NCAA: No. 1 seed Syracuse beats Gonzaga 87-65, advances to play Butler in the round of 16

NCAA: Syracuse routs Gonzaga 87-65

Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins have led Syracuse into the regional semifinals, blitzing Gonzaga in an 87-65 rout to the delight of thousands of Orange-clad faithful at HSBC Arena.

An “A.O! A.O!” chant went up after the overhead video scoreboard flashed a shot of injured forward Arinze Onuaku sitting on the Syracuse bench. Coach Jim Boeheim hopes he’ll be ready to go when the Orange take on Butler in Salt Lake City on Thursday.

Johnson finished with a career-best 31 points and 14 rebounds, while Rautins had 24 points. Freshman guard Brandon Triche added 13 points, and big fella Rick Jackson was in double-figures rebounding.

Elias Harris had 24 points and seven rebounds to lead Gonzaga, one of the few bright spots in an otherwise bleak ending to another charmed season. The Bulldogs won 27 games, after all, just like they seem to do every year.

Oddly enough, when Syracuse forward Kris Joseph fouled out with under 5 minutes left, coach Jim Boeheim had no choice by send Rick Jackson back out, this shortly after the starter got a nice ovation after hitting the bench with what was expected to be the rest of the game.

Ah, well, everything else has gone perfectly for Syracuse.

Wes Johnson has a career-high 31 points to go with 13 rebounds, and the Orange leads 83-59 with about 3 minutes left in their scrimmage against Gonzaga.

The Big Red has been big-time this winter sports season.

The Cornell men’s basketball team takes on Wisconsin later Sunday for a spot in the round of 16, while the women’s ice hockey team was playing Minnesota-Duluth for the national title in Minneapolis. And on Saturday night, the Cornell wrestling team finished second to Iowa at the national meet in Omaha, Neb.

Oh, and the bracket has just been released for the men’s ice hockey tournament with No. 2-seeded Cornell facing New Hampshire in the East Region.

Everybody in unison: “Cheer till the sound wakes the blue hills around; Make the scream of the north wind yield; To the strength of the yell from the men of Cornell; When the big red team takes the field; Yea! Yea! Yea!”

Orange were up 76-52 on Gonzaga, but Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim wasn’t letting up. Entering a timeout, he came out onto the court and reminded forward Kris Joseph to come to the ball rather than wait for it to get to him. This was after Joseph mishandled a pass at the sideline and watched the ball bounce out.

The lead was still 81-56 with under 5 minutes to go, and Andy Rautins checked out to a nice hand from the heavily Orange-flavored crowd.

Outside the locker room before the game, Gonzaga center Robert Sacre called the Orange “soft” and “a bunch of pretty boys.”

Well, he got one thing right. Watching Syracuse play sure is pretty.

The Orange are shooting better than 60 percent from the field, have knocked down a dozen 3-pointers, are 14 of 19 from the foul line and have a huge edge in rebounds. Wes Johnson is 10 of 15 from the field for 26 points to go with 11 rebounds, and Andy Rautins has hit five 3-pointers and scored 22 points — all with 10 minutes left in the game.

Sacre has only 10 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs, while leading scorer Matt Bouldin is 2 for 8 (and 0 for 5 from 3) and Demetri Goodson is 0 for 5 from the field.

It’s nice to be confident. It’s better to back it up.

When Syracuse led 64-38 with 13½ minutes left, it had outscored Gonzaga 32-10 since the 4-minute mark of the first half. Talk about an Orange crush.

Wes Johnson and Andy Rautins have 19 each for Syracuse, and Brandon Triche has 13. It will be interesting to see when coach Jim Boeheim begins to rest his stars. He already has Arinze Onuaku recovering from an injury and isn’t likely to tempt fate by leaving his heavy hitters in the game the whole way.

Ooooh, that smell.

A sewer has backed up near the loading dock inside Buffalo’s HSBC Arena, causing a terrible smell that, fortunately, has yet to waft onto the court. Keep an eye for players doubling over courtside buckets in the second half.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few probably has a queasy feeling, but that has nothing to do with the stench. Andy Rautins is starting to hit for Syracuse, and has the Orange on top 55-34 with under 18 minutes to go in the game.

The halftime stats don’t look pretty for Gonzaga, an indication of why they trail No. 1 seed Syracuse 47-32. The Bulldogs are shooting 13 of 29 from the floor, very un-Gonzaga-like, given they’ve been over 50 percent in five of their past six games.

The Orange, meanwhile, have hit 17 of 28 from the field.

Syracuse closed the first half on a 15-4 run, and it would have been even more impressive had Gonzaga’s Kelly Olynyk not managed a tip-in at the buzzer. The Orange lead 47-32.

Wes Johnson and Brandon Triche — a pair of newcomers, one by transfer, one a freshman — have combined for 28 points. The Zags have gotten 16 from Elias Harris, but only four guys have put up points and leading scorer Matt Bouldin is 0 for 3.

The Orange also have a 17-11 edge on the glass, even without hulking Arinze Onuaku taking up about half an acre inside.

Strike a pose, Wesley!

Johnson has hit three 3-pointers, his last giving Syracuse a 41-28 lead with 1:48 left in the first half. He held his follow through as he walked back to midcourt, then took a right turn to the bench because Gonzaga called another timeout.

Johnson is 6-of-10 shooting for 15 points, along with six rebounds.

The Zags are 4-4 against teams in this year’s tournament field; the Orange are 12-4.

Of course, most of those games for Syracuse came against teams from the Big East, and the league hasn’t exactly been doing much in the NCAA tournament. Eight teams made the field and so far they’re 4-5, with Pittsburgh playing later in Sunday.

The Zags’ West Coast Conference? 3-0, thanks to a couple nice wins by Saint Mary’s. The league is tied with the Pac-10 for the best mark.

