Standing in the Orange’s way tonight: the 6-foot-11 Domantas Sabonis, son of Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis.
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The road to this point had been long and unforgiving. And while we’re on the topic of changes, there seems to be an idea every now and then about re-seeding the NCAA Tournament when we reach the Sweet Sixteen. They came into the tournament riding a three game losing streak.
The NCAA Tournament is about surviving and advancing.
With 2:54 left, Cooney stole the inbounds pass and scored on a layup to cut Gonzaga’s lead to 59-56.
Lydon matched his season-high six blocks in the win, marking the second game in a row the freshman has tallied six blocks.
“It was important that we made a stop at the end because after looking at that picture after the game, it looked like he was not out of bounds, so that would have been a tough way to lose”, Boeheim said.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has rarely strayed from the zone en route to one national championship, four Final Fours and 18 Sweet 16s.
All hope was not quite lost.
Gonzaga looked as if it was heading to the final eight for the second straight season before Syracuse switched to full-court pressure late in the second half.
“Pushing players, we all do it. Trust me”, Boeheim said. Syracuse has had 19 games this year in which the o/u was 135 or more and the over covered nine times, but it’s important to note the times that the under covered: the o/u was 140 or higher in six of those games (Cuse is also 5-1 in those games) and the point total actually exceeded 135 in three of them.
“Too many turnovers, and then just those darned offensive rebounds there at the end”, coach Mark Few said.
“A lot of people counted us out, and that’s been the theme all year, just not worrying about the media, not worrying about what people say, and just kinda getting better throughout the year”, senior forward Kyle Wiltjer said.
Kyle Wiltjer had 23 points for No. 11 Gonzaga (28-8), and Sabonis finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds.
Sabonis dominated in the low post as Gonzaga fought to preserve a second-half lead. Junior Peter Jok has blossomed into a star, averaging 16.1 points a game while showing he can be a player can build around in 2016-17.
“From where we were in December, even February, to where we are now, from the media saying the guards weren’t good enough, we weren’t producing, to where we are now, I’m just extremely proud of our guys”. “We just have to try to push him off the block as much as possible, and if he does get in the paint, we have to send some help in”. “To his credit, he hunkered down and started delivering inside in that second half and found some success”. Let’s examine the road ahead to see if they can make history. Few, whose Gonzaga Bulldogs play the Orange on Friday night, told of the many phone calls he gets from Boeheim after games, offering his assessment. Syracuse gained an at large bid and made the most of it, while Gonzaga won their conference tournament to cement a tourney birth. They also own best shooting percentage, 50 percent, among teams in the field. Michael Gbinije scored 23 points in 10 of 14 field goal to lead Syracuse. “So, I think our league now, after this year, has really spoken loudly of who is the conference, and we’ll go in next year with the same momentum”. We’re going with the former. It needed to bewilder the opposition Friday night for Syracuse to reach its first Elite Eight since 2013.
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The No. 10 seed Orange outrebounded both Dayton and Middle Tennessee State en route to wins, thanks in part to Tyler Roberson (13.5 rebounds per game in tournament).
