A Gonzaga three knotted it up at 34 with 15:30 left to play, as the Bulldogs proceeded to take the lead back at the 13:18 mark with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Kyle Wiltjer, 39-36.
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So when 10th-seeded Syracuse trailed Gonzaga 57-48 late in the second half, the Orange were just fine.
Tyler Lydon sat calmly on his seat in the Syracuse locker room and answered wave after wave of questions about The Block.
CHICAGO (AP) – Every part of it paid off for Syracuse.
The Bulldogs faced a tougher slate of opponents than Syracuse and walloped them by just as much.
INSIDE JOB: The Bulldogs and Orange dominated the glass in the first two rounds of the tournament.
The Cavaliers jumped out to a 12-2 run to open the game and silenced the heavily pro-Cyclone crowd numerous times as Virginia advanced to the Elite Eight with an 84-71 win over No. 4 seed Iowa State in the Midwest Regional.
Then, one final twist: A Lydon block on Josh Perkins’ runner in the paint closed off Gonzaga’s path to redemption.
Sabonis was fouled on Gonzaga’s next possession, but could make only one of the two free throws.
WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse will play for its second final four in three years when it plays Virginia on Sunday in Chicago. The Orange lost 73-65 to the Cavaliers on January 24, but that was a long time ago.
While critics of the Orange claimed that Syracuse was given a gift with their matchup against MTSU instead of no. 2 Michigan State, the Orange capitalized and have been playing some of their best basketball this season – and not a moment too soon. Gonzaga was fighting for its NCAA Tournament life just a few weeks ago.
Yet that was the start of a gradual process that has brought Gbinije, and by extension the Orange, to the precipice of an unlikely Elite Eight appearance. They turned to their aggressive full-court pressure to shut down the Bulldogs and storm into their first regional final since 2013. They also own best shooting percentage, 50 percent, among teams in the field.
HERO: Tyler Roberson scored nine points an added 12 rebounds. Wiltjer had 23 points, five rebounds and four assists. They closed the gap to just one point by halftime.
Syracuse spotted Gonzaga an early 10-point lead behind a trio of three-pointers by Wiltjer, who finished the first half with 15 points while Sabonis grabbed 11 rebounds.
After Gbinije’s layup and a steal by Cooney that turned into a Syracuse turnover, Gonzaga had one last chance. The freshman forward finished with six blocks.
“I thought I had a good look at it. But he blocked it”, Perkins said. Boeheim’s personality is as rough as sandpaper and just as unforgiving, and he doesn’t seem to care if that costs him in the court of public opinion.
Boeheim said their friendship began with a card game that went poorly for Few. It will be fun to watch Sabonis play next season, whether for Gonzaga or in the National Basketball Association, following his father Arvydas’ footsteps as a proud son of Lithuania.
The Fighting Irish are 5-1 SU in their past six March Madness contests, including a run to the Elite Eight a year ago, but have struggled to reward bettors with a 4-5 ATS record in their past nine overall.
The Bulldogs are fresh off victories over No. 6 Seton Hall and No. 3 Utah, the second of which was an absolute beatdown on both sides of the ball.
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