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No. 4 Syracuse advances to take on No. 12 Cal

Montana v Syracuse

SAN JOSE, CA - MARCH 21: Trevor Cooney #10 of the Syracuse Orange goes up for a dunk against the Montana Grizzlies in the second half during the second round of the 2013 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at HP Pavilion on March 21, 2013 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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And you thought VCU’s 88-42 win over Akron was the worst beatdown of the day?

I guess you went to bed before No. 4 seed Syracuse played No. 13 seed Montana.

The Orange beat Montana 81-34. Seriously.

Montana shot 11-54 from the floor for the game. That’s 20.4%. They were 4-31 from three, which is good for 12.9%. All told, Montana made 19 shots -- 11 field goals and eight free throws -- and committed 17 turnovers.

Their leading scorer? Well, there were four guys that managed to score five points. Three players happened to make two fields goals. I would go on, but the point here isn’t to embarrass Montana.

Because they are a better basketball team than they showed tonight. But man, that was one heck of an off-night, wasn’t it?

The Orange will advance to take on No. 12 seed California, who dispatched No. 5 UNLV on Thursday, in a game that will be played in San Jose, more or less a home game for the Bears. My guess is that Cal will play a bit better than Montana did on Thursday.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.