Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Clemson 74, Syracuse 70

Trailing by 17 points with just under eight minutes left, Jim Boeheim turned the game into a foul-shooting contest — Clemson’s biggest weakness.

And it almost worked.

“If we had two more minutes, we would have won,” Syracuse forward Demetris Nichols told The Daily Orange after the game.

The Tigers began to prove why they shot 58.8 percent from the free-throw line going into the game, and Syracuse whittled away slowly but surely. The deficit was cut to one with 19 ticks on the clock, but Clemson (24-10) manned up to make its foul shots and keep the Orange at bay. The result was a 74-70 Tigers victory in Clemson, S.C., that knocked Syracuse (24-11) out of the NIT on March 21, 2007 and ended the Orange’s season.

After the first half ended, Boeheim was handed a technical foul for arguing with the referees. That’s how poorly the first 20 minutes went for SU — it made mistakes even with no time on the clock.

“I was talking to one guy and the other guy called a technical,” Boeheim said. “He told me that I can’t stay there and talk to the other official at halftime. The guy I was talking to can give me a technical if he thinks I need it. I was just talking to him about the call.”

The Tigers took an 11-point lead going into halftime behind 58.3 shooting percentage from 3-point territory. K.C. Rivers spearheaded the effort with 21 points on 4-of-7 shooting from 3, including a desperation heave as the shot clock expired late in the half.

“They made some tough shots against our defense,” Boeheim said. “Those things happen. Teams bang 3s. When the shot clock is running out they throw it in from seven or eight feet behind the line. When those things happen, that’s part of the game.”

In the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Orange never drew closer than 11 and then found itself down by 17 after a Raymond Sykes dunk at the 7:48 mark.

Boeheim called for a 20-second timeout.

“When you are 17 down, you have to get eight or 10,” Boeheim said. “You can’t let the clock go down to two minutes and expect to come back.”

Out of the timeout, SU fought back. A 12-2 run made it a 60-53 game with four minutes remaining as Clemson went nearly three minutes without scoring, misfiring on four field goals and three free throws.

After James Mays completed a three-point play to push the Tigers’ lead to 10, Syracuse embarked on another run. Terrence Roberts responded with six points unanswered, and SU hit five free throws to draw within two with 1:28 left.

Mays hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe — making Clemson’s record four of its last 10 from the line — and SU guard Eric Devendorf’s left-handed layup with 1:04 remaining slashed the lead to one point.

After the Tigers cleaned up their own miss with a putback, Nichols came up with a basket to draw the Orange back within a point. Nineteen ticks on the clock.

Devendorf fouled Rivers, in hopes that the Tigers’ struggles at the line would persist.

Not the case. Rivers sank both.

And at the other end, Josh Wright missed a 3 with 11 seconds left that would’ve tied the score. Clemson hit three more free throws, and SU’s season was done.

“We have been in these situations a couple times this year and got back,” Boeheim said. “These guys have battled all year. It was just disappointing that we did not play harder earlier.”

–Compiled by Phil D’Abbraccio, asst. copy editor, pmdbra@syr.edu, @PhilDAbb

Published on February 7, 2014 at 12:51 am