Orange stun with Final Four berth
No. 10 Syracuse rallies from 16-point second-half deficit; UNC dispatches Notre Dame
Malachi Richardson and Syracuse scrapped and fought their way from the bubble to the Final Four.
Richardson scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half as Syracuse extended its improbable run with a 68-62 victory over top-seeded Virginia on Sunday in Chicago.
The Orange were among the last teams to get into the NCAA Tournament after a rough closing stretch, but slipped in as a 10 seed before storming to its first Final Four since 2013 and sixth overall. It comes at the end of a challenging season for coach Jim Boeheim, who was suspended for nine games as the result of an NCAA investigation.
“It was a whole team effort and these guys really deserve it,” Boeheim said. “We beat a great basketball team. I’ve never been prouder in all my 40 years as coach of a basketball team as I am of this team tonight.”
Syracuse (23-13), which trailed by16 at the start of the second half, becomes the first 10 seed to make it to the Final Four and just the fourth double-digit seed to accomplish the feat. It’s the lowest seeded team to reach the national semifinals since VCU in 2011, according to STATS.
Michael Gbinije and freshman Tyler Lydon each scored 11 points for the Orange, who will face North Carolina on Saturday in Houston.
Tyler Roberson finished with 10 points and eight rebounds. “We worked so hard,” Gbinije said. London Perrantes scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half for Virginia (29-8), which blew a 16-point lead in the second half. Malcolm Brogdon, the ACC player of the year, had 12 points on 2-of-14 shooting in the final game of his Cavaliers career.
Syracuse trailed 54-39 before it ripped off 25 of the next 29 points, including 15 in a row. And Richardson led the way, often taking the ball right at Brogdon.
Richardson’s driving layup made it 59-58 Orange with 5:47 remaining for their first lead since early in the first half. After Perrantes missed a long three, Richardson connected from deep and smiled as he ran up the court while making circles around his eyes with his hands.
“I started slow, I had a couple of bad turnovers and coach got on me at halftime,” Richardson said.
“I knew I had to pick it up for my teammates.” The confident freshman, who scored 21 points in Syracuse’s firstround win against Dayton, added an- other layup for his seventh straight point before Anthony Gill stopped Virginia’s drought with a basket.
The Cavaliers had a chance to tie in the final seconds after Gbinije went 1-for-2 at the line. But Devon Hall missed a three-point attempt and Lydon and DaJuan Coleman combined for three free throws to close it out for the Orange.
Syracuse also trailed in the regional semifinal against Gonzaga, erasing a nine-point deficit in the final 61⁄
2 minutes. NORTH CAROLINA 88, NOTRE DAME 74: Brice Johnson had 25 points and12 rebounds to lead North Carolina to a victory over Notre Dame on Sunday night, leaving the Tar Heels as the only No. 1 seed in the Final Four.
The Tar Heels reached the Final Four for a record 19th time and the first since 2009, the last time the won the national title.