Alabama Eliminates SU from the NCAA Tournament, 80-71

Box Score
Postgame Quotes

PHOENIX, Ariz. -- Eighth-seeded Alabama (20-12) ended #20/24 Syracuse's (23-8) bid for a return trip to the Final Four, beating the fifth-seeded Orangemen 80-71 in the Phoenix Region semifinals at the America West Arena on March 25.

Sophomore #Gerry McNamara# led SU with a game-high 24 points on 6-of-14 shooting. McNamara hit 4-of-9 three point attempts in the contest, tying Marius Janulis for third on the Orangemen's career three-point field goals ledger with 190 triples. The performance also put him over the 1,000-point mark for his SU career. McNamara now has 1,001 points in his two seasons. He is the 47th Syracuse performer to notch at least 1,000 career markers. Junior #Hakim Warrick# hit for 21 points against the Crimson Tide, including 15 in the first half. He also grabbed eight rebounds. Freshman #Louie McCroskey# tied his career best with 10 points off the bench and junior #Josh Pace# tallied six points and tied his personal-best with seven assists.

Alabama started the game 4-of-5 from three-point range as it raced out to a 14-6 advantage with 16:19 left in the first half. Kennedy Winston, the Crimson Tide's leading scorer coming into the game, tallied nine points during the stretch all on three-pointers. Warrick scored six of SU's first eight points and also connected on a pair of free throws as the Orange cut the lead to 20-16 at 10:14. After a basket by Pace, Warrick hit a fadaway jumper to tie the game, 20-20, but Earnest Shelton drained consecutive three's to put Alabama ahead, 26-20 at the 8:04 mark. The Orangemen responded with a 9-2 run to grab a 29-28 margin at 5:19. A three by Alabama's Antoine Pettway gave the Crimson Tide a 38-33 edge, but McCroskey knocked down a triple of his own cut the lead to two, 38-36 at the half.

The Crimson Tide opened up the second frame with a three by Shelton and took a six-point margin, 45-39, on two free throws by Chuck Davis with 16:23 remaining in the contest. Davis scored the next four points for Alabama to increase its advantage to 10 at 13:41. After a three-point play by McCroskey, back-to-back field goals by the Crimson Tide's Evan Brock and Davis gave Alabama a 53-42 lead at the 12:20 mark. With the score 53-44, McNamara hit for eight straight points, including consectutive treys to trim the Tide's lead to 55-52, and Warrick tied the game with a conventional three-point play at 8:45. After trading baskets Alabama went on an 8-0 run to open up a 65-57 lead with 6:12 left to play. Two free-throws by Winiston increased the Tide's advantage to 10, 72-62 with 3:29 remaining and Shelton connected on two shots from the charity stripe to extend the lead to 78-64 with 1:35 left on the clock. Syracuse pulled within nine points on a dunk by Warrick with a little over a minute left, but could not get any closer.

Four Crimson Tide performers scored in double digits. Shelton led the way with 22 points. He drilled 4-of-8 three's and was 8-of-8 from the charity stripe. Davis finished with 19 points, 17 of which came in the second half. Winston also tallied 19 points and Pettway contributed 10 points to along with nine assists.

Alabama shot .500 from the floor (26-52) and was 9-of-22 from beyond the arc (.409). Syracuse was 26-of-55 from the field and 4-of-10 from three-point range.

The Crimson Tide forced 18 Syracuse turnovers, including 11 steals.

The game marked Alabama's first win versus the Orangemen in three attempts. The loss drops the Orangemen's all-time NCAA Tournament record to 48-29.