Congratulations Syracuse Orange. You outlasted the Connecticut Huskies through six overtimes, the longest game in Big East Conference history, to win 127 - 117. So what do you earn for this Herculean effort? A date with the Mountaineers of West Virginia roughly 18 hours later.
'Cuse guard Jonny Flynn carried the Orange on his shoulders over the Huskies, scoring 34 points and dishing 11 assists while playing all but three minutes. To compare, West Virginia leading scorer from Thursday played 40 minutes - an entire non-overtime game. Flynn played for 67 minutes, nearly the equivalent of two games.
Syracuse's talent has never been questioned this season, but their will and desire has. Thursday's game alleviated those doubts and have elevated the Orange to the level of championship contender. The team trailed in every overtime period, not taking their first lead of extra time until the final period. Once they got that lead the whole arena knew they weren't going to give it up.
Nevertheless, Syracuse will most likely get destroyed tonight by West Virginia. Even though the Orange are the far better team, there is no way they can come back after a 3 hour 46 minute game to even stay close with a Big East team.
'Cuse really does not even need to win tonight though. They were a lock for the NCAA tournament even before last night's game, and with the way they performed the selection committee has already penciled them in for at least a four seed. The best thing for Syracuse now is rest.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment