Second half of the UVa game never gets old

[RF2044]

My dad was in town this past weekend, and we rewatched the Virginia NCAA game.

That second half burst we put on them is still exciting, months later. Man, what a game!


Let's Go Orange!!!

 

[HOFCeluck]

I'll never forget standing there as Mali put us up six thinking "this is not happening."

 

[dasher]

My dad was in town this past weekend, and we rewatched the Virginia NCAA game.

That second half burst we put on them is still exciting, months later. Man, what a game!


Let's Go Orange!!!

I have watched the last 10 minutes maybe a dozen times, Not for a while though. Today would be a good day to take a second look. When Mali hits the 3 to put us up 4, I get the same good feeling even now.

 

[RF2044]

I have watched the last 10 minutes maybe a dozen times, Not for a while though. Today would be a good day to take a second look. When Mali hits the 3 to put us up 4, I get the same good feeling even now.

Same here, Dasher--it was an incredible run. I remember looking at the clock and thinking--can we keep this going for 4 and a half more minutes???

 

[orangefog]

Same here, Dasher--it was an incredible run. I remember looking at the clock and thinking--can we keep this going for 4 and a half more minutes???

Me too, I was worried our boys made their run just a little too early or a little too quickly. What a great ending for SU fans.

 

[jordoo]

In 5 minutes we not only erased the whole 16 point deficit we also took a 4 point lead. From 9:30 to 4:30 we outscored a 1 seed in the regional final by 20 points. Simply put that never happens. It just doesn't at that point in the tourney.

 

[Chicago44s]

I was lucky enough to be at both games in the United Center. After spending way too much to be 7 rows from the court. My buddy and I made a promise to each other no matter what happens we won't regret this decision. After the Virginia game I was taking him to the airport to fly back to Boston and he turns to me and says, "This was awesome and even if they lost to Gonzaga I wouldn't have regretted it but this was WAAAAY BETTER!" We had a good chuckle for about 10 mins. out of shear deliriousness and excitement from the whole weekend. We realized we had just witnessed two of the greatest 'Cuse games we've ever watched, let alone attended.

 

[CuseTroop]

I remember standing in the concourse at halftime, my girlfriend next to me giving me a look like my dog just died.. I looked back and said "There's still a whole half left, we can do this" She gave me the "sure they can, babe, sure they can" look.. We headed back down to our seats, and the rest was history. She might be let down a few times in her life, but she will never again call Cuse out of it at half time. What a freaking weekend.

 

[realorange]

And Troop even remembers!!

 

[Briancuse]

The best Easter Sunday of my life.

 

[HoustonCuse]

You guys that were there need to tell us a little more about the arena atmosphere, reactions, crowd response, etc.

Sounded pretty raucous on TV but first hand reports always way better. Let's hear em.

 

[two3zone]

I remember at half time, I'm thinking, it's not impossible to come back being down what we were down by, but against who we were down by with only 20 minutes of game left I honestly didn't think we had a shot. Virginia is a great great team and we just played PERFECT basketball for the second half. May not be the largest we've been down by, but that by far was the most impressive comeback I've ever seen a Syracuse team have. Amazing.

 

[CuseTroop]

You guys that were there need to tell us a little more about the arena atmosphere, reactions, crowd response, etc.

Sounded pretty raucous on TV but first hand reports always way better. Let's hear em.

It was all a blur man.. I honestly don't remember much between halftime, and me holding the "On to the Final Four" paper right after tip.. I had to watch the 2nd half again when I got home just to try to figure out what just happened. From the pictures people took of us on TV, it looks like I spent most of the half in the aisle with Cooney's grandma. Sometimes I had my hat on, sometimes off. I remember a thousand high fives, so many hugs.

The Virginia fans sitting across the court from us had been partying loud and proud the whole first half and it continued into the 2nd half. I don't know what point in the game it was, but I remember looking across at them, and thinking "They know it's coming.. They are scared out of their minds". And our section turned it up. Nobody sat down after that. It was insane.

