Andy Rautins tied an SU NIT record with five three's against San Diego State.
Garden Party Invitation Up for Grabs
3/20/2007 5:36:45 PM | Men's Basketball
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – A trip to Madison Square Garden is on the line Wednesday, March 21 when second-seeded Syracuse (24-10) plays the South Region’s top seed, Clemson (23-10), at 7:00 p.m. in the NIT quarterfinals at Littlejohn Coliseum. The winner will take the court for the tournament semifinals at the Garden on March 27.
Wednesday's game will be televised live nationally on ESPN2. Live audio of the contest can be heard on SUathletics.com via Orange All Access and fans can also tune in to the Syracuse ISP Sports Network broadcast on WAQX (95.7 FM) and WNSS (1260 AM).
Syracuse advanced to the NIT quarterfinals after wins against South Alabama and San Diego State, while Clemson moved on with victories against East Tennessee State and Mississippi. Both teams had the benefit of playing on their home floors during the first two rounds.
Against San Diego State in the Carrier Dome, Orange head coach Jim Boeheim earned his 750th career win as his team knocked off the Aztecs, 80-64, in front of an NIT record crowd of 26,752. The attendance figure shattered the old mark of 23,522 set by Kentucky at Rupp Arena in 1979.
The Orange faithful spurred their hometown team to a 21-7 run at the start of the second half to put the game out of reach. Senior Demetris Nichols led SU in scoring once again with 20 points. Sophomore guard Andy Rautins netted 15 on five 3-pointers, tying the SU NIT single-game record for triples. Senior Darryl Watkins paced the SU defense with six blocks, matching another Orange NIT standard. Watkins’ performance also elevated his season blocks total to 111, the most ever for an SU senior.
Clemson put together a 17-game winning streak to open the campaign, but went 4-9 to close its regular season. The Tigers finished with a 7-9 mark in the ACC and lost in the first round of the conference tournament to Florida State, a squad it had beaten twice in the regular season.
Fourth-year coach Oliver Purnell utilizes a lineup that features five players averaging double-digit points. K.C. Rivers is the team’s top offensive threat with a 13.3 scoring average. Trevor Booker, Clemson's fifth leading scorer at 10.4 points per outing, led the Tigers against Mississippi with 21 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field.
This will be just the second meeting between Syracuse and Clemson. The Tigers won the only previous meeting, 78-67, in Kent, Ohio to open the 1960-61 season. Syracuse is actually 1-1 in Littlejohn Coliseum, but has never played the Tigers there. The Orange lost to Austin Peay and defeated Harvard in the 1975 IPTAY Tournament at Littlejohn.
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