Stunning second-half rally sends Syracuse to unlikely Final Four
Two weeks after its inclusion in the bracket was met with outcry and incredulity, Syracuse is continuing to prove its doubters wrong.
The 10th-seeded Orange advanced to their sixth Final Four on Sunday in stunning fashion, rallying from a 16-point second-half deficit to secure a 68-62 upset of top-seeded Virginia.
For the first 32 minutes of the game, Syracuse appeared to have little hope. The Orange trailed by 13 points because they were ice cold from the perimeter and they could not generate any offense at the rim against a Virginia pack-line defense designed to wall off the paint and force opponents into attempting contested jump shots.
Everything changed for Syracuse when Jim Boeheim unleashed the same full-court press that fueled a 9-1 game-ending run for the Orange against Gonzaga two days earlier. All of a sudden, the Virginia team that could not be sped up looked uncomfortable and Syracuse looked energized.
What followed was a 23-4 Syracuse blitz in less than five minutes, an unthinkable run against a team as methodical and dependable as Virginia.
Syracuse freshman Malachi Richardson scored 14 of his 23 points during the surge, including the go-ahead layup. Virginia aided the Orange cause by committing several costly turnovers and failing to convert on a series of fast-break opportunities.
Anthony Gill blew a chance for a transition layup when he shuffled his feet underneath the rim and got called for walking. Darius Thompson sped down court a possession later and got stripped from behind by Michael Gbinije. Less than a minute later, typically dependable point guard London Perrantes tried to hit Malcolm Brogdon with a long inbound pass and instead threw it out of bounds.
Even when Virginia wasn't turning the ball over, the newfound speed of the game threw the nation's slowest-paced team all out of whack. Tony Bennett called timeout twice during the surge but he could not slow Syracuse's momentum.
Virginia had one final chance to tie the game in the final minute, but Devon Hall rushed a 3-point look that missed badly. Once Tyler Lydon grabbed the rebound, it was over. Against all odds, Syracuse had become the fourth double-digit seed to advance to the Final Four, joining 11 seeds VCU (2011), George Mason (2006) and LSU (1986).
That Syracuse is Final Four-bound is remarkable considering most mock brackets didn't even have the Orange in the field after they lost four of five to end the regular season and then bowed out in the opening round of the ACC tournament. Syracuse responded to the criticism by ousting seventh-seeded Dayton and 15th-seeded Middle Tennessee in the opening two rounds, good results but nothing that suggested the Orange had Final Four potential.
The two victories in Chicago were far more impressive, even if the margin was smaller. Gonzaga had played as well as any team in the NCAA tournament field during the first week and Virginia was the favorite to make it out of the region and advance to its first Final Four since 1984.
For a while, it seemed that's what would happen on Sunday. Then Syracuse unleashed its press, Malachi Richardson caught fire and there were the Orange celebrating Boeheim's most unlikely Final Four.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at daggerblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!
