This time, Goliath really beat David.
The sixth-seeded Syracuse Orangemen from the big bad Big East, thumped pesky Ivy League Champion Princeton Tigers 51-43 in an East regional first-round game Friday.
Up next for Syracuse is local favorite Massachusetts on Sunday.
The victory eased Orangemen memories of last year`s first-round upset loss to Richmond. It also continued their postseason surge, which netted them their third Big East tourney crown last Sunday.
”The pressure was there coming here on the bus, and we accomplished what we had to do,” said Michael Edwards, who came off the bench in the first half and scored the Orangemen`s last five points to break a 23-23 tie and provide them with a 28-23 halftime lead.
Princeton (22-6) had eased into its fourth consecutive big show carrying the reputation as the team to be avoided in the first round at all costs.
”When we heard we were going to play them I turned to Michael Edwards and said, `Oh man,` ” said freshman Lawrence Moten.
Princeton might have said the same thing about Moten. He carried Syracuse (22-9) with 14 consecutive second-half points and finished with a game-high 23.
In the last three years, the Tigers and their meticulous, patient passing offense and stingy defense, as coached by venerable Pete Carril, had lost by a total of seven points to powerhouses Georgetown, Arkansas and Villanova.
But this time Princeton couldn`t finish off the weaving passing patterns with buckets as they missed their first eight shots in the second half. In fact the Tigers made just seven of 31 from the floor in the final 20 minutes. They shot 31 percent for the game.
”This is real disappointing,” said the Tigers senior guard Sean Jackson, ”This was definitely a winnable game.”
Jackson topped the team with 13 points but had only three in the last half.
Moten had set a Big East freshman scoring record with 332 points, and he lit up the Centrum scoreboard with an assortment of drives and jumpers.
”He can hurt you from the outside and then he just goes and slithers inside,” said Jackson. ”You got to respect both, and he is tough to guard.” With Syracuse up 33-26 with 14:11 to play, Moten scored his team`s next 14 points, and when his show was over it was 47-34 and just 4:25 was left.
”I was just going with the flow,” said Moten. ”The shots were there, and I felt real comfortable. I didn`t rush them, and I took good shots.” `
And so, down went David.
Iowa State 76, North Carolina-Charlotte 74-Iowa State lost six of its previous eight games, but it`s still alive after nearly blowing a nine-point lead in the final two minutes. The 10th-seeded Cyclones (21-12), led by 17 points from Fred Hoiberg, fought off a late rally by seventh-seeded N.C.-Charlotte for an opening-round win.
Massachusetts 85, Fordham 58-The best season in Massachusetts history got better as the 17th-ranked Minutemen (29-4) used a balanced attack to rout Fordham.
Massachusetts had five scorers in double figures-Louis Roe with 19, Will Herndon with 13, Harper Williams and Anton Brown with 11 each and Tony Barbee with 10.
Fordham (18-13) was led by Fred Herzog with 16 points.
