The Daily Orange

SWEET!: Syracuse surges past ASU and into Sweet 16

By Michael Bonner

Posted: 3/22/09, 11:30 PM EST Section: Sports

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Media Credit: Ian Whitlen

Andy Rautins dribbles the ball past Arizona State's Rihards Kuksiks during Syracuse's 78-67 win over the Wildcats Sunday at the American Airlines Arena. The win sends Syracuse to the Sweet 16 this Friday in Memphis, for the first time since 2004.

MIAMI - Syracuse watched its lead, which had been pushed to as much as 15, deflate to just four with 6:35 remaining in Sunday's second-round NCAA Tournament game. The Orange seemed unable to stop the ever-shrinking cushion that Arizona State continued to cut into. Three ASU buckets and two timeouts had passed since Syracuse's last score, and the team's Sweet 16 hopes seemed to be hanging in the balance.

Cue Andy Rautins.

The shooting guard nailed a 3-pointer from the right baseline corner, sparking the Orange's 15-4 run and an eventual 78-67 win Sunday at American Airlines Arena. The win propelled Syracuse into its first Sweet 16 in five years. SU will take on No. 2 seed Oklahoma Friday in Memphis, Tenn., (7:30 p.m., CBS) where SU head coach Jim Boeheim will go for the 800th win of his career.

The unusual part is that Rautins almost didn't take the shot that ultimately sparked the game-winning rally.

"I got off the (screen) pretty quick, and I wasn't too sure about taking the shot," Rautins said. "But I let it go, and it was good."

After Rautins let it fly, Eric Devendorf followed suit. Devendorf drained back-to-back 3's, the second of which put SU back up by double digits, as he posed with his right hand reaching for the sky in the opposite corner from where Rautins started the run.

"When they cut it to four, Jonny (Flynn) made a great penetration and kicked it to Andy, and then he made a couple to get Eric the ball," Boeheim said. "They knocked down big shots. That was the difference."

But a return to FedEx Forum in Memphis would have been canceled had Syracuse not kept its poise down the stretch against a rallying Arizona State squad. Syracuse had trailed for only 40 seconds the entire game, all of which came in the first three minutes of play. For 31 minutes, the Orange imposed its will upon ASU, but suddenly hit a drought during the most important stretch of the game.

Continued...

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