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CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- With the game on the line, senior point guard Jason Hart turned to his sophomore backcourt mate. Preston Shumpert buried a jumper from the right wing with 36.8 seconds to play and Keith Bogans missed a runner in the waning moments as fourth-seeded Syracuse defeated No. 5 Kentucky, 52-50, to reach the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet 16." With center and defensive force Etan Thomas on the bench with five fouls for the final 3:46 of the game, the Orangemen received huge baskets from Ryan Blackwell and Shumpert as they won the Midwest Region battle between the two perennial powers. "We just hung in there and hung in there and made some stops," Syracause coach Jim Boeheim said. "In the end, Ryan (Blackwell) and Jason (Hart) made great drives to the basket, and Preston (Shumpert) made a great shot." Syracuse (26-5), which lost to Kentucky (23-10) in the 1996 national title game, will play either top-seeded Michigan State or Utah in the regional semifinals on Thursday at the Palace of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Despite being led by their three seniors -- Hart, Thomas and Blackwell -- the Orangemen received the biggest shot of the season from Shumpert, a 6-6, 192-pound guard from Fort Walton Beach, Florida. Hart drove to the basket from the left side and drew the defense to him before dishing outside to Shumpert, who nailed perhaps the school's biggest shot since John Wallace beat Georgia in the 1996 West Region semifinals. "That was one of our plays in which we just try to dribble to the side, a little pick and roll and clear out," Hart said. "I saw Saul (Smith) look to the screen so I just went back to the baselined and from playing for four years I know you just can't take the shot, because the defense is coming over, and I just found Preston and that was it." It was the fifth assist of the game for Hart, who trails only Sherman Douglas on the school's all-time list in that category. It was the 12th point of the afternoon for Shumpert, who also hit a pair of big 3-pointers. "I tried to hold my follow through as much as possible," Shumpert said. "I knew it was going to be a down to the wire game. We didn't design plays for each other, we just used motion to try to get each other open. The ball came to me and I just tried to step up and knock it down." Thomas collected nine points, 10 rebounds and three blocked shots for the Orangemen before going to the bench with his team leading, 48-45. Keith Bogans made the first of two free throws for Kentucky and Jules Camara's thunderous follow dunk with 2:44 to play tied it. Blackwell made a runner on the baseline before Camara took a feed from Bogans to throw down another dunk for the 11th tie of the contest. Following Shumpert's basket, the Wildcats passed on an immediate timeout but were forced to call one after Syracuse's extended zone defense forced them to nearly turn the ball over on two occassions. "Their zone made it really difficult to create a good look," said Tayshaun Prince. After about four minutes of no action as the teams traded timeouts, Bogans drove into the right side of the lane but could not get his shot to fall, sending the Wildcats home before the regional semifinals for the first time since 1994. "We set up a shot for Keith coming out of the stack and off a screen," Kentucky center Jamaal Magloire said. "He got a good look, it just didn't go in. Coach (Tubby Smith) did a good job of designing the play and we executed it well, the shot just didd't drop." "We realized that we didd't want to give them the 3, but thwne they go in there I realized I had to step up," Blackwell said of the last possession. "I tried to meet (Bogans) first and make him take a tough shot. I got into his body a little bit and that got him off balance." Bogans and Magloire scored 12 points apiece and Camara and Prince added 10 each for Kentucky, which was without starting forward Desmond Allison. Allison was suspended before the tournament after an arrest for driving under the influence. Syracuse won despite shooting just 32 percent (20-of-63) from the field and 4-of-21 from beyond the arc. But Kentucky was not much better, finishing at 40 percent (19-of-47) overall. "It was a good (defensive) job by both teams," Prince said. "We shot 40 percent, so that was a good job on Syracuse's part. But they shot 32 percent, so that's an even better job by us. They did a great job with their zone." Most of the poor shooting came during the first half, when there seemed to be a lid on the basket for both teams. Syracuse had just 13 points 16 1/2 minutes into the game but trailed by just five. DeShaun Williams and Shumpert drained back-to-back 3-pointers before Bogans' 3-pointer with 28 seconds to go forced a 23-23 halftime tie. Bogans and Magloire combined for the first four points of the second half, but Tony Bland's jumper began a 7-0 Syracuse run, which Shumpert capped with a 3-pointer from the left wing that put the Orangemen on top, 30-27. A 3-pointer by Williams gave Syracuse a 36-31 lead with 12 1/2 minutes remaining, but Prince scored the final 10 points of a 14-6 burst as Kentucky grabbed a 45-42 lead with 6:32 to play. Thomas had a follow shot and Hart drove for a layup to give back Syracuse the advantage and Blackwell's two free throws made it a three-point contest. Moments later, Thomas went to the bench for good, but the Orangemen ensured that their three seniors would play at least once more. Blackwell and Damone Brown had seven rebounds apiece for Syracuse, which held a 40-33 advantage on the boards and committed just 13 turnovers to 19 by the Wildcats.
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