University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Syracuse
Men's Basketball Falls To Syracuse, 62-46
03/20/2002 | Men's Basketball
March 20, 2002
Listen to Coach Beilein on the postgame radio show
Listen to senior Scott Ungerer on the postgame radio show
By HANK KURZ Jr.
AP Sports Writer
RICHMOND, Va. - Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim admitted he expected to go to Minnesota for the third round of the NIT.
Coming to Richmond instead - after the Spiders upset Minnesota on Monday night - played right into the Orangemen's hands.
"We've played three straight teams that shoot the three probably as well as anyone in the country," Boeheim said Wednesday night after the Orangemen used defense and dominating inside play to beat Richmond 62-46.
Extending their zone to defend the 3-pointer - Richmond's primary offensive weapon - and using fresher athletes to dominate inside, the Orangemen outscored the Spiders 32-10 in the paint to end their season.
Freshmen Hakim Warrick and Josh Pace were big keys for Syracuse, with Warrick scoring 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds and Pace adding 10 points.
"Hakim's been playing better and better every game. He was huge inside on the boards, and I thought Josh gave us a huge lift," Boeheim said.
Syracuse (23-11) won its third straight game to advance to the semifinals in New York, continuing a turnaround that started after the Orangemen were snubbed by the NCAA tournament for only the fifth time in Jim Boeheim's 26 seasons as coach.
After losing nine of 13, including a 14-point washout against Villanova in the first round of the Big East tournament.
For the Spiders (22-14), the loss appeared to come down to a loss of stamina, especially compared to the athletic, long-armed Orangemen. Richmond was playing its seventh game in 14 days, Syracuse its third.
"They were attacking the basket. They weren't making that many shots, but they had the long-armed guys, the athletes, getting offensive rebound, hitting the offensive glass," Spiders senior Scott Ungerer said. "They killed us."
The game proved a most forgettable finale for Ungerer, who went to high school in Syracuse and struggled throughout his final college game. Ungerer was 1-for-10 from the field and scored just two points.
"This loss tonight, it's not taking away from four year or this season," said Ungerer, who played almost the whole game. "It's been an incredible season and one loss is not taking away from a 22-win season."
Richmond, spurred on by the first sellout of 9,171 at the Robins Center, appeared to run out of steam after getting within three at 36-33.
Ungerer, however, said fatigue was not a factor.
"You don't really think about being tired," he said.
Warrick and his fresher teammates had a lot to do with the Orangemen pulling away, outjumping the Spiders for rebounds and easy baskets.
Richmond also relied heavily on 3-point shooting and struggled from behind the arc and inside it, shooting 6-of-30 on 3s and 16-of-64 overall.
The Spiders opened the second half on an 11-4 run, getting 3-pointers from Reggie Brown and Mike Skrocki to pull to 36-33, but Syracuse went back inside and immediately began rebuilding its lead.
Warrick scored on a putback, Kueth Duany hit a turnaround in the lane and Pace hit a wide-open 8-footer after some dazzling passing.
Then came the backbreakers, with the freshmen again leading the way.
"I think the two freshmen guys really broke the game open," Boeheim said, speaking of Warrick's putback with 6:53 left, a free throw by Pace and then a three-point play by Pace that made it 51-42 with 5:26 left.
James Thues added a 14-footer, and the outcome was obvious.
The game was only the third matchup between the teams, but drew a big crowd hoping to see a repeat of the Spiders' historic victory against the Orangemen in 1991, when they became the first No. 15 seed to win in the NCAA tournament. Syracuse won 74-60 at home in a tournament in 1999.
Besides Warrick, who was 7-for-9 from the field, Preston Shumpert scored 13 points and Thues had 10. Shumpert had 11 rebounds as the Orangemen outrebounded Richmond 48-34.
Brown led Richmond with 14 points, but was just 4-of-15 from the field, and Skrocki had 12 on 5-for-18 shooting.
