Syracuse proved it was meant to be here
OMAHA, Neb. — March has been a maddening month, when a Loyola Chicago and a Kansas State and a Florida State can reach the Elite Eight, when a 16th-seeded UMBC can come in like a lion and upset a No. 1 Virginia and refuse to go out like a lamb.
And so of course Syracuse, the 11th seed in the Midwest Region, the last one invited to the dance, scoffed at the notion it would merely swoon at Duke’s aura and mystique, that there could be no Sweet 16 magic in the air for them at CenturyLink Center.
The Orange had a plan, you bet they did: That treacherous 2-3 zone that exasperates and strangulates and intimidates opponents, an indefatigable Magnificent Seven that Cal Ripken Jr. might admire while they play virtually every minute, a Hall of Fame coach in Jim Boeheim, maybe even the spirit of Carmelo Anthony.
Hell, the Orange made an improbable Final Four run only two years ago as a 10th seed, right?
They believed, right? Had no fear, right? Weren’t just happy to be here, right? Were playing with house money, right?
Hadn’t No. 1 seed Kansas just survived somewhat of a late scare by Clemson? Hadn’t No. 1 seed Villanova just survived an early scare from West Virginia? This is March, right? When Madness can strike anywhere, anytime, right?
But here? Against No. 2 seed Duke? With those Fab Four freshmen and former serial tripper Grayson Allen?
This was one of those occasions when you might have felt compelled to reference the immortal words of a philosopher named Iron Mike Tyson, who once said:
“Everybody has a plan ’til they get punched in the mouth.”
Except, no matter how hard Duke punched Syracuse in the mouth, Syracuse took it, and punched Duke right back.
So much so that Mike Krzyzewski ripped his jacket off and lost his gum calling for a time out 1:03 into the second half when the Orange, gallant 69-65 losers, scored two easy baskets.
The message was ultimately received.
Allen, his shot clanging (4-of-15, 3-of-14 from Durham) played quarterback and was screaming after a Syracuse backcourt violation and again after he drained a 3. Duke by nine.
The Orange, overcoming 16 turnovers with heart and grit, punched back. Got to within three.
Before Duke, after 39 desperate minutes of a toe-to-toe test of wills in the center of the ring, saw Gary Trent Jr. sink a pair of free throws with 6.3 seconds left. Orange Sadness. “It was a battle,” Allen said, “it was a fight.”
“Right now it hurts,” Frank Howard said. Orange Pride too. “These guys have a tremendous amount of courage,” proud Jim Boeheim said. “Nothing fazes them.”
At the beginning, led by Paschal Chukwu, the Orange almost resembled Phi Slama Jama. Three times in the first seven minutes, the skinny 7-foot-2 Chukwu converted alley-oop passes into thunder dunks. The Orange were chairmen of the boards.
That long-armed Syracuse 2-3 zone caused the Blue Devils to be tentative at times, to try too hard to make the perfect pass. What you see on tape is not what you get when you see it in person. To the Blue Devils, it must have seemed like a Venus fly trap. And Tyus Battle was knocking down shots.
But then the Duke zone forced a shot-clock violation towards the end of the first half and Bagley smiled and clapped his hands. Allen then found Bagley in the middle of the zone for a short jumper, and drained a 3, moving the needle to 34-27 for Duke. The Duke crowd was on its feet chanting “De-fense, De-fense, De-fense.”
So what we have on Sunday night with a Final Four berth in San Antonio on the line is a Clash of the Titans:
Duke-Kansas (trying to get an Elite Eight monkey off its back), with all its recent, and not-so-recent, history.
Duke 72, Kansas 65 in the 1991 title game. The Duke of Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill.
Duke 71, Kansas 67 in the 1986 Final Four. The Duke of Johnny Dawkins and the Kansas of Danny Manning.
Kansas 66, Duke 59 in the 1988 Final Four.
Kansas 69, Duke 65 in the 2003 Sweet 16.
Syracuse will watch from home and wonder what could have been. But will know it belonged after all.
“A great game to win,” Coach K said, “a really difficult game to lose.”