The insufferable zone of Syracuse ground Middle Tennessee State's magical March ride to a halt, and the No. 10 seed Orange beat the No. 15 seed Blue Raiders 75-50 on Sunday night to advance to the Sweet 16.
Michael Gbinije poured in 23 points, Tyler Lydon added 14 and the Orange (21-13) used a 21-2 charge midway through the second half to crack open a close game and join five other ACC schools in advancing to the third round of the NCAA Tournament.
After teetering on the bubble a week ago, they'll play No. 11 seed Gonzaga on Friday in Chicago.
“You deserve to be here based on what you have done,” said MTSU Men’s Head Coach Kermit Davis to his team in the locker room before Sunday’s game.
The Blue Raiders (25-10), who shredded so many brackets with their upset of second-seeded Michigan State, made things tough on Syracuse for a while. They led early in the second half and still trailed just 40-39 with 16:02 to go, but proceeded to make one of their next 16 field-goal attempts.
