Syracuse sophomore guard Brandon Triche has netted a team-best eight points for the No. 3-seeded Syracuse Orange, but the No. 11 Marquette Golden Eagles have a 34-31 halftime in a third-round NCAA Tournament contest in Cleveland, OH. The winner will advance to the round of 16 to play No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels, who defeated No. 7 Washington earlier in the evening.
Junior guard Darius Johnson-Odom has game-best 12 points for Marquette, which used a late 9-2 run, which included six points from senior guard Jimmy Bulter, to take the three-point advantage into the locker room.
Sophomore guard Brandon Triche scored eight of SU's first 10 points and senior forward Rick Jackson added a jumper to help SU (27-7) take an early 14-6 advantage just seven minutes into the game. By the midway point, SU had increased its margin to 10 points, 19-9, when junior forward Kris Joseph's attempted dunk caromed into the cylinder.
Marquette responded with an impressive12-2 run, which included eight points from junior guard Darius Johnson-Odom, to tie the game at 21 with five and a half minutes to go in the half. After a Syracuse timeout, sophomore guard James Southerland nailed a 3-pointer for the Orange, who went on a 8-2 run to take a 29-23 lead with 3:09 to go.
Triche has a team-best eight points, while Joseph has six. Marquette is out-rebounding Syracuse, 16-13.