Flashback Game - Sweet 16 vs. Auburn (2003)
Part 1 of a 4-part series documenting Syracuse's run to a national championship
Each week this month, in honor of the 20-year anniversary of the Syracuse Men’s Basketball national championship in 2003, I’m going to be doing a breakdown of the SU games in the NCAA Tournament from the Sweet 16 on (I couldn’t access any film from the first two rounds).
This is the first post, covering Syracuse’s Sweet 16 win over Auburn.
VIDEO THREAD
Here’s the link to a 25-video Twitter thread (you don’t need Twitter to watch it) with a brief explanation of each play.
And here are 25+ clips from the game in YouTube format (none of my commentary)
As a note, I only clipped Syracuse plays for this thread.
BASIC INFO
The 3-seed Orange had a semi-home game in Albany against upset-happy 10-seed Auburn (coached by Cliff Ellis) in the Sweet 16. The Tigers were probably the last team to make the tournament field and did what most teams do when they are the last ones in…end up in the Sweet 16.
The Tigers were coming off wins over 7-seed St. Joseph’s (17th in KenPom)…and 2-seed Wake Forest (21st in KenPom). That seems like an awfully under-seeded St. Joseph’s team and an over-seeded Wake Forest team…but I digress.
Syracuse was coming off wins over 14-seed Manhattan (68th in KenPom) and 6-seed Oklahoma State (25th in KenPom).
PRE-GAME STATS
Note: these aren’t exactly pre-game stats, but are the end-of-season stats of each team
Here is a look at the statistical breakdown between the two teams - Syracuse held the edge in most areas…but not by drastic numbers.
Some things that stood out:
Syracuse was notably better overall in their offensive and defensive efficiency
The Orange did a great job of taking care of the ball and were excellent on the offensive glass (both teams had some big-time plays in this matchup due to offensive rebounding).
Syracuse led the country in blocked shots and had plenty of big ones in this game
HOW THINGS WENT DOWN
Syracuse (final KenPom ranking of 8th) was a 5-point favorite over the Tigers (final KenPom ranking of 46th) in this one.
The Orange were in control from the tip-off, but Auburn did a great job of going on periodical runs to keep the game close. Syracuse just couldn’t seem to put the Tigers away. They would miss a few shots, turn it over a few times, have some sloppy possessions, give up some easy baskets in transition…just enough for Auburn to stick around.
Carmelo Anthony had a rough start to the game and was held scoreless in the first half. Auburn employed a Triangle-and-2 look that slowed down the Orange and really slopped the game up as all of the Syracuse players were trying to figure out the best way to attack the defense. Anthony was quoted postgame about how the Orange hadn’t seen that look all season.
Players like Billy Edelin and Josh Pace - the guys Auburn was going to force Syracuse to beat them with - stepped up and made a lot of big plays (especially Josh Pace). Pace did a fantastic job of creating on his own when the offense broke down/was disrupted by the unusual defense.
The Orange went into the half up by 10 and the lead fluctuated in the second half…but Auburn got it down to 3 points with around 7 minutes to go.
This is when Carmelo Anthony stepped up for the Orange, going on a 7-0 mini run of his own to extend the lead for Syracuse.
Of course, Auburn wasn’t done.
They hit four 3s in the last 1:20 (even though one was at the buzzer with a Syracuse 4-point lead so it was pretty meaningless) to crawl back into it.
The Orange did a decent job at the line to keep the game just out of reach and advanced to their Elite 8 matchup against 1-seed Oklahoma (9th in KenPom).
Here’s the box score from the win:
Syracuse got pretty solid contributions from their usual suspects - Carmelo Anthony had 18 points and 8 rebounds, Kueth Duany had 12 points and 5 rebounds, and Hakim Warrick had 15 points and 4 rebounds…
But it was the supporting cast that was the difference - Josh Pace had 14 points, Jeremy McNeil scored 6 points, grabbed 7 rebounds, and blocked 4 shots, and Billy Edelin had 6 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists in his action.
The Tigers were led by Marquis Daniels with 27 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists. They also got double figures from Nathan Watson off the bench (16 points), Lewis Monroe (12 points), and Derrick Bird (11 points).
Up next for the Orange is 1-seed Oklahoma.
The Sooners came into this game at 26-7 and winners of the Big 12 Tournament and were led by Ebi Ere, Hollis Price, and Jahbari Brown.
They notched NCAA Tournament wins over 16-seed South Carolina State (KP 244), 8-seed California (KP 47), and 12-seed Butler (KP 31) to get to the Elite 8.
I’ll be breaking down that matchup next week!