BUFFALO — Good thing Syracuse is not obliged to put the Madness in March — at least not yet.
If you tuned in for any intrigue, if you wondered if Syracuse would have any lingering after-effects of a sluggish stretch run, sorry, there was nothing to see at First Niagara Center. If you longed for a sea of orange in the stands and a flurry of Orange storming the court, you came to the right place. Leave the close calls and the upset possibilities to other sites as Syracuse as the No. 3 seed in the South Regional looked the part Thursday with a thorough and complete 77-53 rout of 14th-seeded Western Michigan.
“We felt going into the game we had a shot,’’ Broncos coach Steve Hawkins said. “We knew it was a long shot.’’
Make it a no-shot.
This game was never close, never competitive and rarely interesting to anyone other than those dressed in orange — and there were many of them in the building, a two-hour trip west from Syracuse. Western Michigan never led and was almost immediately far behind. It was 17-4 after 12 minutes, as the jittery Broncos turned the ball over nine times. By halftime, sophomore sharpshooter Trevor Cooney had 12 of his 18 points and freshman point guard Tyler Ennis had 11 of his 16. It might as well have been one of those early-season November snoozers in the Carrier Dome, with Syracuse scheduling some patsy to work over.
“It’s good to have fans,’’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “But they don’t score. We’ve lost close to home in the past and we’ve won games 3,000 miles away in the past.’’
Figure the Orange (28-5) will have a tougher time with 11th-seeded Dayton, an upset winner over Ohio State in the opener, because they could not have an easier time unless Dayton does not bother to show up.
Was this the tonic needed to cure what ailed Syracuse in its 2-5 closing skid after the spectacular 25-0 run-out to this season?
“I thought our defense was really good from the beginning and we made some shots,’’ Boeheim said. “That always makes it a little bit easier when the ball goes in the basket.’’
That has been the sticking point for the Orange, who at times have great difficulty maintaining their offensive flow. This was not one of those times. It was the first NCAA Tournament game for Ennis and he looked as if he was playing some pickup in the park as he glided for 16 points (on 7-of-11 shooting), six assists, two steals and only one turnover in 36 minutes.
“I thought he was good,’’ Boeheim said. “He’s always pretty solid. He’s been very steady all year.’’
C.J. Fair (14 points) nearly made half his shots, but the real key was Cooney. He missed his first 3-point try and then got cooking, shedding his late season shooting skid by connecting on 4-of-8 from beyond the arch. If Cooney can maintain that touch the Orange are going to be hard to stop, as they have so many athletes in the lane.
“I mean, my confidence was never down,’’ Cooney said. “I had some games where the ball didn’t go down for me. I made a lot of threes this year and I know I can make threes. It was just about coming out and doing it.’’
Western Michigan, the champs of the MAC, were smaller, less athletic, unable to get inside the Syracuse zone and unable to shoot over it. Not a healthy combination.
“Well, we ran into a buzz-saw,’’ Hawkins said. “I think they spent the majority of the season ranked number one in the nation and they looked like it today.’’