The Syracuse Orange got an unexpected test from the Seton Hall Pirates in the second round of the Big East tournament before finally putting them away in the second half, continuing their life in the Big East conference on Wednesday.
Big East Tournament bracket 2013: Syracuse and Cincinnati on to the next round
Syracuse extended its Big East tenure by at least one game, but it didn’t come easily. The Orange had to come back from a 10-point deficit to Seton Hall on Wednesday.
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The Orange fell behind by 10 early in the game, but Michael Carter-Williams and James Southerland heated up to give Syracuse a 75-63 victory. Syracuse will go onto face Pittsburgh in the next round of the Big East tournament.
Southerland scored 20 points and hit six of his nine three-pointers. Many of those came from the hands of Carter-Williams, whose 14 assists tied a Big East tournament record. The sophomore guard finished with just one turnover, as well. The Orange looked more like one of the higher-scoring teams in the nation, not the team that finished the season with only 39 points in a loss to Georgetown.
Interestingly enough, the Orange's next matchup against the Pittsburgh Panthers will spell the end of one of the two teams' Big East tenure. Both are jumping to the ACC after this season.
The Cincinnati Bearcats jumped out to an early lead against the Providence Friars and never looked back, defeating them 61-44 and effectively ending the Friars' NCAA tournament hopes.
Sean Kilpatrick led the Bearcats with 17 points, and JaQuon Parker added 15 as the Cincinnati defense didn't allow too many Providence buckets to fall. The Friars shot just 28.1 percent from the field, and went 1-of-16 from the three-point line. It was an important win for the Bearcats, as Chris Dobbertean of SB Nation has Cincinnati sitting at a 12-seed in his latest bracket.
The Bearcats will next play the top-seeded Georgetown Hoyas, who enjoyed a bye in the first two rounds of the Big East tournament.
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