"You have to keep scoring when the other team makes threes like that," Boeheim said after the Badgers (26-10) made 14 of 27 from long range. "Fourteen threes are usually enough. Any time they came back, we had an answer."
And top-seeded Syracuse, which shot 55.1% against the stingy Badgers, scored just enough and came up with one final defensive stop as time was expiring to edge fourth-seeded Wisconsin 64-63 and move into the Elite Eight for the fifth time in Boeheim's Hall-of-Fame career.
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Syracuse (34-2) will play Saturday vs. the winner of Thursday's later Ohio State-Cincinnati game.
As the Orange clung to a one-point lead with 18.9 seconds left, Syracuse's Kris Joseph missed the front end of a one-and-one. But Jordan Taylor was short on Wisconsin's final three-point try of the night, and teammate Josh Gasser misfired on a follow shot as time expired.
Syracuse forward C.J. Fair, mired in a six-game slump in which he accumulated 20 total points, returned to form and led the Orange with 15 points and seven rebounds. Scoop Jardine had 14 points and Dion Waiters 13.
"We needed C.J. tonight," Boeheim said. "We knew he was perfectly capable, and he was there for us. He was huge."
The heroics were barely enough to hold off the Badgers, who were down 10 late in the first half.
Taylor and center Jared Berggren scored 17 points each for Wisconsin, but Berggren picked up two fouls in the first half and went to the bench, allowing Syracuse to grab the momentum.
"I reached in on a drive when I probably shouldn't have," Berggren said of the second foul.
After trailing 33-27 at halftime, the Badgers connected on three three-pointers (two by Taylor) in the first four minutes of the second half and tied it at 40.
But paced by Fair, the Orange scored eight of the next nine for a 48-41 lead with 12 minutes to go. Fair had six points in the run.
However, Wisconsin came right back with consecutive three-pointers by Berggren and Ben Brust to get within one point with 10:20 left.
At that point, Wisconsin had made 10 of 18 three-pointers for the night ? and the Badgers were just warming up. Taylor, Gasser and Brust drained three-pointers in the next 2:34, and Wisconsin moved ahead 56-53.
The Orange then had a 9-3 spurt paced by Waiters, who scored on a spin move and then nailed a 17-footer for a 62-59 lead with 4:47 left.
There were plenty of empty offensive trips for both teams after that, but no shortage of drama. The Badgers had one last chance after Joseph missed the free throw but the upset wasn't to be.
"We were trying to get an open shot and make them rotate in the zone," Taylor said of the last play. "They did a good job of recovering to the open guys there. They used their length and kind of forced us into a tough shot, and it didn't go down. Hats off the them."
Said Jardine: "Me and Dion just pressed up on him. We believed in our defense. We didn't panic."
Despite the loss, Badgers coach Bo Ryan said his team proved it could play with anyone in the country.
"We played well enough to have this one on our side," Ryan said. "It just didn't work out that way."
Source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/UsatodaycomSports-TopStories/~3/Q-695OJKViQ/1
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