Cincinnati didn't spend much time celebrating its biggest win of the season. That's because the Bearcats have one more game to go for their first Big East title.
Minutes after shooting their way to a 17-point lead and then holding on to beat No. 2 Syracuse 71-68 on Friday night and advance to their first Big East championship game, the Bearcats were already thinking about what could be.
The fourth-seeded Bearcats (24-9) will meet seventh-seeded Louisville in Saturday night's championship game at Madison Square Garden. The Cardinals beat third-seeded and 23rd-ranked Notre Dame 64-50.
To get there, they ended the 11-game winning streak of the top-seeded Orange (31-2). They did it with an incredible shooting performance over the opening 14 minutes of the game when they took a 17-point lead, and then by holding on as Syracuse was able to get within one point in the final seconds.
"It's a huge win for our program," Cronin said. "I think what you've got to realize in college basketball is you've got to allow teams the course of the season, some teams get better."
Gates was one of four Cincinnati players suspended for the December fight with Xavier. Gates and Sean Kilpatrick both had 18 points for Cincinnati, which rebounded from one of its worst 3-point efforts in the quarterfinals against Georgetown with one of its best against Syracuse.
"Over the course of the entire season, we lead the Big East in 3-point point field goals made. We've made more 3s than anybody in the Big East," Cronin said. We've got guys that can make shots, so law of averages catches up."
Dion Waiters had 28 points for Syracuse, which was able to close within 69-68 with 5.4 seconds left when he made two free throws - and the second one he was trying to miss. The loss shouldn't hurt the Orange's chances of being a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, but it did keep them from getting a chance to play for a sixth Big East title and first since 2006.
I was shocked that we were within 12," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. The Bearcats shredded Syracuse's famed 2-3 zone from the start, making six of their first seven 3-point attempts. It was only the third time this season the Orange trailed by double figures.
A modest 6-1 run to close the half had Syracuse within 35-23.
"Cashmere just told me to stay in the corner, and then Coach was telling me to go to the corner because Kris Joseph, he was going to come up and play Cash because Cash was hot, as well, throughout the game," Kilpatrick said "Once he played Cash, I was just wide open, so it was a good thing that Cash caught me."
The Orange, though, weren't done.
Waiters' 3 made it 68-66 with 17 seconds to play.
"No matter who you're playing, the top half of our league, the game is never over," Cronin said. Obviously it's like a home game for them, which makes the win even sweeter for us. But we hesitated for a little bit and didn't attack their pressure. I have seen them play. It was the second straight year Syracuse lost in the semifinals. Connecticut beat the Orange 76-71 in overtime last season on its way to the tournament title.
"We've won 31 games, and we've proven what we can do and we've got to get back and we have to play a little better from the beginning," Boeheim said. "Most national championships, not all, but a lot of them, have been won by teams that lose in their conference tournament, including us. Nothing else matters anymore in college basketball."
