Philadelphia, PA —
And then there were four.
That much we know. But each team left standing and on its way to New Orleans navigated its own final regional obstacle in a different way.
From The End of the Bench explains below in a collection of portraits that, when framed, form the Final Four.
Boston, Massachusetts - Individual whistles indicate infractions, but a collection of them hinder a game's flow and force situational decisions that make or break outcomes.
Ohio State's Jared Sullinger committed his second foul with 13:43 left in the first half and the Buckeyes holding a 13-10 lead. Thad Matta was forced to go to his bench, calling on Amir Williams and Sam Thompson to patchwork the final 13-plus minutes of the first half and leave Ohio State at arm's length.
The duo scrapped and clawed, pulled their weight and not only kept the Buckeyes within striking distance, but made the little plays not seen in the box score to help the Big Ten co-champs enter the locker room in a 29-29 stalemate that had to feel like a 10-point lead.
While the scoreboard was even at the half, the mindsets were worlds apart. Sullinger came out and dominated the second half, scoring 15 of his 19 points and putting the Buckeyes on his back in a 77-70 victory.
Sullinger waxed poetic after the game of his compatriots' first-half tenacity, saying, "These guys have played without me before, so they know what they have to do."
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim wasn't as verbose, stating tersely, "We got Sullinger in foul trouble early and we didn't take advantage of it. You know when he comes back in he's going to be difficult, and he was."
Boeheim's death stare and rare silence also explained his feelings of the game's officiating, which was tight on both ends and called Syracuse for 27 team fouls, the most whistled against the Orange in three years. Sullinger took advantage with aggressive post moves, getting to the foul line 12 times (he has been at the foul line a tournament-best 27 times overall).
The officiating brought two key factors to the forefront: depth and aggression. Ohio State's interior depth proved pivotal in the first half and it was their overall tenacity in attacking the Orange's 2-3 zone that proved the difference down the stretch.
Notes of note: Ohio State made 11-of-21 shots against the zone in the second half. The Buckeyes beat a No. 1 seed for the second time in school history, the first coming in the 1999 NCAA Tournament against Auburn. Boeheim fell to 1-7 all-time in the NCAA Tournament against the Big Ten. Syracuse scored 28 points in the paint on Saturday, the first time this season that the Orange lost when tallying at least 20 paint points.
Phoenix, Arizona - "Hate to do that do you, kid."
Louisville's Rick Pitino is a cold-blooded killer who has molded his Cardinals into an apt representation of himself, in-your-face and tenacious, yet after the game, he had a soft spot for Florida head coach Billy Donovan, his former pupil.
"It really hurt inside. As much as I felt like celebrating, it really hurt because he did such a masterful job of coaching," Pitino said of the Gators head coach.
The "masterful job of coaching" could have also described Pitino, who has his Cardinals playing by far their best basketball of the season with eight straight victories. He also willed his team back from an 11-point second-half deficit as Donovan looked on the way to his third Final Four.
From 63-52, Louisville stormed back to square the contest at 66-66 on Chane Behanan's jumper with just over three minutes to go. The forward then connected on the go-ahead bucket just nearly two minutes later. The Cardinals freshman scored 17 points with seven rebounds and outplayed the more heralded Gators freshman Bradley Beal, who didn't score over the final 19:50 despite posting 14 on the night.
The Gators scored just once over the final three minutes, as tired legs put a jump-shooting team in a scoring drought at the wrong time. Florida made 8- of-11 three-pointers in the first half, but missed all nine of its tries in the second half. Beal and Kenny Boynton both missed game-tying three-point attempts in the final minutes, sending the teacher on his way to the Final Four and the pupil home a game short for the second straight season.
"I said this earlier, for myself, I don't think any of us like losing," Donovan said. "But if someone said to me, 'You have to lose a game, who would it be to?' I would say him."
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