Top-seeded Syracuse holds off Wisconsin

BOSTON -- Wisconsin had Syracuse in the crosshairs in a game in which the Badgers were deadly accurate from long range, making 14 of 27 three-pointers over the Orange's trademark 2-3 zone defense. At one point, Wisconsin made six straight threes to take a three-point lead with 7:57 left in the game.

With 19 seconds remaining and Syracuse clinging to a one-point lead, the Orange's Kris Joseph missed the front end of a one-and-one. The Badgers rebounded and put the ball in the hands of All-American guard Jordan Taylor, and he got the open look he wanted from the top of the arc.

But Taylor's shot with Dion Waiters' hand in his face was short and Josh Gasser's desperation rebound follow missed at the buzzer to give the Orange a 64-63 victory in an NCAA East Regional semifinal Thursday night at TD Bank Garden.

Syracuse (34-2) advanced to the Elite Eight for a matchup Saturday against second-seeded Ohio State (30-7), which beat Cincinnati, 81-66, Thursday night.

"It was on line,'' Taylor said. "I knew it was a deep three. To see it come up short was heartbreaking.''

Cincinnati upset Syracuse with a three-point barrage in the Big East Tournament, but it didn't compare to Wisconsin's performance outside the arc.

"That's one of the best games anybody has played against us that didn't beat us,'' Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. "They made 14 threes, but every time they went ahead, we came back and had an answer. Taylor made some really hard threes. They were long and mostly contested.''

Taylor and Jared Berggren led Wisconsin (26-10) with 17 points each and totaled 8-for-12 shooting from three-point range. But Syracuse shot 55.1 percent from the field against the Badgers' vaunted man-to-man defense, which led the nation in scoring defense with an average of 52.9 points.

C.J. Fair led the way for Syracuse with 15 points, shooting 7-for-9, and added seven rebounds. Scoop Jardine scored 14, Waiters 13 and Brandon Triche 11.

Wisconsin had no trouble with Boeheim's 2-3 zone in the early going as the 6-10 Berggren scored 10 straight Badgers points to build a 15-9 lead. But Berggren left the game with his second foul with 12:03 remaining in the half.

"That was a poor decision on my part,'' Berggren said of his reach-in foul. "It hurt the team.''

That sent super-sub Waiters to the line for two foul shots that ignited a 24-8 Syracuse run for a 33-23 lead, but the Badgers managed to cut the difference to 33-27 at halftime.

Taylor jump-started Wisconsin's offense with two three-pointers early in the second half, and when Rob Wilson buried a three at the 15:46 mark, the score was tied at 40. Then Fair scored six in an 8-1 Orange burst for a 48-41 lead.

It was clear that the Badgers had to match Syracuse on the offensive end, and they did, hitting six straight threes for a 59-56 lead with 7:05 left. The spell was broken when Ryan Evans missed a three with 6:17 remaining, the first of five straight Badgers misses from long range. Waiters scored four points in an 8-2 Orange run for a 64-61 lead with 3:50 remaining.

Jardine said Syracuse expected Taylor to get the last shot.

"Dion pressed up on him,'' Jardine said. "That was the best defense Dion played the whole game. He really contested it.''