Syracuse Topped By Houston In Sweet 16

Saturday, March 27

Indianapolis, Ind.

9:55 PM

Syracuse University

Houston

3/28/2021 12:18:00 AM | Men's Basketball

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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - Syracuse (18-10) saw its dramatic NCAA Tournament run end on Saturday night when it suffered a 62-46 loss against # 6/6 Houston (27-3) in Hinkle Fieldhouse.

HOW THE GAME WAS DECIDED
With three minutes remaining in the first half and the game tied at 20, the Cougars constructed a 10-0 scoring stretch to close the first half. Third-seeded Houston would not trail for the remainder of the contest as it secured victory to advance to an Elite Eight matchup with Oregon State.

Buddy Boeheim and Joseph Girard III led the Orange offense with 12 points apiece. Boeheim also matched his career high with six rebounds, tying with Jesse Edwards for the team-lead on the glass.

FROM COACH BOEHEIM
"I thought that Houston was tremendous defensively" said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim. "We did a great job fighting back just before the half, but their defense was too much for us. I give 90 percent of the credit to their defense. It's the best defense that we've seen this year and they deserved to win."

COUGARS CLAIM THE FIRST HALF
The teams traded twos to open the contest, but Houston quickly took control with a 15-3 scoring stretch that gave it a 17-5 advantage with nine minutes gone in the half.

The Orange climbed back into the contest with an 11-3 scoring spree of their own that brought them within three, 20-17. After being fouled on a 3-point attempt, three free throws from Boeheim knotted the contest at 20 with 4:57 remaining in the opening period.

The Cougars came roaring back to close the half. A Quentin Grimes triple with 2:48 on the clock kickstarted a stretch in which Houston tallied 10-consecutive points to claim a 30-20 lead at the break.

HOUSTON HOLDS ON
The Orange cut the Cougar lead to seven on a 3-pointer from Girard III, but a jumper in the key from DeJon Jarreau and a triple from Grimes extended the Houston advantage to 12, 39-27, in the first four minutes of the second stanza.

Five-straight points from Boeheim on a triple and a jumper made the margin seven over the ensuing minute. The points were part of an 8-2 Syracuse scoring stretch that made the Houston lead 41-37 with 12:39 left in the contest.

A 9-2 Cougar scoring run over the course of six minutes pushed the Houston lead to 11, 50-39, with 6:48 to play. The American Athletic Conference champions outscored the Orange 12-7 over the remainder of the contest to seal victory by a score of 62-46.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

The Orange closed the season with an 18-10 record. Their .643 winning percentage is the best by a Syracuse squad since the 2013-14 team posted a .824 success rate (28-6).
Syracuse shot a season-low 28.0 percent (14-of-50) from the field, its lowest mark since making 23.6 percent (13-of-55) of its attempts against Virginia on November 6, 2019.
The Cougars won the rebounding battle, 40-31.
Houston outscored Syracuse in points in the paint by a 30-16 margin.
With his fifth point of the night, Buddy Boeheim passed Michael Gbinije (1,144 career points) for 52^nd place on the program scoring list.
Boeheim finished the tournament averaging 22.3 points per game, tying him with Hakim Warrick in 2004 for the sixth-highest scoring average over the course of an NCAA tournament in program history. His 14 made 3-pointers are the third-most in a single-NCAA tournament in Syracuse history behind Gerry McNamara in both 2003 (18) and 2004 (15).

Gallery: (3-27-2021) Syracuse vs. Houston

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