Syracuse 61, Indiana 50: Michael Carter-Williams tallied 24 points, six rebounds and four steals as the Orange took advantage of a uncharacteristically poor offensive performance by the top-seeded Hoosiers in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in Washington, D.C.
Brandon Triche scored 14 points while C.J. Fair added 11 points and eight rebounds for fourth-seeded Syracuse (29-9), which will meet Big East rival Marquette in the East Regional finals on Saturday.
Victor Oladipo paced Indiana (29-7) with 16 points and three steals while Christian Watford had 13 points and seven rebounds. The Hoosiers set season lows in shooting (34 percent), points and finished with 18 turnovers – one shy of matching a season high.
Indiana committed 12 turnovers and missed 12 of its first 16 shots in the opening 16:38 as Syracuse quickly built a 29-11 cushion behind a strong early performance from Carter-Williams. The Hoosiers closed the first half by hitting three straight field goals and capped their 21-9 spurt spanning both halves on a 3-pointer by Oladipo early in the second.
However, the Orange rolled off six unanswered points and stretched the margin to 56-40 following a layup from Triche with 5:41 remaining. Watford scored six straight points to trim the deficit to 10, but Syracuse drained five free throws over the final 3:20 to maintain its double-digit advantage.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Indiana’s previous season-low point total was 56 against Wisconsin on March 16. …. Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament opponents have shot a combined 11-for-67 from the 3-point line. … The Hoosiers fell to 11-2 all-time as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Syracuse | Indiana | |
Michael Carter-Williams 24 | Scoring | Victor Oladipo 16 |
Brandon Triche 2 | Assists | Jordan Hulls 3 |
C.J. Fair 9 | Rebounds | Cody Zeller 9 |
Michael Carter-Williams 3 | Free Throws Made | Victor Oladipo 5 |
Michael Carter-Williams 4 | Steals | Victor Oladipo 3 |
James Southerland 3 | Blocks | Victor Oladipo 1 |