Maybe there really is something to that East Coast bias.

‘Cuse caught sleeping?

With Orange players walking back to their end of the court, Gonzaga guard Demetri Goodson caught Syracuse by surprise by running the ball up the court off the inbound. He quickly fed Steven Gray, who hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to 31-26 with 4:29 left in first half.

And thanks to the folks at CBS, everybody gets a breather. Timeout on the floor.

Big East player of the year Wes Johnson is causing havoc for Gonzaga by using his size on the perimeter to create some serious mismatches. He’s already hit a pair of 3-pointers and just knocked down a deep two that has the Orange on top 31-21, their biggest lead of the game.

Johnson sat out last season after transferring from Iowa State and was the first transfer from a four-year school to be voted the Big East’s best player. So far he’s 5-for-8 from the field against Gonzaga, with 12 points and four rebounds.

Gonzaga coach Mark Few forced to call timeout with 6:43 left in first half to slow Orange momentum. Syracuse has gone on 9-0 run in past 2 minutes after center Robert Sacre sat down with his second foul.

In honor of famous Gonzaga product Bing Crosby, a look at the Bulldogs through the late crooner’s eyes (or at least his lyrics):

— “Sweet is the word for you”: Matt Bouldin has one of the sweetest strokes in college basketball, shooting nearly 40 percent from beyond the arc to lead the Zags in scoring.

— “Far away places with strange-sounding names”: There may be no team in the country that travels as much as the Bulldogs, who have trouble getting games against big-name teams unless they visit places such as Illinois and Michigan State, as they did this season.

— “You came to me from out of nowhere”: Mid-majors don’t often get one-and-done stars, but Elias Harris might be tempted by the NBA. The freshman from Speyer, Germany, has the size (6-7) and smooth touch to make it happen.

— “Dancing in the dark till the tune ends”: Gonzaga is in the dance for the 12th straight year, and is trying to make consecutive regional semifinals.

Double-0 confusion!

Gonzaga center Robert Sacre, who wears 00, was initially unhappy when he thought he was called for a foul while guarding Orange center Rick Jackson.Turns out the foul was against Jackson, who also wears 00.

And things get worse for Jackson, who picked up his third foul with 8:58 left in the first half. Not good news for Syracuse, which is already without Arinze Onuaku.

After first media timeout, Gonzaga sat Elias Harris and Robert Sacre, who promptly came right back to the scorer’s table when Syracuse’s Wes Johnson and Scoop Jardine scored on back-to-back transition drives to put the Orange up 15-13.

This game figures to remain close, because Syracuse has a hard time blowing anybody out and Gonzaga has enough scoring inside and out to keep with the Orange.

Only 3½ minutes in and the Orange are already going to the bench, bringing in Scoop Jardine and DaShonte Riley as Rick Jackson and Brandon Triche sit against the ‘Zags.

Coach Jim Boeheim loves that 2-3 zone defense, but already Bulldogs big man Robert Sacre is finding a soft spot in the middle. That in turn has opened up some perimeter looks for Steven Gray, whose 3-pointer has given Gonzaga an early 13-10 lead.

Syracuse is again without 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Arinze Onuaku, who is recovering from an injury incurred against Georgetown in the Big East tournament. He hasn’t practiced since he was hurt, and coach Jim Boeheim said he would never play anyone who hadn’t practiced.

Onuaku’s absence means 7-foot freshman DaShonte Riley likely will see playing time again. Riley played only 125 minutes in 14 games during the season, but got a taste of the postseason against Vermont and had two rebounds, two assists and a block in 12 minutes.

Outside the locker room a half hour before facing No. 1 seed Syracuse, Gonzaga center Robert Sacre called the Orange “soft” and “a bunch of pretty boys.”

Not a surprise that much of the lower bowl at Buffalo’s HSBC Arena has a distinct orange hue to it prior to the game. Syracuse is a two-hour drive from Buffalo, and the Orange fans traditionally travel well in support of their team.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has perhaps earned the right to gripe a little bit. After all, few coaches have put together the kind of resume that he totes along.

And Boeheim isn’t shy about doing so.

He was more than a little bit peeved that the Orange were scheduled to play the early game Sunday against eighth-seeded Gonzaga at HSBC Arena, after playing until nearly midnight Friday in their 79-56 win over Vermont. The anxious Orange took the floor after the Zags had beaten Florida State 67-60.

“I don’t know what the process is in this. I don’t want to be upset about it,” Boeheim said Saturday, when asked about the scheduling. “(But) it makes no sense.”

All those NCAA tournament heavyweights — you know, Northern Iowa, Saint Mary’s, Baylor — are already getting ready for the regional semifinals next week.

Who will join them?

No. 1 seed Syracuse and eighth-seeded Gonzaga get the first crack as the final slate of games from the opening weekend get started. The winner will play mid-major darling Butler, another one of those, ahem, blue bloods that are making the tournament so exciting.

Later in the day, Missouri and West Virginia will play for the right to see Washington in the regional semis. Second-seeded Ohio State takes on Georgia Tech, with the winner getting Tennessee in a bracket suddenly devoid of Kansas. Instead, it’s scrappy UNI awaiting the winner of Michigan State and Maryland at the top of the Midwest Regional.

There will be plenty of red in the stands when Cornell plays Wisconsin, with the winner advancing to play Kentucky. Xavier takes on third-seeded Pittsburgh for the right to play Kansas State, and Texas A&M and Purdue tussle for the chance to play the winner of Duke-Cal.

Make sure your recliners are in their upright and locked position, because this NCAA tournament has already been equal parts thrilling, exasperating and infuriating. And there is nothing to indicate that the madness of March won’t continue on Sunday.