NEW YORK — It took seven minutes for Syracuse to unravel. Everything the Orange built in the first half, the emotions flowing through Madison Square Garden pushing it to a Big East tournament championship, and its command of the game, disappeared.

Syracuse collapsed under Louisville’s pressure.

Down by 13 at halftime, the No. 4 Cardinals (29-5, 14-4 Big East) switched to a full-court press in the second half, forcing the No. 19 Orange (26-9, 11-7) to commit 13 turnovers. Louisville stole the momentum, and fueled by its stifling defense, went on a 27-3 run after halftime to launch itself to a dominant 78-61 win over Syracuse to win the Big East tournament. In front of a crowd of 20,057 at Madison Square Garden, the Orange lost control in its final chance to officially wave goodbye to the Big East.

“You have to give Louisville tremendous credit because they are, in my mind, one of the best pressing teams in the country and have been,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “I thought that they were the best team in the league from the beginning of the year, and they proved that today.

And they did in a flash.

The Orange was in total control of the game for the entire first half. James Southerland’s 3-pointer from the top of the key put Syracuse up 6-0 and broke the record for most 3s in the Big East tournament with 17.

The Orange continued to build its lead. A hard drive into the lane by Michael Carter-Williams with 4:11 left in the first half put Syracuse up 26-18.

And when Carter-Williams drove into the middle then kicked out to Fair in the final minute of the half, Fair swished the shot to give the Orange a 35-20 lead. After a layup from guard Peyton Siva, Louisville went into the locker room down 13.

“When you’re up by 15, in general, the pressure’s going to be on you to keep the lead,” Syracuse guard Brandon Triche said. “Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do, to keep the lead, especially with a pressing team.”

Southerland hit a 3 from the left corner just more than four minutes into the second half. He met Carter-Williams at half court and they bumped hips.

It was the final moment the Orange could celebrate. Shortly after, Southerland had to head to the bench with four fouls, where he’d remain for more than five minutes.

The Cardinals started hitting their shots. After shooting 25.9 percent in the first half, they shot 53.3 percent in the second. Syracuse’s defense paid attention to Gorgui Dieng in the high post, leaving Motrezl Harrell with room to work at the basket. He scored 14 points in the second half off dunks and nifty post moves.

That, combined with the Cardinals hitting shots from the outside, including two 3-pointers from Russ Smith, let Louisville set up its pressure defense.

“You can only press on a make,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said. “That was the key, offense to good defense.”

Triche said the hardest part is just inbounding the ball against the press, but with 10:14 left in the game, Siva, who finished with four steals, stole the ball from the guard. Siva broke up the court, and drew a foul from Triche. Siva hit both free throws to bring the Cardinals to within one.

Just more than a minute later, Carter-Williams dribbled the ball at the point. Siva got underneath him and poked the ball away. Carter-Williams dove to try and save possession, but Siva stole the ball and again broke up the court. Triche once again fouled him at the basket and Siva hit both free throws. Louisville took a 50-48 lead.

From there, it only got worse for Syracuse.

Louisville’s quick, pesky defense made the final 16 minutes of the game miserable for the Orange. In Syracuse’s fourth game in four days, it wilted against the fast, physical Cardinals. In all, Louisville scored 25 points off turnovers in the second half.

“It’s everything. It’s a little bit of everything,” Carter-Williams said of the Cardinals’ defense. “Also, I think it’s a little bit of us, we played three tough games. We’re tired, it’s the second half. There’s no excuse, we’ve still got to get through it.”

Emotions continued to boil over when Carter-Williams was called for a flagrant foul for elbowing Louisville forward Luke Hancock in the face. Hancock hit both free throws.

Louisville’s lead continued to grow and Syracuse continued to collapse. The game slipped away. It had once been in the Orange’s grip. It was once headed for a perfect ending to Syracuse 34-year run in the Big East.

Then it was gone. From what would’ve been a remarkable ending to cap a remarkable run in the Big East tournament, a game to forget and regret emerged.

Said Triche: “It’s like a bad dream.”

Published on March 16, 2013 at 11:10 pm

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