This time, there was no reprieve for Purdue.
No. 8 Georgia (21-9) parlayed the shot-blocking and scoring of senior Terrell Bell and top-seeded Purdue's icy first-half shooting touch into an 76-69 win Saturday in the second round of the West Regional.The 6-foot-10 Bell had 15 points, blocked seven shots and made a shambles of Purdue's inside offense. His final block of a slam dunk attempt by Purdue's Justin Jennings with 1:19 left and Georgia up 70-64 ended the Boilermakers' hopes.
Georgia coach Tubby Smith said Bell is the type of big man who can take a team a long way in the tournament.
"He's young as far as basketball is concerned. He's just starting to learn how to play offensively, but defensively, he's as good as anyone," Smith said. "Going to Denver (site of the West semifinals), it gives me a lot of confidence that I can keep him in late-game situations."
Georgia forward Carlos Strong said the Bulldogs' defense fed off Bell.
"Terrell blocked lots of shots and even the ones he didn't block, he altered," Strong said.
Purdue, which escaped becoming the first top-seeded team in tournament history to lose to a No. 16 by edging Western Carolina 73-71 in Thursday's first round, shot itself out of the tournament during a nine-minute stretch of the first half.
And unlike its first-round survival, when Western Carolina missed two shots in the final seconds, the Boilermakers (26-6) got no closer than five points in the second half.
Strong scored 17 points and Shandon Anderson 15 for Georgia. Chad Austin led Purdue with 15 points, and Brandon Brantley scored 14.
The win also gave Smith his third straight trip to the round of 16. He led Tulsa there the past two seasons, then took over the Georgia program and guided the Bulldogs to their first NCAA tournament since 1991.
Syracuse 69, Drexel 58
Syracuse's big-game experience and a dominating front line proved too much for the Drexel Dragons.
The small Philadelphia engineering school gave Big East giant Syracuse all it could handle for much of their second-round NCAA tournament game, but the Orangemen came through.
Syracuse (26-8) advanced to the West Regional in Denver next weekend against eighth-seeded Georgia, which upset Purdue.
The Orangemen relied on a towering front line of John Wallace, Otis Hill and Todd Burgan to keep the smaller Dragons in check.
Wallace scored 12 of his 18 points in the second half, when he played with three fouls. Hill added 16 points.