#11 Orangemen Meet Huskies In BIG EAST Semifinals
3/14/2003 2:50:10 PM | Men's Basketball
Syracuse earned its 13th second-half, come-from-behind win against the Hoyas on Thursday. USBWA Freshman of the Year Carmelo Anthony (www.suathletics.com/carmelo) led the Orange with 21 points, while senior Kueth Duany scored 16 and sophomore Hakim Warrick netted 14. Sophomore Craig Forth finished with a season-high eight rebounds.
Connecticut won its quarterfinal match against Seton Hall, 83-70. Emeka Okafor scored 11 points, grabbed 18 rebounds and blocked four shots to lead the Huskies to victory. Ben Gordon netted a game-high 25 points and chipped in five assists. Tony Robertson and Mike Hayes scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, off the bench. As a team, Connecticut shot 46.7 percent (7-for-15) from three-point range, including 4-for-5 by Gordon.
The Orangemen hold the edge over UConn, 43-26, in the overall series. In the BIG EAST Tournament, however, Connecticut has a 4-3 series advantage. The Huskies, who are the defending conference tournament champions, last faced Syracuse in a 2001 first-round game, an 86-75 Orange triumph. SU is making its first BIG EAST semifinal appearance since 2001 when it lost in overtime to Pittsburgh, 55-54. Syracuse is 11-5 all-time in conference semifinal games.
SU and the Huskies square off at 7:00 p.m. at Madison Square Garden. Fans can listen to the game in the Syracuse area on the SU Radio Network, 1260 AM. Voice of the Orange Mark Johnson will handle the play-by-play duties, while Matt Park will provide color commentary. Live stats will be available on the BIG EAST website, www.bigeast.org, provided by Internet Consulting Services of Syracuse. The game will also be televised on ESPN with Dan Shulman and Len Elmore calling the plays.
