The Syracuse Orange spent the last two minutes waiting to exhale before holding onto a 75-72 win over the West Virginia Mountaineers in the second round of the NCAA tournament on Sunday.
Syracuse led 70-59 with two minutes left in the game, but things got tight in the final minutes.
The Mountaineers out-scored Syracuse 9-2 over the next minute and 20 seconds.
Emmitt Matthews put-back an offensive rebound to trim SU’s margin to 72-68 with 40 seconds remaining.
Syracuse had trouble inbounding the ball against West Virginia’s fullcourt press. The Orange used its last timeout with 32 seconds left.
Buddy Boeheim padded the Orange’s lead back to 74-68 with a pair of free throws with 21 seconds left.
But Joe Girard missed the front end of a one-and-one a few seconds later. West Virginia scored with 4.3 seconds left to cut the margin to 74-72.
Once again, Syracuse struggled to get the ball inbounds. Quincy Guerrier had the ball go off a West Virginia player’s foot and out of bounds.
Then Boeheim hit one more free throw with 2.2 seconds left for a 75-72 lead.
Boeheim finished with 25 points. He made six 3-pointers. His performance came two days after scoring 30 points in SU’s first-round win over San Diego State.
The 11-seeded Orange now advances to the Sweet 16 where it will face either Houston or Rutgers.
GAME RECAP LINKS:
- Syracuse 75, West Virginia 72: Jim Boeheim advances to 20th Sweet 16 (NunesMagician.com)
- Survive and advance: Syracuse beats West Virginia, 75-72, to reach Sweet 16 (Syracuse.com)
- 3 takeaways from Syracuse’s win over West Virginia to advance to Sweet 16 (DailyOrange.com)
- Syracuse basketball box score vs. West Virginia in NCAA tournament (Syracuse.com)
GAME HIGHLIGHTS:
MEDIA:
CUSE IS LOOSE AGAIN ?⁰⁰(11) Syracuse UPSETS (3) WVU 75-72 to advance to the Sweet 16! #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/3HcCOfepg6
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2021
? Upset San Diego St
? Upset West Virginia@Cuse_MBB is on to the Sweet 16! pic.twitter.com/JbI5nh85RA— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 21, 2021
? ANOTHER UPSET ?
11-seed Syracuse takes down 3-seed West Virginia! pic.twitter.com/kctidsVtNI
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) March 21, 2021
2️⃣ WINS. @Cuse_MBB & @CuseWBB ARE MOVING ON ? pic.twitter.com/Ue9lTpczsL
— Syracuse Athletics (@Cuse) March 21, 2021
Syracuse is the 2nd program to reach the Sweet 16 3 or more times as a double digit seed, joining Gonzaga, which has done it 4 times.
Jim Boeheim is the 3rd coach to reach 3 Sweet 16s as a double digit seed, joining Mark Few and Tom Penders (3 each). pic.twitter.com/5mkucMjpOd
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) March 21, 2021
The 11th-seeded Orange are back to the Sweet 16 for the third time in the last five NCAA tourneys. Jim Boeheim just clinched his 20th Sweet 16. Nearly half of his coaching seasons (45) have resulted in at least a S16 appearance. Never a losing season. Remarkable consistency.
— Matthew Gutierrez (@MatthewGut21) March 21, 2021
SWEET SIXTEEN BABY ??????
— Quincy Guerrier “Candyman” ? (@quincyguerrier) March 22, 2021
Sweet 16‼️ so proud of these guys, no better feeling than wearing this jersey. ❤️???
— Buddy Boeheim (@Buddy_Boeheim35) March 22, 2021
Closed it out ?