I spent the weekend thinking the Gonzaga game had made my whole trip south worth it.. That Virginia game will never be topped. I'm not sure how many chances I'll have to be able to just drop everything, jump on a plane and fly to the lower 48 on just a few days notice for some basketball games... But even if it never happens again, I'll be alright. It was the coolest Live game experience I've ever had.

 

[bballbeadle]

I remember standing in the concourse at halftime, my girlfriend next to me giving me a look like my dog just died.. I looked back and said "There's still a whole half left, we can do this" She gave me the "sure they can, babe, sure they can" look.. We headed back down to our seats, and the rest was history. She might be let down a few times in her life, but she will never again call Cuse out of it at half time. What a freaking weekend.

View attachment 73670

Where are you in this shot?

 

[CuseTroop]

Right above the "T" in "tournament. Blue hat, blue long sleeve, orange jersey, Alaskan beard lol

 

[CuseTroop]

Where are you in this shot?

^^

 

[RF2044]

You guys that were there need to tell us a little more about the arena atmosphere, reactions, crowd response, etc.

Sounded pretty raucous on TV but first hand reports always way better. Let's hear em.

Crowd was amazing for both games. Keep in mind that there was probably a larger contingent of UVa fans, who were smelling a final four berth as the #1 seed who'd beaten us numerous times in a row.

Their fans were loud / celebrating the first 3/4 of the game, sensing an easy win. If you've seen the games on TV, you know how their bench was hamming it up on the sidelines when they were cruising.

When momentum shifted, our fans really came to life, and the Hoo fans got shell shocked. Part of it was that our defense gave them nothing to cheer about, and they watched in stunned disbelief as we took over. Our fans took over, too, and really let them have it.

It was amazing.

 

[Chicago44s]

My buddies arms are raised and I'm sitting to his left staring at him in disbelief after Malachi's dagger three in Brogdon's grill to put us up 4. We're to the left of the basket Cuse is shooting at, 7 rows up. At this point I feel like I'm in a dream. Thinking is this for real? This team I thought would be lucky to get in the tourney could actually be headed to the frikin Final Four.

The best part is we're amongst a sea of Virginia fans. The whole section was so confident that the guy in front of us is with his kids telling them he is going to start rooting for Syracuse to make this a close game, we're down 15 or 17 at this point, I can't remember. My friend and I hear this and my blood pressure is sky rocketing to dangerous levels. As Cuse is making the comeback this guy continues to mock cheer for Cuse the whole way until we're within a bucket. His kids are dead silent as my buddy and I are going bananas. His mock cheering quickly stops and he sees this complete meltdown about to come to fruition. My friend says, "Is it close enough for you?". When the buzzer sounds all I'm thinking is, Karma man, it's a beetch.

 

[bballbeadle]

Right above the "T" in "tournament. Blue hat, blue long sleeve, orange jersey, Alaskan beard lol

Got it! Now you have proof positive you were there!

 

[MSOrange]

I watched that game so many times that first week or so but haven't watched it since. I had to watch it that same night again because I truly didn't believe what I just saw and then I watched it again Sunday morning when I exercised. Talk about an adrenaline rush to get you through the workout.

The only part that kinda stinks is it seems like you have to sit through the first half wreck to truly appreciate how awesome the second half was.

 

[20Plus]

I remember standing in the concourse at halftime, my girlfriend next to me giving me a look like my dog just died.. I looked back and said "There's still a whole half left, we can do this" She gave me the "sure they can, babe, sure they can" look.. We headed back down to our seats, and the rest was history. She might be let down a few times in her life, but she will never again call Cuse out of it at half time. What a freaking weekend.

View attachment 73670

This is a great post!

I have a text I sent out down sixteen saying I still had hope to cut to 9 and see how UVA would respond to game pressure!

My group text was silent but I for some reason had more faith then them or ever