OMAHA, Neb. — The No. 1 seed Syracuse Orange found new life after beating the No. 8 seed Kansas State Wildcats 75-59 in second round play of the NCAA tournament on Saturday in Pittsburgh, Penn.
Kansas State (22-11, 10-8 Big 12) found themselves up 9-2 with 15:54 left in the 1st half. Syracuse (33-2, 17-1 Big East) then went on a 21-3 run and led 23-12 at the 8:09 mark. K-State answered with a 12-2 run and were down one at the half, 25-24.
The Wildcats got the lead back briefly to start the 2nd half, but the Orange surged back ahead and dominated play for the rest of the game.
K-State was led by junior guard Rodney McGruder with 15 points, who may have scored more had he not suffered an ankle injury in the 1st half. Junior forward Jordan Henriquez added a double-double with 14 points and 17 rebounds.
The Orange were led by senior guard Scoop Jardine, who finished with 16 points and 8 assists. Sophomore guard Dion Waiters scored 18 points off the bench.
The Cats had a tough time making shots today. They shot 31.3% from the field, and 23.5% from three-point range.
K-State senior forward Jamar Samuels was reported ineligible just minutes before the game due to unspecified reasons.
Syracuse had already been dealt a huge blow by losing sophomore center Fab Melo for the entire NCAA tourney due to an academic eligibility issue.
