CINCINNATI 71 SYRACUSE 68
The Cincinnati Bearcats were a part of the ugliest moment of this college basketball season. On Friday night, they got to be part of one of its most glorious.
Cincinnati, three months removed from a bloody brawl against hometown rival Xavier, scored a shocking upset of top-seeded and No. 2-ranked Syracuse, 71-68, in a Big East semifinal at the Garden.
PHOTOS: BEARCATS BOUNCE ORANGE IN BIG EAST SEMIFINALS
The same players who apologized on camera for giving their school and their city a black eye were standing at midcourt after surviving the Orange’s furious comeback with their index fingers held high. The Bearcats (23-9) will play in their first Big East championship game Saturday night against seventh-Louisville, which ousted Notre Dame in the late semifinal.
“My guys played with unbelievable toughness,” Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin said. “When our toughness rises to the level of our talent, we have a great team. We can beat anybody.”
For Syracuse (31-2), the loss isn’t likely to cost it a No. 1 seeding when the NCAA Tournament field is announced on Sunday.
“Most national championships — not all but a lot — have been won by teams that lose in their conference tournament,” Orange coach Jim Boeheim said. “As much as we wanted to win this tournament, the tournament that starts next week is the only one that matters.”
Cincinnati looked as if it might cruise in taking down the beast of the Big East when it was up 17 in the first half, but it couldn’t close the door on Syracuse until the final seconds. A Dion Waiters 3-pointer with 17.1 seconds left cut the Cincy lead to 68-66, and Syracuse fouled JaQuon Parker quickly. He made one of two at the line, and then Cronin made the strategic move of having Cashmere Wright foul Waiters with 5.4 seconds left instead of letting him try for a game-tying three.
Waiters hit both foul shots to get the Orange within 69-68. Syracuse pressed on the ensuing possession, but White Plains product Sean Kilpatrick got off an outlet pass to Justin Jackson, who sealed it with a breakaway dunk.
Kilpatrick and Yancy Gates each scored 18 and Wright and Dion Dixon each scored 11 for the Bearcats. Waiters had 28 points, including seven 3-pointers, and Fab Melo had 11 points for Syracuse.
Kris Joseph had nine points and no rebounds, Scoop Jardine had six points and five turnovers and Boeheim pointed out that their play was a factor.
“When we played our best, Scoop and Kris have been there,” he said. “Scoop wasn’t there. Kris didn’t get a rebound in 33 minutes.”
Cincinnati didn’t look like a team that was playing in its first Big East semifinal as it made six of its first seven threes to take a 25-8 lead less than 10 minutes into the game — “They were on fire,” Waiters said — and put the Orange into the sort of deficit it saw only when it lost its other game Jan. 21 against Notre Dame. The ’Cuse managed to get within 35-23.
“We’ve come a long way since that,” Gates said of the Dec. 10 fight. “We became a better team as the season went on. Tonight, this is what we’re capable of becoming.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment