Syracuse 88 UConn 74
SYRACUSE — This was the game for which the Orangemen had worked and sweated all summer; the reason they had run early every morning and worked out again every afternoon, before the season had even started. This Connecticut team had been the measuring stick they’d been aiming at for nearly a year; and last night they more than measured up.
Defending national champion Connecticut had come to the Carrier Dome to test the mettle of No. 4 Syracuse, the nation’s last undefeated team and the country’s biggest surprise. But Dynasty proved no match for Destiny, as the Orangemen answered their doubters and their critics not with words but with numbers: 88-74.
Even before the final buzzer sounded on Syracuse’s stunning win, seemingly all of the Orange-clad 26,474 fans stormed the court like a herd of buffalo, running through rope fences and overturning tables. And the Orangemen came back out of the locker room to join them in celebration of a win that few outside upstate New York thought they could get.
“We’re on a mission. Connecticut is the reason why we went back and conditioned so hard. They pounded us last year, pushed us around, did everything possible you could think off,” said ‘Cuse guard Jason Hart, referring to UConn’s 71-50 Big East semifinal win. “They’re the reason we got up at 7:30 each morning; they’re the reason we started conditioning once the season was over last year. Thanks to them, they got us where we are right now.”
Where they are is 16-0, tying the 1917-18 team for the best start in school history. Granted, they’ve had their doubters and disbelievers; they hadn’t played a Top 25 team yet, and RPI ranked their schedule a sickly 150th just last week. But 16-0 was indeed their magic number; they held the Huskies scoreless for 5:14 of the first half, turning an 18-all tie into a 34-18 laugher. The lead reached 24, and never got within single digits again.
Center Etan Thomas dominated the paint with 15 points, 11 rebounds and four blocks; Hart gave a clinic in point guard play with 14 points, eight assists and five steals; and forward Ryan Blackwell had a team-high 18 points and 12 boards. But as good as the senior tri-captains were, it was the defense that held UConn to 34.5 percent first-half shooting and led the way.
“It’s a great win for us. It’s the best defense I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Hart, who held UConn star Khalid El-Amin to nine points — half his average — on 3-for-13 shooting. “I know people were amazed. They didn’t think this could happen. But we made a statement.”
UConn got the message, loud and clear. The Huskies had actually led 16-13, and the score was tied at 18 after an Edmund Saunders jumper 8:55 into the game. But that’s when Syracuse shut down UConn’s pick-and-roll, and ran off 16 straight points. Five Orangemen scored in that run, but it was their defense that made the difference. They mixed up withering man with their trademark 2-3 zone, and UConn handled neither.
“They handed it to us physically, and more important, took us out of the game mentally,” marveled UConn coach Jim Calhoun. “They played terrific. They have senior leadership, they really cut off the head of the dragon with Khalid, they pounded us on the boards; they did all the things necessary to win.”