In one flick of the wrist, Syracuse’s best start in program history disappeared and C.J. Fair’s heroic performance was discounted.

Rasheed Sulaimon slipped past Fair’s foul attempt at half court and swished a game-tying 25-foot leaner at the buzzer. The record 35,446 fans in the Carrier Dome were completely and utterly shocked.

Some thrashed in rage. Others hung their heads in sorrow. Others still gazed into nothing, hands held on their heads, mouths left agape in disbelief.

But the hands left on heads would rise again.

“I don’t think I’ve been involved in a better game in here that I can remember,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.

No. 2 Syracuse (21-0, 8-0 Atlantic Coast) rebounded from Sulaimon’s stunner and came back from three points down in overtime to beat No. 17 Duke (17-5, 6-3) 91-89 in an instant classic. It was a special kind of game that’s easily felt and difficultly described, but one people will be talking about for years to come.

For all the hype surrounding Saturday’s ACC clash — the historic head coaches and fantastic freshmen, the christening of a new rivalry and chaos of a record-setting crowd, the 12 nights of camping and 17 months of waiting — somehow, some way, the game exceeded expectations.

And if that wasn’t enough, No. 1 Arizona fell to California 60-58 later in the night, meaning SU’s monumental victory will make it No. 1 come Monday.

“If you paid $3,400 on the market for a courtside seat, it was money well spent. You should be happy that you did,” Boeheim said. “If you sold your tickets for this game, you should be ashamed because you made some money and missed an epic.”

Senior forward C.J. Fair scored a career-high 28 points on 12-of-20 shooting, catching fire in the second half while burning Jabari Parker, the rookie who’s stolen his spotlight as the conference’s star.

Jerami Grant finished with a career-high 24 points and 12 rebounds, carrying the Orange in the extra period against a Duke lineup so depleted from fouls that 6-foot-8, 215-pound forward Rodney Hood was playing center.

“This was knockout blow after knockout blow,” Syracuse assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. “You think that person has an advantage, and then you come back, and then they have the advantage.

“This is one of the greatest regular-season games, if not the greatest, I’ve ever been a part of.”

After Sulaimon’s shot, Fair turned his head in disgust. Boeheim just stood smiling. But while the fans were rattled, still trying to fathom the series of events that had just unfolded, the players weren’t.

They didn’t talk about the shot. They looked ahead. Parker and Amile Jefferson had fouled out. There were mismatches to take advantage of.

“We knew we had control for most of the game, so we were fine going into overtime,” Grant said. “We knew we were just going to come out aggressive.”

Grant abused Hood and the rest of the Blue Devils unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of three monstrous jams in a span of 2:18.

But for a moment, all of that seemed for naught when Andre Dawkins drained a 3-pointer with 1:21 left. 87-84, Duke.

Going into that timeout, the team that has found a way to win 20 times this season needed one more.

Fair carried the weight in the second half, Grant through most of overtime. Now it was Tyler Ennis — the hero in SU’s last three games — who drew a foul on Dawkins and knocked down two free throws.

Grant did the same with 39 seconds left to put Syracuse back ahead. Then Rakeem Christmas got two fingers on a vicious Hood dunk attempt to knock it off-line.

And with Syracuse leading by two, following Fair’s split of two free throws with six seconds left, Quinn Cook’s contested jumper from the right wing sailed over both sides of the iron.

Fair held his right fist high as he walked off the court. Syracuse survived.

“To start a new rivalry, it was like a storybook ending for us,” Ennis said.

The depth of those pages, however, wouldn’t be possible without Fair. He heightened the mystique of the game with each shot he took after halftime.

A walk-in 3-pointer from the top of the key. A two-dribble baseline move past Marshall Plumlee for a lefty slam right after Parker went to the bench. A floater over Dawkins that bounced around the rim as the whistle blew.

He stood, left hand held up until the ball finally dropped through, then slung his limb down in euphoria.

“I knew he was focused from the moment we picked him up,” Grant said. “You could tell he was focused at the game. He wasn’t laughing. He was just serious. He was ready to come play.”

All of Syracuse was. So was all of Duke.

Tyler Thornton scored all nine of his points on a trio of 3 pointers on three consecutive possessions, his last pulling the Blue Devils within two at 70-68 with 4:25 left in regulation.

Then it was Sulaimon’s turn to answer Fair, striking from range once with 48 seconds left before escaping Fair’s grasp and making the 3-pointer over Trevor Cooney to force overtime.

“I honestly didn’t think it was going in,” Fair said. “I thought it was a little short but it went in and I was like, ‘Aw man.’

“I felt bad because I had a chance to foul and I didn’t. I felt if we were to lose that game, it was going to be on me because I didn’t foul him.”

But Syracuse didn’t. The first chapter in the Syracuse-Duke rivalry has been written.

The next begins in three weeks.

Said Fair: “It’s a great, unbelievable feeling. This rivalry seems like it’s been going on for 30 years. It’s just the beginning.”

Published on February 1, 2014 at 9:32 pm

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