Syracuse 95
Texas 84
NEW ORLEANS--Kansas, the first half of the Big 12's tag-team entryin this Final Four, was in the zone Saturday as it raced pastMarquette in the first national semifinal.
But in the late game, Texas, the Big 12's other Final Four member,simply was up against the zone--the vaunted 2-3 zone of Syracuse,that is.
The underdog Orangemen parlayed their underappreciated zone into a95-84 victory. Orangemen coach Jim Boeheim, now a perfect 3-0 innational semifinals, once again stands one victory away from thenational championship that eluded him in 1987 and 1996.
National freshman of the year Carmelo Anthony, a likely first-team All-American if a vote was taken today, again showed why he isone of the nation's top players, scoring 33 points, pulling down 14rebounds and making sure Syracuse wouldn't lose.
"It doesn't get better than this, playing in the championshipgame," Anthony said. "Hopefully, we can get a championship out of it.I'm not satisfied with my game. I played pretty well, I made someshots. But the most important thing tonight was getting my teammatesinvolved."
Syracuse (29-5), which shot an impressive 57.1 percent (32-for-56) against one of the toughest defenses in the country, also gotdouble-figure scoring from freshman guard Gerry McNamara (19 points),sophomore forward Hakim Warrick (18) and sophomore guard Josh Pace(12).
"This was our best offensive game," Boeheim said. "We haven'treally been sharp in the tournament, but [Anthony] was tremendoustonight, and our other guys really picked it up. You're not going tostop a Texas or a Marquette or a Kansas. You're going to have toscore."
Texas (26-7), the only No. 1 seed to reach this Final Four, isgone because it shot 35.5 percent in the second half while theOrangemen were shooting 60 percent. Texas was led by Brandon Mouton,who scored only five of his 25 points after the break, courtesy of astepped-up defensive effort from Syracuse.
In sharp contrast to the Jayhawks' rout of Marquette, this was anail-biter most of the way. It also was closely officiated. Betweenthe whistles and the strategy, it rarely had the racehorse feel soprevalent in college basketball and rarely settled into any rhythm,which only added to the suspense.
But it set up a championship game Monday night in which Boeheimwill square off against Kansas' Roy Williams, who has come up shortin three previous Final Fours. It's a matchup of coaches who rankhigh on the list of best coaches who never have won a championship.
"We were talking the other day," Boeheim said, "and we said, If weboth get there Monday night, one of us will not have to listen to you[media] guys anymore."'
After being down the whole game, Texas took its first lead at 53-52 early in the second half. But the Orangemen, after falling behind61-59, seized the upper hand with a 13-2 run that put them on top 72-63 with 81/2 minutes left.
Texas tried to come back from there, but Anthony, who is projectedto be the third player taken in the NBA draft this spring, led adetermined Syracuse effort.
"Probably the hardest job I've had since I've been in college,"Royal Ivey, Texas' ace defender, said after trying to deal withAnthony. "He's 6-8, explosive, strong. He'll shoot over you, drivethrough you, spin move, everything. He's a great player."
Both the Orangemen and Longhorns were taking their acts on theroad after riding major home-crowd advantages to New Orleans.Syracuse knocked off Auburn and Oklahoma in Albany, N.Y., and Texastook out Connecticut and Michigan State in San Antonio.
Syracuse now has a chance to erase Boeheim's memories of 1987,when Keith Smart's dramatic basket won the national championship forIndiana 74-73--also at the Superdome.
Syracuse led Texas 48-45 after a first half that often felt morelike a chess match than the physical contest that it was.
Texas, which had trouble with a zone in its 57-54 victory Dec. 22over Princeton, also was bothered by Temple's zone in the 2001tournament. That year, as a sixth seed, it was upset by the 11th-seeded Owls 79-65 in the first round.
Texas is a much better team now. This was its first Final Fourappearance since 1947, but don't expect it to keep spreading outvisits like that. The Longhorns have no seniors in their rotation,and even their key player, sophomore T.J. Ford (12 points), isn'tnecessarily planning to punch an early ticket to the NBA.
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