ATLANTA — For a conference that was said to be down this season, that was laughed at after the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament, the Big East almost threw itself a going away party in the Final Four.
After Louisville staged a stunning comeback to pull out a gritty win over Wichita State in the first national semifinal game Syracuse almost followed the same script against Michigan, coming up short, 61-56.
Trailing by 11 at halftime and eight late in the game, the Orange drew to within 57-56 on a James Southerland 3 with 28.1 seconds left. They had a chance to take their first lead of the second half after Michigan missed five straight free throws.
Senior Brandon Triche attacked the basket hard trying to muscle in a layup. He was called for a charge that could have gone either way. Neither Triche nor coach Jim Boeheim targeted the call as the reason for the defeat.
“I was just trying to make a play for the team,” said Triche. “I probably should have made a better decision. Probably should have pulled up, you know, and pulled up for a jump shot instead of actually taking it all the way down there because I did see him.”
The Orange had one last chance. Michigan’s Jon Horford made 1-of-2 foul shots with 17.9 left. Boeheim used his final timeout with 15.7 to draw up one last play, it was intended to to get Southerland open at the top of the key.
But after C.J. Fair inbounded the ball to Trevor Cooney, Michigan switched its defense forcing the redshirt freshman to fling up an off-balance shot that had no chance. The Wolverines got a runout dunk by Jordan Morgan to seal the win.
After the game Boeheim took issue with a reporter who questioned if he would return. There has been speculation he would retire rather than coach in the ACC, where Syracuse, and eventually Louisville, are both headed.
“I love the Big East, but if the Big East was the same as it was, or even remotely the same, I would quit because I wouldn’t be happy,” he said. “The Big East is not there at all. In fact, there’s more Big East teams in the ACC than there are Big East teams in whatever the conference is, American whatever.”
The Wolverines, the No. 4 seed in the West, will face Louisville (34-5), the No. 1 overall seed. Michigan (31-7) will have to show a lot more poise against the Cards if it wants to have a chance to cut down the nets.
The Orange (30-10), the No. 4 seed in the East, seemed an unlikely Final Four participant late in the season when it lost four of its last five. But the Orange righted itself in the Big East Conference Tournament and carried it over to the NCAA Tournament.
“I just think these guys have had an incredible year,” Boeheim said. “We’ve got some flaws. We’re not a great shooting team. We haven’t been. We’re one of the worst shooting teams in our conference.’
“But we’ve dug in there, hung in there, we’ve battled, played defense all year long, and really worked to try to get better.”
They certainly dug in late. After the Wolverines scored five straight points to open a 53-45 lead with 3:54 left, Bayside’s Southerland threw down a monster dunk, the Orange were back to within 53-49 with 1:58 left.
Triche had a chance with 50 seconds left to get Cuse to within three. He muscled in a layup and was fouled by Burke. But he missed the free throw.
Boeheim, 68, was looking for a second national title which would have put him in exclusive company. He’ll have to wait for next season and he sounded like a coach intending to be on the sidelines.
“The only reason that I would not coach next year is because I didn’t feel I could do a good job or wanted to do it, and I have no feeling at all now that that will be the case,” he said. “Usually right now I would have that feeling. If I don’t have it now, I’m not going to have it in September.”
In September, he’ll be watching film of ACC foes.