“This was a great tournament for us”.
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The Syracuse basketball team beat #18 UConn 79-76 to advance to the championship game at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament in the Bahamas.
The Syracuse Orange are 5-0 this season and they are coming off of a win over UConn on Thursday to advance to this game.
Cassell, who scored just 16 points in the Huskies first three games this season, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first half (a third was waved off due to a foul away from the ball), then another midway through the latter half that gave UConn a 19-point lead – its biggest of the night.
The trash has been talked, now it’s time to renew one of the Big East’s greatest rivalries.
Both teams shot well in the half and shared the ball while doing it. Syracuse had five assists on its 10 baskets, and the Huskies had seven on their 11 made field goals. MI found itself staring up at a 19 point deficit midway through the second half, but the game had seemed a forgone conclusion much earlier than that. “We were in a drought in the first half and the second half and really allowed them to take over the game, and in transition they really hurt us with the 3’s”. “That’s what we gotta continue to do”. Danuel House was the only other Aggie to reach double digits in scoring, finishing with 15 points.
The Huskies began hitting the three-pointers they were missing throughout the game, and pulled within two down the stretch. That changed in the final 20 minutes as they struggled to get easy baskets.
Following a MI miss on the other end, CT was fouled and Miller made two free throws to push the lead up to 13. “I think Texas A&M has tremendous ability, tremendous talent and I thought we just hung in there when things weren’t going our way a couple times”, said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.
UConn (4-0) shot 50 percent from the floor, outrebounded the Wolverines by 11 and, perhaps most impressively, held Michigan’s long-range gunners to 8-for-29 from beyond the 3-point arc and 32.1 percent overall from the floor.
The Orange was aggressive with its zone, but the Aggies were just as patient working for open shots. Tonny Trocha-Morelos made all four of his 3-point attempts and the Aggies played well defensively in handing No. 11 Gonzaga its first loss in Thursday’s semifinals.
LeVert’s impact was evident in the second half, where he would score 18 of his 21 points. Syracuse went ahead 65-55 and then it was the 3-point shooting of the Orange that UConn couldn’t control. The streak pushed the Aggies in front by five points with just under four minutes on the clock. DJ Wilson had 5 points and 1 rebound off the bench and Wagner 0 points and 0 rebounds!
Daniel Hamilton is looking to build on his best effort of the season after the sophomore forward had 16 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.
The Aggies put each of those attributes on display during a highly competitive opening 20 minutes. “These guys really played hard and played huge minutes three days in a row”, Boeheim said. “We’ll look at the schedule, look at the teams we already have contracts for and we’ll figure it out and see what’s best for UConn”.
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Although shocking to say after some of the earlier games this season, they would be very deserving of it. They have taken every teams best shot and come out with victories every time. “That’s alright, though. We’re ready to play”.
