After 27 years, Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim finally has a national championship. The Orangemen got out to a fast start, scoring an NCAA title game record 53 points in the first half and then held on to beat the Kansas Jayhawks 81-78.
Syracuse (30-5) used a tough 2-3 zone defense and six three-pointers by freshman Gerry McNamara to get out to a 53-42 halftime lead. A 10-2 Kansas run at the beginning of the second half cut the Syracuse lead to 55-52 with 17:08 remaining. Syracuse later responded with an 11-2 run of their own, capped off by a Craig Forth dunk, to take a 72-60 lead with 7:32 left. Kansas (30-8) refused to go away and cut the Syracuse lead to 80-78 on a Jeff Graves free throw with 40 seconds remaining.
The Jayhawks had a chance to tie the game after Hakim Warrick missed two free throws with 13.5 seconds left but Warrick came out of nowhere to block Michael Lee’s three-point attempt with 1.5 seconds remaining. Senior Kirk Hinrich got off another three-point attempt at the buzzer that missed the rim.
The win came on the same court, Indiana’s Keith Smart hit a jumper with four seconds remaining 16 years ago to hand Syracuse a 74-73 loss in Boeheim’s first title game. After the game Boeheim commented, “I think this building kind of owed us one.”
It was another bitter defeat for Kansas Head Coach Roy Williams, who stayed without the one victory that would have rounded out an otherwise impeccable resume. Williams, the head coach at Kansas for 15 years, is now 0-2 in national championship games.
Freshman Carmelo Anthony, who played the second half with a sore lower back, scored 20 points, grabbed 10 rebounds, and dished out seven assists to lead Syracuse. His performance earned him the Final Four Most Outstanding Player Award. Anthony is only the third freshman in NCAA history to receive the honor. McNamara scored 18 points, and freshman Billy Edelin added 12 points. Senior Kueth Duany had 11 points to also score in double figures for the Syracuse Orangemen.
The Jayhawks’ downfall came from the free-throw line, where they were only 8-for-30, and behind the three-point arc, where they were 4-for-20. Senior Nick Collison led Kansas with 19 points, and 21 rebounds, and sophomore Keith Langford also added 19 points. Hinrich and Jeff Graves scored 16 points each for the Jayhawks. Graves also grabbed 16 rebounds.
Syracuse and Kansas got to the national championship game by beating Texas and Marquette, respectively, in the semifinals. The Jayhawks used their speed on the fast break and shot 53 percent from the floor to rout Marquette 94-61. It was the fourth most lopsided victory in Final Four history.
Langford scored 23 points, and Collison had 15 rebounds and 12 points to lead Kansas. Hinrich and Aaron Miles added 18 points apiece for the Jayhawks.
Marquette junior Dwayne Wade, in possibly his last college game, scored 19 points to lead the Golden Hurricanes (27-6). Robert Jackson had 15 points and nine rebounds, and Scott Merritt had 11 rebounds and 12 points for Marquette.
In the other semifinal, Anthony poured in a career-high 33 points and had 14 rebounds, and Syracuse’s 2-3 zone was tough enough to lead the Orangemen to a 95-84 victory over Texas. McNamara scored 19 points, and Warrick added 18 points and seven rebounds for Syracuse. Josh Pace had 12 points off the bench for the Orangemen.
Junior Brandon Mouton scored 25 points, and T.J. Ford had 12 points and 13 assists to lead the Longhorns (26-7). Brad Buckman had 14 points, and James Thomas scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Texas.
