Our hoops guru takes us on a journey through his top Syracuse basketball home games inside the Dome.
Leading up to the 2021-22 Syracuse basketball campaign, it’s a good time for a 10-part series highlighting the best of the Boeheim era (1976-present).
I’ll give my takes, ranking the “Top 3” in many categories, from best free throw shooters to most exciting on a fast break. From top games in the Dome, to top games in the NCAA tourney and everything in between.
I was 7-years-old in 1976 when Jim Boeheim became head coach, and if I haven’t watched (or listened on the radio) intently to every single Syracuse basketball game since then, then it’s close to 98%.
Statistical facts in each Top 3 are fueled by the awesome OrangeHoops.org web site.
Part 1: Top 3 Triple Doubles.
Part 2: Top 3 Free Throw Shooters.
Part 3: Top 3 Most Exciting on Fast Break.
Today, Part 4: My Top 3 Games in the Carrier Dome.
There is nothing like the Carrier Dome as a home court in college basketball. In 1980 it opened to host multiple sports (primarily football and basketball), and has set hoops attendance records along the way (30,000 or more fans have attended games 84 times now).
Still, the Syracuse basketball team moved into the Dome in the wake of barely ever losing for most of the 70s at Manley Field House, its previous home court that couldn’t even squeeze in 10,000. Jim Boeheim at the time was against the idea of moving into a football stadium, when he’d built such a great advantage in the friendly confines of Manley.
Thankfully though, the curtain went up at the 50-yard line at the Dome (and then eventually came down so even more could see) and the move has been spectacular. From a list too long of great Orange games the past 40 years flooding all of our memories and defining one of the most storied programs in the sport, here is my Top 3:
Syracuse 91, Duke 89 in OT.
This was a religious experience.
The game was a culmination of so much history.
On the sidelines were the legends Coach K and Jim Boeheim, the two winningest coaches in college basketball history.
Syracuse, after defining the Big East Conference for decades, had just moved to the ACC, which of course had forever dominant Duke and its 5 national championships, 12 final fours and 15 ACC Tournament wins as its poster child.
For the first time, Syracuse basketball was hosting the Blue Devils in the Carrier Dome.
It was the 76th time a Syracuse basketball game drew more than 30,000 fans to the Dome, and at 35,446, the game set a new on-campus record for attendance at any college basketball game in history.
Both teams were ranked in the top 20. Syracuse, No. 2, was undefeated at 20-0.
Former Miss America and Syracuse alumni Vanessa Williams sang the National Anthem.
There couldn’t be a more perfect setup for a game.
I knew this was the ultimate game, with Orange pride resting in the balance.
In Central New York, this is what we have. Syracuse Basketball. And we weren’t going to let Duke come into the Dome and beat us. Not this first time.
I was compelled to come back to Syracuse from my home in Milwaukee to be there, and brought my father and son, three generations of Orange fans.
The buzz in the Dome was unreal, the hallways packed pre-game. Even the band and cheerleaders were next-level good. It was special.
And then, the game was even better than the hype.
When you play a team you respect/fear/loathe as much as Duke, every possession carries so much weight.
Syracuse basketball went at Duke in the paint. We took only 4 three-pointers all game, making 3 (guard Trevor Cooney connected on 2 of them, to deafening roars).
Duke took on the Orange zone with a steady diet of long-range bombs. The Blue Devils attempted 36 threes, making a frightening 15 of them.
The game was back and forth all day, and went to overtime.
‘Cuse shot 57.4% from the field overall, led by our forwards CJ Fair (who played all 45 minutes) and Jerami Grant, who combined for 52 points.
Five Duke players, including future NBA players Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood, scored 14 or more points each.
In the overtime, Syracuse basketball outscored Duke 13-11. We won.
It was the loudest game I’ve ever been to. The sound, a mix of joy and anxiety, with eruptions for every big basket or rebound and groans for every Duke 3, created an atmosphere I cannot imagine will ever be surpassed.
Syracuse became No. 1 in the country and held it for three weeks after the victory.
In truth, there was so much anticipation and energy towards this game, I don’t think the team was the same for the rest of the season. We were justifiably spent, and lost six of nine down the stretch.
But beating Duke that day, was worth it.
A couple of years later in the Milwaukee airport, I ran into our freshman point guard from that game, Tyler Ennis, who had played 40 minutes, scored 14 points, was 8-8 from the free-throw line and committed only two turnovers against that manic Duke defense. Of course, I was wearing my Syracuse cap, and I thanked Ennis for beating Duke that day. He smiled.
The game in full:
Syracuse 65, Georgetown 63.
Georgetown was No. 1 in the country.
They were defending NCAA champions.
The Hoyas were made in the image of big Coach John Thompson. The Hoyas were 7-foot center Patrick Ewing, the most intimidating player in the game.
Georgetown had an air of invincibility. They were mean. They were tenacious. They loved playing the role of the villain.
And let’s face it, they were scary.
It was a different time in college hoops, when players played four years for one school. For example, in today’s game, there is no possible way Ewing would have returned for his sophomore year, let alone play four years in college. So we got to know our opponents to a different degree than fans do now.
And we knew Georgetown. Our most hated rival. It was personal.
And they were coming back into our house, the Dome.
We were No. 11 in the country and had the incomparable Pearl Washington and Rafael Addison (18.6 points per game) as our leaders. But we hadn’t been to a Final Four in the Boeheim era. A freshman center out of nowhere named Rony Seikaly had the job of checking Ewing. We were underdogs, even at home.
It was still in the infancy of “Big Monday” on ESPN (weekly Big East hoops on Monday nights), and the game was hyped by the worldwide leader until fans were in a frenzy.
A crowd of 32,229 packed the Dome, only the third time an on-campus college basketball game had more than 32,000 fans.
The game began, and 3 minutes in, Ewing was at the line. Then the unthinkable happened. A crazy Syracuse fan threw an orange at the court, and it hit the backboard as Ewing was making his shot.
Thompson pulled his team off the floor.
Boeheim grabbed the microphone and told the crowd that if anything else was thrown on the court, he would ask the referees for a technical foul each time.
Ewing got a do-over. The crowd was at once apologetic, in disbelief, and still focused on taking on Georgetown, chanting “Let’s GO ORANGE!”
The game was a war. Addison kept us in it, with 26 points and 12 rebounds. Ewing was his dominant self, with 21 points, 17 rebounds and 3 blocks.
And then it came down to The Pearl. He hadn’t had a great game. But down one with 16 seconds to go, he was going to be the man. As the legend has it, first Boeheim drew up a play that didn’t include Dwayne Washington. But then Pearl looked at his coach. Didn’t say a word. His eyes told Boeheim, before Hoosiers was a movie, “I’ll make it.” So Boeheim changed the play to instead essentially be, “get the ball to Pearl and get out of the way.”
Pearl got it, spun, put on two moves, and drilled a 15-foot jumper to take the lead. Syracuse hung on to win. The crowd could not contain itself, rushing the court, behind the crazed Dome Ranger. It was beautiful.
I was 14 at the time, it was the advent of the VCR. I had the game taped, and watched it back countless times. What a drama. The type of game that will make you love a sport for life.
Looking back, yes, I hated Georgetown. But now, I appreciate all that goes into a rivalry like that and it’s more love/hate. Coach Thompson, RIP, