March Madness Day 7

Louisville 72 - Florida 68
You have to hand it to Rick Pitino. No one was looking to Louisville before the tournament started when they were talking about Final Four teams coming out of Phoenix, but the Cardinals outclassed Michigan State and then came back from 11 down with 10 minutes left against Florida thanks to switching to a man-to-man defense and hitting some big shots. Florida played a heck of a game, but when they couldn't hit a three-pointer after Louisville stopped playing zone, it put too much of a crimp in their offense.

Ohio State 77 - Syracuse 70
Ohio State had multiple chances to make this game easier on themselves, but they didn't do it. Whether it was missing free throws, throwing away inbounds passes, or just stagnant offense, Ohio State made this one hardon themselves. But for all their faults, they always came up with a basket when they had to have it. Syracuse couldn't stop Jared Sullinger when his teammates were able to get him the ball. And Aaron Craft was the epitomy of a floor general, running the show and supplying some terrific defense on Syracuse's guards.

Ohio State was dead tired by the end though. While 9 players got game time, the 4 bench players combined for 20 minutes total. And at least 9 of those minutes came entirely in the first half, when Sullinger was sitting with foul trouble. By the end, tOSU was dragging, and that had to contribute to their inability to put the game away down the stretch. But to their credit, they overcame their fatigue, and as a result they did what last year's #1 overall seed couldn't do: reach the Final Four.