With Houston and Indianapolis only a few days away, the Syracuse community had a chance to cheer on their teams.
Syracuse marked a historic season for their men’s and women’s basketball teams by holding a pep rally at Manley Field House on Wednesday afternoon.
The event helped celebrate both teams advancing to the Final Four for the first time in school history, and just the 13th time in NCAA history a school has pulled off the feat.
Syracuse fans young and old packed the bleachers in Manley to see the teams off. Both Jim Boeheim and Quentin Hillsman joined their players onstage to show their appreciation.
The first round of the NCAA Tournament was even through one half, and they turned it around without great performances from Graduate Forward Michael Gbinije or Redshirt Senior Guard Trevor Cooney. Here's what you can take away from the game:
1. Halftime Blitz
The Orange were shooting even with the Dayton Flyers heading into halftime, but production grew mightily in the second half. Syracuse outscored Dayton 25-5 through the first 13 minutes, turning a two-point lead into 22.
Syracuse kept its cool down the stretch in a back-and-forth 60-56 win over the Sun Devils in Dayton, Ohio.
DAYTON, Ohio — 'Cardiac Cuse' was the case Wednesday night as Syracuse beat Arizona State 60-56 in the NCAA First Four.
With both schools facing media and fan scrutiny as to whether they deserved a shot at the NCAA tournament, Syracuse held off the Sun Devils with six free throws in the final minute to earn an 11th-seed slot against 6th-seed Texas Christian on Friday.
From the opening tip, both squads wanted to jump out to a quick start and avoid early mistakes.
Nine Orange players score as SU defeats Yale in first round of NCAA tournament.
Despite winning only four of 22 faceoffs, Syracuse beat Yale 11-10 in the NCAA First Round on Sunday.
After SU's Ben Williams won the opening faceoff, he lost the next six and was subsequently pulled for Dan Varello during the second quarter. Both Williams and Varello would be used on faceoffs for the remainder of the game.
After finishing season 18-14, Orange does not receive at-large bid
Despite a whole lot of nail-biting and praying, the Syracuse men’s basketball team failed to make it into the NCAA Tournament on Sunday after spending most of the year on the bubble. Syracuse at times looked like an NCAA Tournament team, but failed to convince the selection committee that they were worthy of a bid.
Hurricanes top SU, 62-57, despite 22 points from White, at the Barclays Center.
In what some considered a must-win for the Syracuse men’s basketball team (18-14), Miami (21-10) seemingly locked up its spot in the NCAA Tournament with a 62-57 victory. Contrary, Syracuse loses once again in the ACC Tournament (0-3) and more importantly jeopardizes its tournament hopes come Sunday.
SU women’s basketball team takes down No. 7 Tennessee, 89-67
Syracuse used a similar formula to beat Tennessee as it used to beat South Carolina on Friday. After a back and forth first quarter, SU went on a 13-0 run in the second quarter to go up 33-26 and never looked back from there. ‘Cuse entered the half up by 6, 41-35.
SU continues its impressive tournament run and moves on to the Elite Eight for the first time in program history
Last year the South Carolina Gamecocks knocked the Orange out of the tournament and ended its season. On Friday Syracuse avenged its loss from last year, beating top-seeded South Carolina 80-72.
For the first time in program history Syracuse is going to the Sweet 16.
The Orange looked comfortable in the Carrier Dome once again on Sunday. SU took advantage of the home crowd (third largest in school history) and wore down the Great Danes. Syracuse went down early in the game but quickly woke up and wrestled the lead back from Albany. The Orange entered halftime up 40-33 and never looked back.
Will play Princeton Sunday at 2 p.m. at Coyne Field.
The Orange were certainly tested down the stretch by a relentless UMASS squad. However, in the end, they held off the Minutewomen to win 4-2 and advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.