WASHINGTON - Jim Boeheim calls this year’s Syracuse team his best defensive group ever. Hard to argue, based on the performances that put the Orange in the Final Four.
Using its trapping, shot-challenging 2-3 zone, No. 4-seeded Syracuse shut down No. 3 Marquette 55-39 in the East Region final Saturday to earn Boeheim his first trip to the national semifinals since a freshman named Carmelo Anthony helped win the 2003 NCAA title.
“It’s a great thing,” Boeheim joked afterward. “We go once every 10 years.”
Syracuse (30-9) was led by senior forward James Southerland’s 16 points. Michael Carter-Williams, a 6-6 guard, was named the regional’s top player after having 12 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists.
Marquette (26-9) hadn’t scored fewer than 47 points all season - and had 74 in a victory over Syracuse on Feb. 25. But this time, Marquette kept turning the ball over, seeing its shots blocked or just plain missing.
It was much like what happened Thursday in the regional semifinals, when Syracuse knocked off top-seeded Indiana by limiting it to a season-low output, too.
“I don’t think we’ve played as good defensively as these last two games,” senior guard Brandon Triche said. “We held some good teams down.”
All told, Marquette made only 12 of 53 shots - 23 percent - and was 3 for 24 on three-pointers. Vander Blue, who carried Marquette to the round of eight, was held to 14 points on 3-for-15 shooting. Its 39 points were a record low for a team in a regional final since the shot clock was introduced in 1986.
In the national semifinals at Atlanta next week, Syracuse will face the winner of today’s South Regional final between Florida and Michigan.
Last season, Syracuse fell a victory short of the Final Four, losing to Ohio State in the round of eight.
“We wanted to get over the hump,” Southerland said. “That’s what I told the guys: We’ve still got two more to go.”
The Big East is transforming radically before next season. Syracuse is heading to the Atlantic Coast Conference, while Marquette is one of seven basketball-centric schools departing the conference to form a new league that is taking the Big East name with it.
It’s making the most of its last hurrah.
Not only is Syracuse on its way to the Final Four, but the league also could have a second representative because Louisville is in the Midwest Regional final today against Duke.
In this very same building, exactly three weeks ago, Syracuse wrapped up its final Big East regular-season schedule with a lopsided loss to Georgetown, scoring 39 points - the Orange’s smallest total in a half-century.
Thanking fans after Saturday’s victory, Boeheim said: “I’m sure some of you were here, three weeks ago today, when it didn’t turn out so good.”
That was Syracuse’s fourth loss in a span of five games, a stumbling way to head into tournament play. Since then, though, Boeheim’s team has won seven of eight games.
“When you bounce back like that, that says a lot about your kids, your team and your character,” Boeheim said. “This is a heck of a bounceback.”
Sports, Pages 30 on 03/31/2013