Whistle stop for Syracuse

BOSTON -- The way the officiating crew of John Higgins, Michael Nance and Thomas O'Neill called the NCAA East Regional final between Syracuse and Ohio State, handing out a total of 49 fouls and sending the teams to the line for 67 free throws, it seemed as if the refs thought 19,026 fans at TD Bank Garden paid to see them. So it wasn't surprising that the way each team handled foul trouble decided the game.

The Buckeyes lost All-American forward Jared Sullinger for the final 13:42 of the first half Saturday night after he picked up his second foul, but they managed a halftime tie at 29. In the second half, Orange star Dion Waiters was limited to nine minutes before fouling out, and Ohio State made 13 of 14 foul shots in the final 1:08 to hold off a gallant Syracuse comeback and pull out a 77-70 win.

Overall, the Orange (34-3) committed 29 fouls, and the Buckeyes (31-7) converted 31 of 42 free throws to advance to the Final Four in New Orleans. Ohio State meets the winner of Sunday's Midwest Regional final between North Carolina and Kansas.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who said his first-half technical foul was his first in three years, offered a terse "no comment" when asked about the officiating. The closest Boeheim came to complaining was when he said, "Our offense was the problem tonight, and I guess we fouled them too many times."

The Buckeyes dominated inside with a 39-26 rebounding advantage. Sullinger scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half and had seven rebounds. They also got 18 points from Lenzelle Smith Jr., 14 points and nine rebounds from Deshaun Thomas and 13 points and nine rebounds from William Buford.

Brandon Triche topped Syracuse with 15 points. Scoop Jardine had 14 points and six assists and Kris Joseph added 10 points.

Waiters was held to nine points, but he converted a three-point play with 37 seconds left that cut OSU's lead to 70-67.

"We got Sullinger in foul trouble early, and we didn't take advantage of it," Boeheim said. "You know when he comes back in, he's going to be difficult, and he was. He's the best low-post player in the country . . . In the first half, we shot 10-for-28. That wasn't good enough. That's where we lost the game."

Waiters' three-point play, which narrowed OSU's lead to 15-13, sidelined Sullinger with his second foul. Describing the discussion with his assistants, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta said: "We said, what does it get to before you put him back in? Those guys fought and did a tremendous job holding the status quo as we went into halftime. I basically said, 'No blood, 0-0, and we've got 20 more minutes to do it.' I knew he was going to play well in the second half."

Sullinger scored six in a 13-3 run that gave the Buckeyes their biggest lead at 46-36. "When you're guarding a big body like Sullinger's, it was tough for anyone to do something," Joseph said. "He made tough shots. He's a great player."

The Orange made an inspired run to cut Ohio State's lead to 55-54, but Sullinger scored seven in an 11-4 run that pushed the Buckeyes' lead to 66-58 when the game-ending parade to the foul line began.