Orange Heading to the Final Four

by James Finneral

When the NCAA Tournament field was selected many people thought Syracuse did not deserve to make the tournament. The Orange struggled in the ACC, but it did rack up a solid number of top twenty-five wins. Now Syracuse has made it to the Final Four and proved all of the naysayers wrong. Here is how the Orange have made it this far and a look into its matchup against North Carolina.

In the early rounds of the tournament Syracuse was in lockdown mode on defense. The Orange held Dayton to 51 points and Middle Tennessee to 50 points. The Orange held both of those teams to under 33% from the field. The length of Syracuse's 2-3 zone seemed to bother both Dayton and Middle Tennessee. Michael Gbinije, Malachi Richardson and Trevor Cooney all were solid producers on the offensive end. In these games the world saw a more poised Syracuse team. Ever since the tournament began they seemed to be playing with much more intensity. After two dominant wins in the tournament Syracuse still had its doubters, but they played even harder in the next two games.

Gonzaga was a true test for the Orange. Domantas Sabonis and Kyle Wiltjer both proved to be problems for the Orange defense. Sabonis was getting anything he wanted down low and Wiltjer was shooting well from three-point land. Despite not being able to stop Sabonis or Wiltjer, Syracuse was within striking distance towards the end of the game. Syracuse went on a 9-1 run to end the game and defeat Gonzaga 63-60. Michael Gbinije stepped up like a true senior leader and made big play after big play on the offensive end. Trevor Cooney may have been the true savior for Syracuse in this game, coming up with many big steals down the stretch. This big victory set up a terrific Elite 8 showdown with Virginia. Virginia had already defeated Syracuse earlier in the year and earned a number one seeding. The Cavaliers create many matchup problems for the Orange and they were the heavy favorites in this game. It looked all, but over for the Orange by the end of the first half as they went to the locker room down 16 points. Freshman, Malachi Richardson lead the humongous comeback for Syracuse in the second half, scoring 21 of his 23 points. Virginia could just not find an answer for Richardson, who was firing on all cylinders. Once again Syracuse was able to make all the right plays down the stretch and send Virginia packing by a score of 68-62.

 The next task for the Orange is defeating the only number one seed left in the tournament, North Carolina. North Carolina has defeated Syracuse twice already this year, but Syracuse only lost by five when they were playing in Chapel Hill. This North Carolina is loaded with talent. Starting off with two senior stars, Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige. Johnson is one of the most athletic players in the country who can score in the post and shoot from mid-range. Paige has an excellent basketball IQ and he is shooting the ball well in this tournament. Kenedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks and Justin Jackson are all tall and long guys who could cause trouble for the Orange. Joel Berry is also an excellent guard who the top of the 2-3 zone must contain. The real mismatch that North Carolina has on Syracuse is down low. North Carolina is a very big and strong team and Syracuse does not have very many strong post players. Syracuse will need Tyler Lydon and Tyler Roberson in for most of the game. The guards for Syracuse must rebound as well or else North Carolina will get many easy baskets off offensive rebounds. It seems improbable that Syracuse will win this game, but it also seemed improbable that the Orange would beat Virginia and go to the Final Four. Syracuse has proved people wrong time and time again in this tournament and if they play their best game they might just make it to the national championship game.