Going Out on Top, Almost

You've heard the testimonials all week, everyone who loves college basketball is saddened by the demise of the Big East. But instead of being sad, I decided to celebrate it. Billy and I made a vow to each other that we would not miss our last chance to see Syracuse play at Madison Square Garden in the Big East Tournament. Everything was going smoothly early in the season, it seemed like a lock that SU would earn a top 4 seed and a double bye, guaranteeing a Thursday game, but the late season slide messed all that up. But still we took our chances and once the seedings were finalized we bought our tickets to Thursday's afternoon session. We got the tickets on Vividseats.com which is just like stubhub, but it is the official secondary market ticket partner of the Big East Tournament. The tickets were $67, not bad considering the face value was $70, but once we paid the fees and shipping (FedEx), they were $87 each.



We had to sweat out a Wednesday victory over Seton Hall, which earned Syracuse a game against Pittsburgh Wednesday at 2pm. Papa Poop arrived at the game on time but Billy and his dad were late while looking for NYC parking. The first game was a blowout by Georgetown of Cincinnati. Very unremarkable game. And then the SU-Pitt game started. Here's the vantage point from our seats:



Not great, very high up, behind the basket, and in the reconfigured Garden there was a section or a suite above and in front of us so we had no view of the scoreboard. But we did have high-definition monitors right in front of us for score checks and replays.



I decided to wear my Kirby Puckett jersey to honor him on what would have been his 53rd birthday. And the late great Puck brought us some luck. SU got our to an early lead thanks to some great shooting by James Southerland (a pattern), but gave it up in the second half (also a pattern), but managed to hold on for a victory.

So I decided to do it again the next night. Master Bates got free tickets so he invited me and Nails and off we went. I left work a little early and parked my car on 38th and 8th at 6:47. The area was restricted parking until 7, so I hung around, check for parking police and took off at 6:52, taking my chances. I got away with it, luckily, and we arrived at our seats just in time for tip. Our seats were much better than the previous day. The Georgetown student section was right behind the basket and we were in the section facing them on the side.



The game followed a similar pattern as the previous day, Syracuse built a big lead thanks to hot shooting by James Southerland (and even more surprisingly, Trevor Cooney) but blew the lead in the second half when Boeheim slowed the offense down and it went stagnant. Some dubious fouls helped Georgetown tie the game and force overtime, but Syracuse held on for the win.

This game was amazing because James Southerland had 13, so did Baye Keita who made 7 of 7 free throws (I was there, and I watched the entire game again on DVR the next day, and I still went to espn.com to check that stat because it was so hard to believe) and Trevor Cooney had 10. Michael Carter-Williams and CJ Fair combined for 9 points on 4 of 23 shooting.

But Fair did throw down this monster jam in the overtime to help seal it.



This win was particularly satisfying because of the obnoxious Georgetown students in front of us. But also because of the sour taste in our mouths after the huge beatdown in the final regular season meeting. This one was a classic, on the biggest stage for the Big East, and it got a large measure of revenge in the rivalry, which is now officially closed.

And I got to wear my "Your Mother's a Hoya" t-shirt one more time.



Now I suppose I have to talked about the Big East Final, a game which I thankfully had the good sense not to attend. SU got off to another hot start and when James Southerland canned a 3 to make it 45-29 with 16 minutes to go, it seemed like SU would certainly blow the lead, but still be able to hold on. What happened next was a total collapse by Syracuse. James Southerland went out with his 4th foul, and the Orange went about 10 minutes without a field goal. Louisville went on a 44-10 run in that span, turning blowout loss into blowout win in record time.

A few reasons I'm not that upset about the loss:
1) The tangible stakes were very low. SU was only playing for seeding. It got a 4, which is what the team deserved, and may not have gotten a 3 even with a win, though probably would have.
2) It had been a good run. I feel the team rebounded from it's late season slide, found its offense again and has renewed confidence going into the tournament that really matters, even though they got blown out in the second half.
3) Better to get an epic collapse out of the way, and hopefully learn something from it. Like take Southerland out when he had 2 fouls late in the second, and continue to be aggressive on offense even with a lead (more from the previous two games than the one against Louisville.)

Two reasons I am upset about the loss:
1) It would have been nice to have the final Big East Tournament title. It would have been very memorable.
2) James Southerland didn't win Most Outstanding Player. He averaged 15.5 points and 5.5 rebounds but more importantly, he made 19 out of 33 3s. Taking nothing away from Peyton Siva, who had a fine tournament and had been in a good player in his 7 years at Louisville, but it is called the Most "Outstanding" Player. Not valuable, not best on winning time, outstanding. Will anyone remember what Siva did in this tournament? No. Are people going to remember the shooting clinic Southerland put on? Yes! 57% from behind the line, on 8 attempts per game. That will stand out in people's minds. Stand out, outstanding, get it?