March 19, 2007
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) -- Demetris Nichols had 20 points, Andy Rautins scored 15 and Syracuse beat San Diego State 80-64 in the second round of the NIT on Monday night before a tournament-record crowd.
An orange-clad crowd of 26,752, the largest in NIT history, gave the game a championship atmosphere, and Syracuse didn't disappoint, hitting nine 3-pointers and stifling the Aztecs with some staunch defense.
Syracuse (24-10), the second seed in the South, will play Clemson on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.
Sixth-seeded San Diego State (22-11) was one of three teams to pull a first-round upset on the road, beating third-seeded Missouri State 74-70.
It was only the second postseason win for the Aztecs in 37 seasons at the Division I level.
Syracuse, clinging to a 38-33 halftime lead, outscored the Aztecs 19-7 to start the second half, finishing the burst with an 11-0 run that gave the Orange a commanding lead.
Rautins had five 3-pointers, Nichols had three, and center Darryl Watkins had eight rebounds and six of the Orange's nine blocks. Terrence Roberts added eight points and eight rebounds, and freshman Paul Harris had 12 points and seven rebounds.
Lorrenzo Wade led the Aztecs with 16 points before fouling out with just more than two minutes left, and Mohamed Abukar had 14. Senior guard Brandon Heath, whose 3-pointer in the final seconds won the Aztecs' first-round game, finished with 15 points and seven assists.
Rautins hit two 3-pointers and Nichols added another to key the decisive run. A block by Watkins led to a fast-break layup by Eric Devendorf to boost the Syracuse lead to 55-40 with 14:47 left. Less than a minute later, Devendorf fed Watkins for a one-hand slam dunk, then hit a long jumper to make it 59-40 with 13:39 left.
San Diego State wasn't intimidated by the surroundings at the outset and stayed close throughout in the first half.
Josh Wright keyed a 12-2 run that broke a 22-all tie and gave Syracuse the biggest lead of the half. Wright fed Watkins for a resounding two-hand dunk, made a 3 from the right corner off a feed from Devendorf, and converted two free throws after a Watkins block to give the Orange a 30-22 lead and send the crowd into a deafening cheer.
The Aztecs took advantage of some sloppy play to rally as the Orange missed three shots and committed three turnovers. Consecutive 3-pointers by Abukar and Heath in the final two minutes helped San Diego State close the gap to 35-33 in the final minute before Nichols drained a 3 curling off a screen at the top of the key to give Syracuse a five-point lead at halftime.
Syracuse hit 6 of 14 3-pointers in the first half and threatened to run away with the game, but the Orange committed 11 turnovers in the period and the Aztecs scored 12 points off those mistakes.
The previous record crowd for an NIT game was 23,522, set in 1979 when Clemson played at Kentucky.