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ATLANTA – What bails a basketball team on a night when its best offensive players are struggling to score?

Uh . . . that’s a rhetorical question.

A team can always rely on its defense to get it out of the stickiest of jams:

It’s the oldest and most reliable of the staples of Hoops Coaching 101.

Of course, a few other offensive options can always come in handy, too.

Both NCAA Championship semifinal winners illustrated that perspective Saturday night in the Georgia Dome.

Russ Smith, Gorgui Dieng and Peyton Siva – who have combined to average 39 points this season as their team’s three-best scorers – missed 21 of 28 shots from the floor Saturday night for Louisville.

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Michigan 61, Syracuse 56

Why Michigan won: On a night when Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Nik Stauskas were just five of 29 from the field, freshmen Glenn Robinson III, Mitch McGary, Spike Albrecht and Caris Levert combined for 34 points.

The Turning Point: Reserve Jordan Morgan took a charge from Brandon Triche on a potential score-tying shot with 19 seconds to go.

The Star: Post Mitch McGary had 10 points, 12 rebounds and six assists to go with blocks on the opening two possessions of Syracuse to get his team into the title game.

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Louisville 72, Wichita State 68

Why Louisville won: The Cardinals struggled to turn the Shockers over for most of the game and got a combined shooting effort of 7 of 26 from Russ Smith and Peyton Siva but still pulled it out via the clutch shooting of reserves Luke Hancock and walk-on Tim Henderson.
The Turning Point: Louisville went from its zone to a man to man in the second half and it took away the WSU rhythm it had played with vs. the zone — then went back to the zone in time to force a key 24-second violation.

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No. 4 seed (Midwest) Michigan (30-7) vs. No.4 (East) Syracuse (30-9), 8:49 p.m. ET, CBS

Records vs. NCAA tournament field: Michigan 12-6, Syracuse 11-8.

Records vs. common opponents: Michigan beat Pittsburgh (67-62) and lost twice to Indiana (81-73 and 72-71); Syracuse beat split with Pittsburgh (losing 65-55 and winning 62-59) and beat Indiana (61-50).

Best individual matchups: Trey Burke (6-0, So., Michigan) vs. Syracuse zone; Michael Carter-Williams (6-7, So., Syracuse) vs. Burke’s defense.

Team strengths: Michigan – 1. The Wolverines have the best collection of perimeter scorers in the Final Four field; 2.

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No. 9 seed (West) Wichita State (30-8) vs. No.1 (Midwest) Louisville (33-5), 6:09 p.m. ET, CBS

Records vs. NCAA tournament field: Wichita State 6-2, Louisville 15-5.

Records vs. common opponents: Wichita State beat DePaul (75-62) and Pittsburgh (73-55); Louisville beat DePaul (79-58) and Pittsburgh (64-61).

Best individual matchups: Malcolm Armstead (6-0, Sr., WSU) vs. Peyton Siva (6-0, Sr., Louisville); Carl Hall (6-8, Sr., WSU) vs. Gorgui Dieng (6-11, Jr., Louisville).

Team strengths: Wichita State – 1. The Spartans’ half-court defense is as good any played by any team in this season’s tourney field of 68; 2.

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