By OnMilwaukee Staff Writers   Published Mar 21, 2010 at 4:35 PM

Ohio State and Georgia Tech left Milwaukee with trips to Sweet 16 games in St. Louis and Salt Lake City.

Here's a look at Second Round action from the Bradey Center:

Game 1: (2) Ohio State 75, (10) Georgia Tech 66 -- In Ohio State's first-round game Friday, All-American guard Evan Turner was barely a factor, finishing with just nine points in the Buckeyes' victory over UC-Santa Barbara.

Turner wasn't about to be kept in check a second straight game.

The 6-7 guard narrowly missed a triple-double with 24 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in Ohio State's 75-66 victory over Georgia Tech.

Sixteen of Turner's points came in the first half, while teammate Jon Diebler was held to just three. When the Yellow Jackets adjusted to Turner, Diebler took over, hitting four three-pointers and scoring 17 points in the final 20 minutes. "Evan was so aggressive the first half, he drew so much attention and that allowed for some open shots for us and for us to have driving lanes," Diebler said. "We missed some good looks early on, but Evan, he kind of kept us in the game with his aggressiveness."

Up by just two at halftime, the Buckeyes opened the second half with a 18-6 run to take a 46-32 lead with 12:46 to play. They kept Georgia Tech out of reach until the Yellow Jackets went on an 11-0 spurt, drawing within five, at 65-60, on Derrick Favors' layup with 1:47 to play.

Georgia Tech (23-13) struggled with inconsistency throughout the game and couldn't get into rhythm on offense, shooting just 41 percent. Gani Lawal led the Yellow Jackets with 11 points and Favors and Glen Rice, Jr. each added 10.

With the victory, Ohio State (29-7) moves on to a Midwest Regional Semifinal against Bruce Pearl's Tennessee Volunteers in St. Louis.

Game 2: (6) Xavier 71, (3) Pittsburgh 68 -- The Pittsburgh Panthers, playing from behind for all of the second half, kept clawing their way back into the game but in the end, came up just inches short of advancing to the Sweet 16.

Pitt trailed by as much as 13 in the second half and drew within a point on Travon Woodall's layup with 9:02 to play. Again, the Panthers drew closer, getting within three points on another Woodall layup, this time with eight seconds to play.

The Panthers caught a break when Dante Jackson missed a pair of free throws, keeping the score at 71-68. At the other end, Ashton Gibbs missed a three-point attempt with under a second to play and, in the scrape for the rebound, it appeared the ball went out of bounds as time expired.

The officials, though, went to the video and determined .4 seconds remained when the ball was tipped out by a Xavier player, giving Pittsburgh one final chance.

Brad Wanamaker found himself in perfect position to force overtime, getting a nearly-open look, but his three-point attempt fell just short, sending the Musketeers to the Sweet 16.

"Coach drew up a good play," Wanamaker said. "I thought it was good when it left my hand but it came up short."

Xavier guard Jordan Crawford put on another dazzling display, scoring 27 points on nine of 15 shooting and hitting four of seven three-pointers. Crawford was one of three Musketeers to score in double figures, joined by Jason Love (14) and Terrell Holloway (13).

"We're starting to play better offensively and really share the ball," said Xavier coach Chris Mack. "I know Jordan's getting a lot of attention, but he's making some plays where he's passing, giving up -- some of the plays I showed our guys after the Minnesota game offensively were as good as I've seen all year, sharing the ball, making the extra pass.

"When teams play like that on the offensive end and we stick to the defensive intensity I think this program's known for, we're going to be a tough out. "

The Musketeers (26-8) shot 48 percent from the field and 50 percent (8-16) from behind the arc while holding Pittsburgh to just 39 percent.

Gibbs led Pittsburgh (26-8) with 19 points while Wanamaker added 16 with 10 rebounds.

The victory puts Xavier in the Sweet 16 for the third straight season. The Musketeers will face No. 2 seed Kansas State Thursday in Salt Lake City.

Notes

  • Turner could have had a quadruple-double, though he'd probably rather forget his nine turnovers.  
  • Sunday's attendance was 18,031, bringing the weekend total to 53,458 -- an average of 17,819.
  • There was a sizable cheer from the crowd when the Wisconsin-Cornell score was announced during the opening moments of the day's second game. Obviously, many in attendance have ties to Marquette.
  • Turner and Georgia Tech's Iman Shumpert were teammates at Chicago's Oak Park Jr. High School. Shumpert was the team's point guard while Turner was the shooting guard.
  • Georgia Tech committed three turnovers and missed three shots on its first eight second-half possessions.
  • Favors, the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year, played just 5 minutes in the first half thanks to two quick fouls. He didn't score his first points until the 15:04 mark of the second half.
  • Xavier has won 10 of its last 11 games.
  • Crawford was held scoreless for 11 minutes of the second half.
  • The Yellow Jackets were whistled for 24 fouls and turned the ball over 21 times, compared to just 17 and 18, respectively, for Ohio State.
  • During Friday's games, prime parking lots across for the Bradley Center were charging as much as $75 for a space. On Sunday, prices had dropped to $30 at two of the closer lots, though less than 30 minutes before tip off, there seemed to be plenty of spots available.
  • Georgia Tech lost an NCAA Tournament game at the Bradley Center for the first time. The Yellow Jackets were 5-0 coming into Sunday.
  • Ohio State head coach is 8-3 in four NCAA Tournament appearances with the Buckeyes and, including his time at Butler and Xavier, is 15-7 overall.
  • The Buckeyes are 40-20, all-time, in the NCAA Tournament (23 appearances).
  • What was the hottest-selling item at the merchandise stand this weekend? According to one worker, it was a Nike shirt featuring a tournament logo. "We sold out of those the first day," she said. Another hot item -- shirts for Cal-Santa Barbara. "We sold out of those, too," she said.
  • Xavier is one of just two teams to appear in the Sweet 16 the last three seasons. Michigan State is the other.
  • The 16 teams advancing out of the Second Round represent 11 different conferences.
  • Xavier and Pittsburgh met last season in the Sweet 16. The Panthers took the lead in the final minute and advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in 35 years with a 60-55 victory.