‘Cuse Comes Back Down To Earth, Loses In Sweet Sixteen

The sharpshooting from Buddy Boeheim and company dried up Saturday night as the Orange dipped out of the NCAA tournament at the hands of a 62-46 loss to the Houston Cougars.

Boeheim and Joe Girard III were the only Syracuse players to make it into double digits, grabbing 12 points each. It was a tough night in the shooting department, where Cuse only made 21.7% of its three-point shots and 28% of its field goals overall.

Syracuse got off to a rough start in the first half, letting Houston get off to an early 17-5 lead. Buddy Boeheim, who's been one of the sharpest shooters in the tourney so far, went 1-7 from the field and 0-4 from three during the first half. The Orange would work to get back in the game, tying the score at 20, before Houston surged ahead on a 10-0 run to go into the half up 30-20. Those 20 points are Syracuse's second-lowest first half total all season.

The second half started out promising for the Orange, cutting the deficit to four with 12:36 left in the matchup, but that would be the closest Syracuse got. Houston's stifling defense created 11 turnovers throughout the game and Syracuse got dominated on the offensive glass.

Houston now advances to the Elite Eight for the first time since 1984. They will face 12-seed Oregon State Monday evening at 7:15 p.m. on CBS.

[via CBS Sports]