The Syracuse Orange continued their improbable, but exciting run in the NCAA Men’s Division I basketball tournament this past Sunday. They will be heading to the Final Four to take on the North Carolina Tar Heels in Houston, Texas. Many people were surprised Syracuse was even selected by the NCAA committee after a 0-4 start in ACC play and losing four of their last five games to end the season. The Orange also had to cope with losing their head coach, Jim Boeheim, for nine games due to a suspension from the NCAA.
Syracuse opened up the tournament against a talented Dayton Flyers team and Syracuse made a quick statement to everyone on why the deserve to be in the tournament. They routed the Flyers 70-51 and were led by talented freshman, Malachi Richardson with with 21 points.
Next up was the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders. The Blue Raiders upset the championship favorite, Michigan State to get to this game so you knew their confidence was sky high coming in. However, it did not make a difference for the Orange whose trademark zone defense suffocated the Blue Raiders on the offensive end causing multiple turnovers. Syracuse defeated Middle Tennessee 75-50 and punched their ticket to the Sweet Sixteen.
A sweet sixteen matchup against the Gonzaga Bulldogs proved to be one of Syracuse’s toughest matchups in the tournament. With Gonzaga leading 57-48 late in the second half, Syracuse turned to their aggressive full-court pressure to shut down the Bulldogs and get them back in the game. Down one with under 20 seconds remaining, Senior Forward, Michael Gbinije made a go-ahead layup and Syracuse advanced to its 10th Elite Eight under Jim Boeheim with a 63-30 win.
After a gut wrenching win against the Bulldogs, it set up an all-ACC matchup with Virginia for a spot in the Final Four. Let’s just say this game was by far one of the best games I have ever watched. Syracuse trailed by 16 points at the start of the second half and rallied all the way back to defeat Virginia 68-62. Malachi Richardson was the difference-maker in the game as he scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half and hit key shots down the stretch. After the game, Coach Boeheim said “It was a great comeback, one of the best I’ve coached in, any team I’ve had, in terms of you’re playing, I think, a great team”.
Syracuse was among the last teams to get into the NCAA tournament and now they are headed to the Final Four. They will be taking on a very talented North Carolina team, but the sky’s the limit for this year’s team as they have shown they can overcome anything thrown their way.
Tune into TBS at 8:49 PM EST on Saturday, April 2 to watch Syracuse and North Carolina battle it out for a spot in the National Title Game on Monday.
