SkanSU
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Gonzaga lost it. Can't SU get credit for anything. From Sporting News:
Syracuse is that team you can root for or against, but you can’t go all-in either way. The Orange shouldn’t have made the tournament, but now they are “that” team that reeled off three tournament wins. Boeheim didn’t have a problem poking a little fun at the notion they are only here because No. 2 seed Michigan State is not.
“I thought Dayton was pretty darned good until we beat them, and then all of a sudden they weren't any good,” Boeheim said. “And then I thought Middle Tennessee was pretty good until we beat them, and then they weren't any good. So I guess now Gonzaga probably won't be any good tomorrow morning, but we really played well in this tournament.”
MORE: Boeheim calls his suspension 'excruitiating'
Give credit to Syracuse’s players. They didn’t lose this one. Gonzaga covered that for them.
The Orange rallied from a 53-46 deficit in the last three minutes with the help of a full-blown Gonzaga meltdown. A blown inbounds play, a 10-second violation, missed free throws and cheap fouls all led to the Bulldogs’ undoing. Yet the Orange needed to escape after a blown out-of-bounds call gave Gonzaga the ball back before the final sequence with one last chance to win.
Lydon clinched the win, the last play in a series of big plays by the players in the final minutes. Trevor Cooney stole an inbounds pass and made a layup. Lydon hit a tip-in. By the time Michael Gbinije grabbed a rebound off his own miss for a layup and a 61-60 lead with 19.8 seconds left, the reality started to set in.
Boeheim made the right calls, too, including sliding the zone out a little farther to offset a long-range shooting display by Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer. Boeheim can still coach. That timeless zone still has an impact. And Syracuse’s players continue to stick together through two years of turmoil filled with you-can’t-do-that’s.
Syracuse is simultaneously obnoxious and adorable. It is one step away from the Final Four, which would give the NCAA another week to question itself about whether it actually punished them at all.
Syracuse is that team you can root for or against, but you can’t go all-in either way. The Orange shouldn’t have made the tournament, but now they are “that” team that reeled off three tournament wins. Boeheim didn’t have a problem poking a little fun at the notion they are only here because No. 2 seed Michigan State is not.
“I thought Dayton was pretty darned good until we beat them, and then all of a sudden they weren't any good,” Boeheim said. “And then I thought Middle Tennessee was pretty good until we beat them, and then they weren't any good. So I guess now Gonzaga probably won't be any good tomorrow morning, but we really played well in this tournament.”
MORE: Boeheim calls his suspension 'excruitiating'
Give credit to Syracuse’s players. They didn’t lose this one. Gonzaga covered that for them.
The Orange rallied from a 53-46 deficit in the last three minutes with the help of a full-blown Gonzaga meltdown. A blown inbounds play, a 10-second violation, missed free throws and cheap fouls all led to the Bulldogs’ undoing. Yet the Orange needed to escape after a blown out-of-bounds call gave Gonzaga the ball back before the final sequence with one last chance to win.
Lydon clinched the win, the last play in a series of big plays by the players in the final minutes. Trevor Cooney stole an inbounds pass and made a layup. Lydon hit a tip-in. By the time Michael Gbinije grabbed a rebound off his own miss for a layup and a 61-60 lead with 19.8 seconds left, the reality started to set in.
Boeheim made the right calls, too, including sliding the zone out a little farther to offset a long-range shooting display by Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer. Boeheim can still coach. That timeless zone still has an impact. And Syracuse’s players continue to stick together through two years of turmoil filled with you-can’t-do-that’s.
Syracuse is simultaneously obnoxious and adorable. It is one step away from the Final Four, which would give the NCAA another week to question itself about whether it actually punished them at all.
