Men's basketball

Jim Boeheim recalls last game as a player: ‘Somehow we blew the game’

Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer

Jim Boeheim scored 15 points in his final game as a player for Syracuse.

By Matthew GutierrezSenior Staff Writer

OMAHA, Neb. — Jim Boeheim made a slight smirk and spoke matter-of-factly.

The former Syracuse star rose from walk-on to team captain in the 1960s. And when asked about his final college game, against Duke in the 1966 Elite Eight, Boeheim did not waver to recollect the details.

“We had an eight-point lead and we somehow blew the game,” Boeheim said on Thursday afternoon. “So it was a disheartening, disappointing game. Duke had a great team. It was one of their better teams — Jack Marin and (Bob) Verga and (Steve) Vacendak, they had a really good team.

“We played them in Raleigh and we had a lead, I think it was about six, with about seven or eight minutes to go. And we just couldn’t quite close it out.”

That was the inaugural meeting between Syracuse and Duke. The 1966 Elite Eight matchup, almost 52 years ago to the day, marked the first of 11 matchups. The Blue Devils ended the regular season that year ranked second in the country. Perhaps more important, they ended Boeheim’s playing career.



The guard, who was roommates in DellPlain Hall with fellow backcourt mate Dave Bing, scored 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting in the loss. In his playing career, the Hall of Fame coach averaged 9.8 points per game and shot over 50 percent from the field. He was doubted early in his career for not having a scholarship and not being that athletic, but he blossomed into a star.

Syracuse came back from 16 points in the first half to tie the game and then go ahead by four points with 13 minutes left. While Boeheim said SU “somehow” lost, the reasons were clear: The Orange ran into some foul trouble and Duke heated up from deep.

“Dumb shots,” then-Syracuse coach Fred Lewis told The Daily Orange after the game. “Duke took dumb outside shots when they were tied or ahead by a couple of points at the end, but the shots went in.”

Syracuse failed to become the first team in college history to average 100 points per game for a single season, finishing the season averaging 99 because SU scored 81 points in the loss.





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