WASHINGTON — Less than one month ago, Syracuse barely looked worthy of being in the Big East Tournament. Now, the Orange are two wins from conquering college basketball.
Coach Jim Boeheim and company cut down the nets Saturday for the first time since Carmelo Anthony led the charge in 2003, grinding out a 55-39 win in the East Regional Final over Marquette at the Verizon Center to earn a trip to the Final Four in Atlanta. It’s the Orange’s fifth berth in the Final Four and they’ll play the Florida-Michigan winner Saturday.
When Syracuse left the same floor on March 9, suffering its fourth loss in five games after scoring 39 points in a 22-point loss to Georgetown, a recent Big East revival gave the Orange inspiration to make a run.
“We kept on reiterating UConn when they had Kemba Walker,” said Syracuse guard Brandon Triche. “They came into the Big East Tournament stumbling. We kept them in mind and we kept faith. We always believed we could do it. We’re a totally different team. It’s pretty much a 180.”
The game wasn’t pretty, with No. 4 Syracuse (30-9) shooting 38 percent from the field, but the aesthetics of the post-game celebration weren’t any less pleasing to the pro-Orange crowd, especially after last year’s Elite Eight loss to Ohio State.
Playing in the Big East, the No. 3 Golden Eagles (26-9) may have been familiar with Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, but the baskets looked absolutely foreign to them, hitting only 22.6 percent from the field, which included 3-of-25 3-pointers.
In 37 years as head coach at Syracuse, Boeheim said it’s one of the best defenses he’s ever had, having held its four NCAA Tournament opponents to 15.4 percent 3-point shooting.
“We were as active these two games as we’ve ever been,” Boeheim said. “I really can’t say enough about how good these guys played. Just a tremendous defensive effort.”
Marquette only briefly held the lead on a Vander Blue 3-pointer to open the game, but the Golden Eagles’ greatest reason for making their first Elite Eight in 10 years struggled, shooting 3-of-15, while sharing a team-high 14 points with Davante Gardner.
Syracuse sophomore Michael Carter-Williams aggressiveness carried over from his 24-point performance in the upset of top-seeded Indiana, earning Most Outstanding Player of the region after putting up 12 points, eight rebounds, six assists and five steals.
“I think Michael Carter-Williams over the last couple of weeks may be playing the best he’s ever played,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. “And that says a lot because he’s always been really good.”
With President Barack Obama watching from a luxury box, Queens native James Southerland’s three 3-pointers, helped the Orange extend their first-half lead to 12, finishing with a game-high 16 points.
With the comfortable lead, Boeheim stood quietly on the sidelines, looking like he was waiting to hear his name called to see a doctor. On the other end of the scorer’s table, Williams paced and screamed like an emergency room wouldn’t have provided urgent enough care.
The passion paid off, embodied by Gardner, who owned Syracuse in Marquette’s regular season win. The big man was yelling and pounding his chest, opening 4-of-5 from the field to close the deficit to 21-18, but a Southerland 3-pointer gave Syracuse a 24-18 halftime lead.
Less than two minutes into the second half, Blue cut the lead to four on a 3-point play, but the Golden Eagles wouldn’t get any closer, succumbing to Syracuse’s pressure, which resulted in a 19-0 differential in points off turnovers and Marquette’s missing 21-of-24 second-half shots.
“They beat us from start to finish,” Williams said. “We were prepared. You don’t shoot 53 shots and make 12 and say, ‘Well, we just didn’t make shots, or we weren’t feeling good.’ No, they beat us. I think we tried everything that we knew to try.”
howard.kussoy@nypost.com