Syracuse hands No. 6 Heels first loss
November 20, 2009
NEW YORK (AP)—Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku combined for 13 points inSyracuse’s 22-1 run to open the second half and the Orange went on to a 87-71victory over No. 6 North Carolina on Friday night in the championship game ofthe 2K Sports Classic.
The Orange (4-0) were the only unranked team in the semifinals of thetournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer but they left Madison Square Gardenwith blowout wins over No. 13 California and the Tar Heels (4-1).
North Carolina had a 39-37 halftime lead but that was gone in a hurry asTriche and Onuaku had field goals in the first 40 seconds. By the time the runended 8 minutes into the second half Syracuse had a 59-40 lead.
Tournament MVP Wesley Johnson had 25 points for the Orange, who beatCalifornia 95-73 in the semifinals. Onuaku finished with 15 points and Trichehad 11.
Johnson, a 6-foot-7 junior transfer from Iowa State, was 10 of 17 from thefield, including making half of eight 3-point attempts, and had eight rebounds.
Ed Davis had 16 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Ginyard added 15 pointsfor the Tar Heels, who lost almost all of a 19-point second-half lead beforebeating No. 15 Ohio State 77-73 to reach the title game.
North Carolina missed its first 13 shots of the second half and turned theball over six times as the Orange just didn’t miss. Syracuse started the half bymaking 10 of its first 14 shots and the baskets were coming down low from Onuakuand from the perimeter including a 3 by Johnson that made it 57-40.
The Tar Heels closed to 68-60 on a 3 by David Wear with 7:04 left, butOnuaku had the first and last baskets of a 6-0 run that ended any thoughts of acomeback for the ages.
The first half had the crowd, which was split almost evenly between CarolinaBlue and Syracuse Orange, on a ride of runs that kept Madison Square Garden in aconstant roar more accustomed to late in the season than late November.
Syracuse scored the first eight points of the game and was up 11-2 when AndyRautins hit a 3.
It didn’t take long for North Carolina to get right back in it as the TarHeels scored 11 straight points, including two 3s by Will Graves.
There were four lead changes and four ties the rest of the half, which endedwith the Tar Heels leading 39-37. It wasn’t a perfect half as both teams had 10turnovers.
Ohio State beat California 76-70 in the third-place game.
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