UMass rallies past Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- Massachusetts found its shooting touch in the nick of time, and now the amazing Minutemen are headed to the NIT semifinals.

Dante Milligan slammed a two-handed dunk off a feed from Chris Lowe with 28 seconds left to give Massachusetts the lead for good as the Minutemen rallied from 15 points down over the final eight minutes and stunned Syracuse 81-77 on Tuesday night.

No team had beaten Syracuse twice in the Carrier Dome in the same season until the Minutemen found their long-range eye in the second half. They hit 9 of 16 from beyond the arc to rally from a 43-24 halftime deficit.

"I told our guys at halftime I wasn't really happy," Massachusetts coach Travis Ford said. "I told them, 'Get your heads up. We're lucky we're only down 19.' That was the worst half of basketball we've played all year. But being down 19 wasn't a problem. The way we play, 19 points wasn't a problem."

Massachusetts (24-10) trailed by as many as 22 with 14:38 to play, but a 3-pointer from left wing by Etienne Brower just over a minute later began the winning surge as the Minutemen pressed the undermanned Orange.

"We just knew we had to play together when we were down," said Ricky Harris, who led UMass with 23 points. "When we started making the run, we saw they were fatigued. They started to yell at each other and complain to each other, but we just stayed together on the same page and that helped us come back."

The top-seeded Orange (21-14) were coming off an impressive 88-72 win at home over Maryland last Wednesday and were intent on erasing their first home loss of the season to UMass back in November.

Instead, the Orange self-destructed much as they did when they squandered an 11-point lead in the final 4 minutes and lost a critical home game to Pittsburgh just over three weeks ago.

"We gave up too many 3s," said freshman forward Donte Greene, who finished with 18 points. "We'd miss a layup and they come down and get a 3. You can lose a 20- or 30-point lead like that. It's real easy to come back."

Brower had 19 points, Milligan had 13 points and 11 rebounds, Luke Bonner had 13 points, Gary Forbes had nine points, and Lowe finished with 11 assists.

Arinze Onuaku had 20 points to lead Syracuse, Jonny Flynn had 14 and Scoop Jardine 12.

Massachusetts made its Carrier Dome debut a memorable one in November with a stunning 107-100 victory, the most points allowed by Syracuse in the Carrier Dome since it opened in 1980. The Minutemen may have topped it in this one.

After Flynn stole the ball and fed Jardine for a fast-break layup to give the Orange a 54-32 lead with 14:38 left, UMass began its comeback in earnest.

Brower, who had hit 50 percent of his 3-pointers over the previous 18 games, swished a pair in a 24-second span. UMass then took advantage of turnovers by Greene and Paul Harris, with Milligan converting a hook and tip-in to move UMass within 54-42 with 12:20 left.

The Minutemen, who overcame a 12-point deficit to win the November game, weren't done firing yet. Brower hit another 3 and Ricky Harris swished a pair of 3s to pull UMass within 64-55 at 8:55.

A dunk and long baseline jumper by Greene and a layup high off the glass by Flynn gave Syracuse a 70-56 edge just over a minute later.

Unfazed, Brower, Bonner and Ricky Harris each hit 3-pointers, Harris's from the left corner making it 74-69 with 3:45 left.

"It hurts a team when you think you have the momentum back and the other team goes down and scores," said Brower, who was 5-for-10 on 3s. "We never feel like we're out of a game."

After Greene missed a pair of free throws, Milligan hit a follow and Ricky Harris drained a 3 from the left corner to bring UMass within 77-76 with 53 seconds left.

Greene lost the ball out of bounds to set up Milligan's go-ahead dunk. Milligan then blocked Greene along the baseline, Flynn lost the ball on a drive in the lane, and Ricky Harris made a pair of free throws with 4.4 seconds left to complete the comeback.

"Since day one, our goal was to get to Madison Square Garden," said Milligan, who also had three blocks. "It's finally coming true. This game shows how tough we are mentally and physically."

Massachusetts, who will play either Arizona State or Florida on April 1 in the semifinals, now is 4-0 against Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, making the Minutemen the only team the Hall of Famer has coached at least two games against and hasn't beaten.

Boeheim lamented what could have been. The Orange missed plenty of easy chances that in the end doomed them.

"We just missed too many shots around the basket," Boeheim said. "There's no excuse for that. When a team presses you and gambles like they did, you've got to score and we just didn't."