Orange And Sooners Duke It Out In Sweet 16 Matchup
A rematch from the 2003 NCAA Tournament when Syracuse made its way to the national title, the Orange roll out against the Oklahoma Sooners in the South Regional Semifinals of the 71st Annual NCAA Tournament tonight at FedExForum in Memphis.
In addition to this being yet another chance for the third-seeded Orange to make their way beyond the Sweet 16, the team could also set up head coach Jim Boeheim with a rather sizeable milestone victory tonight, the 800th of his career. Wins over Stephen F. Austin (59-44) and Arizona State (78-67) in the first two rounds of this event last week took the legendary coach to 799 wins, all of which have come with Syracuse during his 33-year tenure. Boeheim, who has guided his charges to at least 20 wins in a season a Division I-record 31 times, is currently eighth all-time in wins by a D-I coach and is tied for seventh for NCAA Tournament wins with 42.
As for the second-seeded Sooners, they've bounced back nicely following their three Big 12 Conference losses in four games down the stretch. Since suffering a narrow 71-70 setback to Oklahoma State in the conference tournament, head coach Jeff Capel has his squad looking more than capable. Wins over Morgan State (82-54) and Michigan (73-63) in the first two rounds of the tourney means the Sooners are now 35-25 in the event all-time.
In terms of the all-time series between the programs, Syracuse owns a narrow 2-1 mark and last met up with the Sooners during its 2003 NCAA Tournament title run, with that particular contest going to the Orange in a 63-47 final in the East Regional final in Albany, New York. Prior to that, Wayman Tisdale guided OU to a 98-91 victory in 1983-84, while the very first encounter was in 1948-49 and resulted in a 55-49 triumph for the Orange at home.
The winner of this meeting will be back in action on Sunday in the regional final versus the survivor of the Gonzaga/North Carolina bout, with the winner of that clash advancing to the Final Four.
The Orange shot an impressive 64.3 percent from the field in the first half and 55.3 percent for the game versus Arizona State as they moved on to the Sweet 16 for the 18th time in program history. Converting 5-of-11 shots behind the three-point line, Eric Devendorf tallied a team-best 21 points, leading five players in double figures. Andy Rautins accounted for 17 points off the bench, Rick Jackson added 13 points and eight rebounds, followed by Arinze Onuaku and Jonny Flynn with 12 and 11 points, respectively. The team logged the double-digit decision despite Paul Harris taking just a single shot from the floor and coming away with a mere four points. Flynn, the Big East Conference Tournament MVP, leads the Orange not only in scoring with 17.3 ppg, but is also first on the unit with a substantial 248 assists and 54 steals over the course of 37 starts. Devendorf (15.9 ppg) stands as the top three- point threat for Syracuse with his 39.4 percent accuracy, yet there are still moments when his shot selection is something that should be questioned. Harris (12.2 ppg) and Onuaku (10.4 ppg) do their best to handle the painted area for the Orange with 8.1 and 7.3 rpg, respectively, while Jackson (8.3 ppg) accounts for almost six rebounds per game himself and has logged a team-best 59 blocked shots to this point in the campaign.
After being flipped to the hardwood in the Morgan State contest a few days earlier, Blake Griffin showed little sign of slowing down on Saturday night as he registered another gargantuan double-double with 33 points and 17 rebounds in the win over Michigan. Blake Griffin, who added three assists, shot an impressive 14-of-20 from the field and yet the team as a whole finished up the contest at a mere 49 percent from the floor and 31.6 percent behind the three- point line. Also scoring in double figures for the Sooners were Willie Warren and Austin Johnson with 16 and 12 points, respectively. In addition to shooting only 17-of-27 at the free-throw line, the other area of concern for the Sooners might be the lack of support coming off the bench with Cade Davis and his single free throw representing the lone scoring effort from the reserves. Griffin, the Big 12 Player of the Year and a finalist for the Naismith Award, leads the nation in rebounding (14.4 rpg) and has already set the single-season record for both Oklahoma and the Big 12 with a total of 474 boards. One of the nation's top scorers as well with 22.5 ppg, Griffin has logged 14 games with at least 20 points and 15 rebounds in 2008-09, easily shattering the previous league mark of seven in a single campaign.
