Associated Press
MIAMI ó Jonny Flynn and Paul Harris stood in the Syracuse locker room before tip-off, imploring teammates to dash Stephen F. Austin’s upset hopes before they could even begin.
As usual, the Orange listened to their leaders ó then went out and won their first NCAA tournament game in exactly five years.
Flynn scored 16 points, Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku each added 12 and third-seeded Syracuse cruised past NCAA first-timer Stephen F. Austin 59-44 Friday in a South regional matchup.
Syracuse (27-9) ran out to a 20-4 lead over the overmatched Southland Conference champs, and will meet Arizona State in Sunday’s second round.
“This is what you play for,” Flynn said. “You don’t come into the season saying you’re playing for the Big East championship. You’re playing for the NCAA championship.”
Not lately, the Orange haven’t been.
They won the title in 2003 behind Carmelo Anthony, then beat Maryland in the second round at Denver in March 20, 2004 ó and went 0-3 in NCAA games since, losing in the regional semifinals to Alabama that year, then endured first-round upsets at the hands of Vermont in 2005 and Texas A&M in 2006.
This time, the outcome seemed sealed within minutes.
Stephen F. Austin (24-8) missed 12 of its first 13 shots, started a mind-numbing 0-for-15 from 3-point range, and trailed by 26 points five minutes into the second half. A 1-3-1 zone slowed Syracuse considerably the rest of the way, but the Lumberjacks never made a serious run.
Arizona State 66, Temple 57
MIAMI ó James Harden made only one field goal Friday, and it was a big one.
Arizona State’s season scoring leader struggled most of the game but sank a 3-pointer with 4:02 left, helping the Sun Devils hold off Temple 66-57 in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Harden went 1-for-8 and was held to nine points, less than half his average. Junior Derek Glasser scored a career-high 22 points and Jeff Pendergraph also had 22 for the Sun Devils, playing in the tournament for the first time since 2003.
Dionte Christmas scored 29 to lead Temple.
Sixth-seeded Arizona State (25-9) reached the 25-win milestone for the first time since 1975 and will play Sunday against Syracuse.
No. 11-seed Temple (22-12) was eliminated in the opening round for the second year in a row and hasn’t won a tournament game since 2001.
Temple never led and trailed by eight midway through the second half before making a charge. Christmas scored three consecutive baskets to cut the margin to 52-49, the smallest since early in the game, but the Owls could get no closer.