LOS ANGELES (AP) - Wichita State is headed to the Final Four, and these Shockers should be no surprise to anybody.
Not after the way they held off mighty Ohio State in the West Regional final.
Malcolm Armstead scored 14 points, Fred Van Vleet bounced in a big basket with 1 minute left, and ninth-seeded Wichita State earned its first trip to the Final Four since 1965 with a 70-66 victory over the Buckeyes on Saturday.
Van Vleet scored 12 points as the Shockers (30-8) followed up last week's win over top-ranked Gonzaga with a nail-biting victory over the second-seeded Buckeyes (29-8), whose 11-game winning streak ended one game short of their second straight Final Four.
Wichita State is just the fifth team seeded ninth or higher to reach the Final Four since seeding began in 1979, but the second in three years following 11th-seeded VCU's improbable run in 2011.
Wichita State roared to a 20-point lead with 11 minutes to play after Ohio State played an awful first half, but LaQuinton Ross scored 15 of his 19 points after halftime, leading a ferocious rally that got the Buckeyes within three points in the final minutes.
But after Tekele Cotton hit a 3-pointer with 2:20 left, Van Vleet scored on a shot that bounced all over the rim before dropping. Ron Baker and Cotton hit last-minute free throws to secure the second Final Four trip in Wichita State's history.
EAST REGIONAL
SYRACUSE 55, MARQUETTE 39
WASHINGTON (AP) - Using its trapping, shot-challenging 2-3 zone defense to perfect effect, Syracuse shut down Marquette to reach the Final Four for the first time in a decade.
Coach Jim Boeheim and the Orange (30-9) haven't been to the national semifinals since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony led them to the 2003 championship.
Fittingly, a matchup between schools from the soon-to-break-apart, rough-and-tumble Big East became quite a struggle to score. Syracuse was led by James Southerland's 16 points.
Marquette (26-9) hadn't scored fewer than 47 points this season. But with Syracuse playing Boeheim's beloved zone throughout, Marquette kept turning the ball over, seeing its shots blocked or just plain missing.
The Golden Eagles' 39 points were a record low for a team in an NCAA tournament regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.
All told, Marquette made only 12 of 53 shots - 23 percent - and was 3 for 24 on 3-pointers. Vander Blue, who carried Marquette to the round of eight, was held to 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting.