NEW ORLEANS (AP) - The Syracuse Orangemen were playground players early, a bundle of nerves late. They juked, jammed and barely held on for a victory that gave coach Jim Boeheim his long-awaited championship.
Forward Carmelo Anthony and guard Gerry McNamara — both freshmen — did the scoring, and forward Hakim Warrick came up with a huge block at the end last night to lift the Orange to a thrilling 81-78 victory against Kansas.
"We played the best first half we could play, and then we just hung on," Boeheim said.
Warrick, who missed two free throws that would have sealed the game with 13.5 seconds left, made up for it, coming from nowhere to swat a three-point attempt by guard Michael Lee that would have tied it.
Kansas guard Kirk Hinrich, cold all night, shot an air ball at the buzzer, and the Orangemen (30-5) ran to the floor to celebrate their first-ever title. Boeheim threw his arms in the air and ran to shake hands with Kansas coach Roy Williams, who was deprived once again of the championship.
McNamara hit six three-pointers in the first half to finish with 18 points. Anthony, fighting off a bad back, finished with 20 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.
"We never talked about him being the best freshman in the country," Boeheim said. "We talked about him being the best player in the country. I think in this tournament he proved it."
He made Boeheim the winner in the marquee coaching match-up of brilliant tacticians who had never won it all.
Sixteen years ago, Syracuse lost by one to Indiana on guard Keith Smart's game-winner with four seconds left on the same Superdome floor. Boeheim said he wanted to get the last four seconds right this time, and he did — just barely.
"I think this building kind of owed us one," he said.
In the first half, it did not look as if he'd have to sweat it.
The Orangemen built their lead to 18 during a breakneck first 20 minutes. But things ground to a halt in the second, and it was Boeheim's famous 2-3 zone that closed out the game.
When it was over, 12-for-30 free-throw shooting killed the Jayhawks (30-8). They also never really found their outside touch; Hinrich shot 6-for-20, including 3-for-12 from three-point range. He missed twice with a chance to tie in the closing seconds.
"We just came into the tournament and proved everybody wrong," Orangemen guard Josh Pace said. "We have the best player in the country."
Even with Anthony struggling down the stretch, Kansas could not play catch up well enough to tie or take the lead. A great chance came with 14:00 left when, trailing 61-58, the Jayhawks picked off a bad pass and started rushing downcourt. But Kansas turned it right back over, and Anthony made a three-pointer to keep the Orange ahead.
Syracuse stretched it to 12 with 7:30 minutes left, and Kansas could never overcome that.
17 Archives
Eddie Pells
200304083057midsize.jpg
Syracuse' players react after winning the championship game 81-78 against Kansas at the Final Four last night in New Orleans.
