks. After a hot start in which he was directly or indirectly responsible for his team's first 13 points, Siva got saddled with his third foul before halftime. Syracuse's big men started staying at home defensively when he drove to the rim, and Siva finished with more turnovers (five) than assists (four). The Cardinals had a chance to take the lead in the final five seconds, but Siva's pass was intercepted by Waiters after he got cut off along the baseline.

The Orange also locked onto Louisville's Kyle Kuric, who had averaged 22.5 points in the teams' last two meetings. Kuric went just 1-for-8 from the field with a lone 3-point make. The Cardinals were held scoreless for the final 3:38 after a 15-2 run had put them up by five and worked the home crowd into a lather.

"I'm telling you, we really gutted this one out," Jardine said. "They didn't make many shots, but we got the guys we wanted to shoot it."

Boeheim knows that these types of slogs will pop up again during the NCAA tournament. He also knows that if Louisville had made one more play in the final minutes, we'd be sounding much louder alarm bells about Syracuse's holes, like the 18 second-chance points it surrendered thanks to poor rebounding execution.

Yet the Orange -- who have a very real chance of heading into the Big East tournament at 30-1 -- displayed admirable grit and poise in a challenging environment on Monday night. Their very real weaknesses might not be enough to offset their many strengths.

"We could have hit a few more shots and we definitely could have crashed the boards a bit better," Triche said. "We could have done a lot of things better tonight. But to win a game like this, going down to the last shot, that's definitely something we're going to use for March."

Doris Burke talks with Syracuse guard Dion Waiters about the victory over St. John's on Saturday.