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 21, 2021
We’re not going anywhere‼️#MarchMadness #Sweet16 ? pic.twitter.com/TX8Z8yyO9z
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 21, 2021
Syracuse’s zone in March pic.twitter.com/JDsQGFEe5y
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) March 21, 2021
SYRACUSE IS GOING TO THE SWEET 16
UNBELIEVABLE HAHAHAHAHAH
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) March 21, 2021
Is that SWEET tea? ? pic.twitter.com/xkrKQYGLFy
— Sal Capaccio ? (@SalSports) March 21, 2021
Sweet ?
— Jeremy White (@JeremyWGR) March 21, 2021
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) March 21, 2021
— Heather Prusak (@haprusak) March 21, 2021
jIm BoEhEiM iS WaShEd AnD nEeDs To ReTiRe ???
— Ted Goldberg (@TedGoldbergTV) March 21, 2021
See you in the Sweet 16!! ???? pic.twitter.com/fjbn2oYGqO
— Lauren Hall (@LaurenHall) March 21, 2021
Buddy Boeheim at the post-game podium:
"I can't even describe it, it's something I wanted my whole life"@CNYCentral pic.twitter.com/Zqx21ETqtt
— Niko Tamurian (@NikoTamurian) March 21, 2021
Update !!?? x 2.
Great win @Cuse_MBB AND @CuseWBB
What a day!!!!— MikeTirico (@miketirico) March 21, 2021
.@Cuse_MBB @CuseWBB
?
winning in March pic.twitter.com/z0ZGc0JFhj— ACC Network (@accnetwork) March 21, 2021
Like we said… It’s ‘Cuse in March ?♂️ pic.twitter.com/0RAdii4fGC
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 21, 2021
You can breathe now, #OrangeNation
We’re still dancing! ?? pic.twitter.com/ezmgUR5auL
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 22, 2021
GAME PREVIEW:
The Orange look to advance to the Sweet Sixteen on Sunday when it faces third-seeded West Virginia in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. Tip off from Bankers Life Fieldhouse is scheduled for 5:15 p.m.
The 11th-seeded Orange scored a first-round victory against San Diego State on Friday evening behind 30 points from Buddy Boeheim. The Fayetteville, N.Y. native’s scoring total was the most in a tournament game by a Syracuse player since 2010, when Wes Johnson tallied 31 points in a second-round triumph against Gonzaga.
In its first-round contest on Friday, West Virginia claimed an 84-67 victory against Morehead State behind 30 points from sophomore guard Deuce McBride. The Mountaineers enter the contest ranked 13th in the nation with a 19-9 overall record.
Syracuse is 34-16 in the all-time series against West Virginia and has won the last five contests against the Mountaineers. The teams were formerly conference mates in the BIG EAST from 1995-2012 and met twice at Madison Square Garden in the BIG EAST Tournament, with the Orange claiming victory in both contests.
The game will mark the second time in NCAA Tournament history where the two participating coaches will each have 900 career victories. The first instance came in 2018, when Jim Boeheim and Syracuse faced off against Mike Krzyzewski’s Duke in the Sweet Sixteen.
Across six Syracuse-West Virginia games in which Boeheim and Huggins manned the sidelines, the Orange hold a 5-1 advantage.
GAME PREVIEW LINKS:
- ORANGE MEET MOUNTAINEERS IN NCAA SECOND ROUND (Cuse.com)
- Opponent preview: Everything you need to know about No. 3 West Virginia (DailyOrange.com)
- A brief history of the Syracuse vs. West Virginia rivalry before their NCAA Tournament matchup (NunesMagician.com)
- A look at the history between Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins (DailyOrange.com)
- Syracuse basketball vs. West Virginia (3/21/2021): 2021 NCAA Tournament Round 2 live stream, TV channel (Syracuse.com)
- Beat writers unanimously predict Syracuse to defeat No. 3 WVU, advance to Sweet 16 (DailyOrange.com)
MEDIA:
???? ?? ???? ?⚒#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/FSvlQsOiXQ
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 20, 2021
Kyle leads sports coverage and hosts the Concrete Jungle podcast. Have a lead or question? Send it to [email protected].