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Toronto native Oshae Brissett of the Syracuse Orange drives to the basket against two Michigan State Spartans during their second-round game in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament in Detroit on March 18, 2018. Syracuse went on to win 55-53, earning a spot among the final 16 teams.Gregory Shamus

The last team selected for the field of 68 is going to the round of 16.

Tyus Battle had 17 points and Toronto's Oshae Brissett scored 15, lifting 11th-seeded Syracuse to a 55-53 win over third-seeded Michigan State on Sunday and into the NCAA tournament's Sweet 16.

Cassius Winston missed an opportunity to win the game for the Spartans with a shot from about 45 feet just before the buzzer. The Spartans, flummoxed by Syracuse's 2-3 zone, didn't make a basket in the final 5 minutes 41 seconds. The Orange (23-13) forced the Spartans (30-5) to settle for 3-pointers all afternoon and it worked brilliantly for Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim against Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo.

The Orange held onto slim leads because they forced the Spartans to miss their last 13 shots.

The Spartans took a school record 37 shots from beyond the arc, making just eight of them.

Syracuse has won three straight since being sent to Dayton, Ohio, for the First Four as what the selection committee chairman acknowledged was the final team to receive an at-large bid.

Syracuse will face Duke (28-7) on Friday in the Midwest Region semi-finals.

Nevada 75, Cincinnati 73

The Nevada Wolf Pack just keep digging out of deep holes. And now they're on their way to Nevada's first Sweet 16 since 2004. The seventh-seeded Wolf Pack trailed this time by 22 before an amazing comeback. Josh Hall hit a short jumper with 9.1 seconds left to give Nevada its only lead of the game at 75-73, and No. 2 seed Cincinnati couldn't get a shot off before the clock expired, sending the Wolf Pack celebrating and hugging on the court. Cincinnati was the highest remaining seed left in the South Region after a string of upsets, and now the Bearcats are the latest to go down. Now Nevada will play another surprising team in Loyola-Chicago in the South Region semi-finals on Thursday in Atlanta.

Texas A&M 86, North Carolina 65

T.J. Starks scored 21 points and Texas A&M overpowered North Carolina inside, upsetting the reigning national champions 86-65 to mark the second straight year a title holder missed the Sweet 16. The seventh-seeded Aggies (22-12) did everything they had to do to hand the Tar Heels a rare loss in a home-state NCAA game. The second-seeded Tar Heels (26-11) were trying to reach their third straight Final Four. But they ended up falling to 34-2 in NCAA games in their home state, the only other loss coming in 1979.

Purdue 76, Butler 73

Dakota Mathias sank a three-pointer with 14.2 seconds left and second-seeded Purdue, minus star centre Isaac Haas, held off 10th-seeded Butler 76-73 to reach the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive year. Purdue faces third-seeded Texas Tech on Friday in Boston.

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