NCAA Bracket 2013: Wichita State, Syracuse advance

The No. 4 Orange booked their trip to Atlanta with a 55-39 win over Big East rival No. 3 Marquette Saturday in Washington, D.C., as they held the Golden Eagles to just 22.6 percent shooting over the entire game.

When a team advances to college hoops’ promised land, it could be hard to capture the feelings of a fan base. We’ll do our best by taking a look at what they had to say over at Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician.

For once, the last team standing from Kansas does not reside in Lawrence or Manhattan.

With a 70-66 win over No. 2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday, the No. 9 seeded Wichita State Shockers advanced to their first Final Four since 1965.

The Shockers took control of this game early, ripping off a 16-5 run in the first half to lead by double digits. The Buckeyes couldn’t buy a shot, missing their first seven field goals and shooting just 24.2 percent in the first half. DeShaun Thomas, in particular, had a slow start, making only 4-of-13 from the field, as Wichita State went into halftime up 35-22.

Ohio State continued their furious rally till the end, using a 23-6 run to get within three points with 2:30 to go, but that was as close as they got. Wichita came up with some clutch three-pointers and made the necessary free throws to hang on for the upset.

Update: X-Rays were negative, Early has returned too the game

Hall recently returned to the game, so he appears to be OK. Thomas was able to limp off the court, and is currently undergoing X-rays in the locker room.

UPDATE: Hall has returned to the game

Hall drew a charge on the play, but was forced to leave the game. He later returned to the game, but went back to the bench after picking up his third foul. Hall then went to back to the Shockers locker room, presumably to undergo more concussion tests.

The star of March isn’t Florida Gulf Coast, it’s not Trey Burke, it’s not any of the storylines and whatnot the lamestream media has tried to feed down your throat.

The star of March is Jim Boeheim’s nose.

It’s a real barn-burner between Syracuse and Marquette, but, like, maybe not in the good way?

On the one hand, Marquette is being absolutely stifled by Syracuse’s 2-3 zone. Right now — with about 12 minutes left in the game — they’re 9-for-34, and they’re being forced into taking a lot of threes. That isn’t good, since they’re one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the country. They’re just 1-for-15 from deep, and two of those have been blocked, so it’s not like they’re even getting great looks.

Marquette rebounded from a hideous start to their Elite Eight matchup, but Syracuse still entered the break with a slight lead, 24-18, as it took the Golden Eagles about 15 minutes of game time to crack the Orange’s 2-3 zone.

Much was made of Davante Gardner’s performance in the first matchup between these teams. The center hit all seven of his field goal attempts and finished with a career-high 26 points, finding the soft spot in Syracuse’s 2-3 zone over and over again. He did the same in the first half, leading the team with nine points on 4-for-5 shooting and dished out an assist. However, the rest of the squad wasn’t up to par.

I’ve never understood why CBS says “the road to the Final Four ends in (host city).” Doesn’t it end in the four cities that host the regional championship games? I mean, that’s the end of the road. You’ve locked up your spot in the Final Four. You’ve made it. Road over.

That being said, let’s take a look at eight notable items about this weekend’s end of the road to the Final Four (come at me, CBS).

The 2013 NCAA Tournament is down to just eight teams. What started out as a tournament of 68 schools has been filled with upsets, game-winning shots and heartbreak. On Saturday, two teams will punch their ticket to the Final Four in Atlanta.

The first game of the day will pit a couple of Big East teams against each other one final time. Syracuse is set to become the newest member of the ACC, while Marquette will be one of the founding members of the Catholic 7. Given the history between these two programs, we could be in for a brawl in Washington D.C.

Two games -- and two spots in the Final Four -- are up for grabs Saturday. Although the seeds don’t really bear it out -- Marquette-Syracuse looks like it should be a barnburner, Wichita-Ohio State looks like a mismatch -- both should be pretty interesting, as the Shockers have shown their mettle by knocking off teams of Ohio State’s caliber this tourney.

Marquette and Syracuse are playing for the last time as members of the same conference, but only one gets to stay alive for a shot at the national title. And Ohio State’s path to Atlanta has been made much easier by the huge amount of upsets in the West Region, but they’ve still had some anxious moments as the team has escaped with last-second game-winners twice.