The Marquette Golden Eagles, Ohio State Buckeyes, Syracuse Orange and Wichita State Shockers advanced to the Elite Eight with wins in the Sweet 16 round of the 2013 NCAA Tournament on Thursday.
March Madness scores 2013: Ohio State, Syracuse among Thursday winners
Half of the Elite Eight field is set after an exciting night of action to kick off the second week of the Big Dance.
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No. 3 Marquette became the first team to move on to the next round by knocking off the No. 2 Miami Hurricanes, 71-61. Jamil Wilson scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Golden Eagles, who led by as many as 21 points after reversing their trend from the previous two games, in which they trailed at halftime.
Marquette will face No. 4 Syracuse, which upset the No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers, 61-50, in the regional final round. Michael Carter-Williams scored a career-high 23 points and the Orange held the Hoosiers to a season-worst scoring output. Syracuse opened up an 18-point lead in the first half and fought off an Indiana rally after halftime to win comfortably.
No. 2 Ohio State needed a three-pointer from LaQuinton Ross with 2.1 seconds remaining to hold off the No. 6 Arizona Wildcats, 73-70, and advance to the regional finals for the second straight season. Arizona blew a double-digit first half lead and trailed by 10 points with 11 minutes remaining, but the Wildcats rallied to tie the game on Mark Lyons' three-point play with 20 seconds left. That set the stage for Ross' clutch basket, which gave the backup forward 14 second-half points and 17 overall.
The Buckeyes will take on No. 9 Wichita State, which dominated the No. 13 La Salle Explorers on its way to a 72-58 win. Malcolm Armstead paced the Shockers with 18 points while Carl Hall added 16 points and eight rebounds.
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