The East Regional final saw the last Big East team remaining advance to the Final Four behind the will and smarts of the head coach and gritty point guard.
The 2010 NCAA East Regional semifinals took place in the Carrier Dome Thursday night, schools from border state Kentucky and West Virginia advancing to Saturday’s final.
Turnovers, defensive woes and a worrying injury troubled the one-seeded Syracuse Orange as they fell to eighth seed Georgetown in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, 91-84.
Syracuse clinches a share of the Big East regular season title with a 95-77 thrashing of Villanova in front of a NCAA record crowd at the Carrier Dome.
Top-ranked Connecticut sidestepped the best punch Syracuse could throw, defeating the Orange 87-66 behind 38 points and a career-high 20 rebounds from Connecticut forward Maya Moore.
Syracuse won 15-9 against the University of Denver and legendary coach Bill Tierney, who debuted with the team after 22 seasons and six national championships at Princeton.
The Orange begin their hunt for a third national championship in a row with two exhibition games against LeMoyne College and Hofstra University Sunday at the Dome.
The high-flying Syracuse men’s basketball team held off Marquette, 76-71, in Big East action Saturday afternoon, giving returning students a taste of success to come.
The Syracuse women’s basketball team opened its season at the Carrier Dome for the first time in program history, using stifling defense to defeat Fairleigh Dickinson, 65-45, Friday night.