Ohio State coach Thad Matta sized up his team in the middle of the season and had it figured for a first-weekend loss when the NCAA tournament came around. He's never been so happy to be wrong. Jared Sullinger recovered from first-half foul trouble to score 19 points and grab seven rebounds, helping Ohio State beat top-seeded Syracuse 77-70 Saturday to advance to the Final Four. The second-seeded Buckeyes will play the winner of Sunday's Midwest Regional final between North Carolina and Kansas. Deshaun Thomas scored 14 with nine rebounds for Ohio State (31-7), which led by eight points with 59 seconds to play and held on after the Orange cut it to three. The Buckeyes made 13 of 14 free throws in the final 68 seconds and 31 of 42 from the line in all. Brandon Triche scored 15 points and Baye Keita had 10 rebounds for Syracuse (34-3). The Orange were hoping for a return trip to New Orleans, where they won their only national championship in 2003. In a tightly officiated game that left Sullinger on the bench in foul trouble for most of the first half and Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim not-quite muzzled after picking up a technical foul, it came down to free throws. Syracuse was called for 29 fouls — its most in more than three years — despite playing its usual 2-3 zone. The Orange went to the line 25 times, making 20 foul shots. Ohio State is also the last remaining team from the Big Ten, which placed six teams in the NCAA tournament and four in the round of 16. Louisville in Final Four Once upon a time, Billy Donovan took Rick Pitino on an improbable ride to the Final Four. Twenty-five years later, Pitino is heading back after another unbelievable run — one capped with an amazing late-game rally that left his old protege wondering what the heck happened. Freshman forward Chane Behanan made the go-ahead basket with 1:06 left Saturday and Pitino's fourth-seeded Louisville Cardinals outscored Florida by 15 points over the final 10 minutes for a 72-68 victory in the West Regional final. And all Pitino could think afterward was, “Hate to do that to ya, kid.”
