NCAA tournament: No. 1-seeded Syracuse easily defeats No. 8 Gonzaga, 87-65

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Wes Johnson scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds and Andy Rautins added 24 points as Syracuse hit a dozen three-pointers to stun Gonzaga, 87-65, on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Syracuse’s storybook season — the Orange were unranked before the season and made it to No. 1 for the final week before losing to Georgetown in the Big East tournament — continues on Thursday. The Orange (30-4), the top-seeded team in the West Regional, will play fifth-seeded Butler (30-4) in Salt Lake City.

No. 8-seeded Gonzaga (27-7) was trying to become the second team from the West Coast Conference to shock the Big East — WCC tournament champ St. Mary’s stunned second-seeded Villanova on Saturday — but they were no match for the Orange.

Syracuse made the round of 16 for the second straight year.

Elias Harris led Gonzaga with 24 points.

-- Associated Press

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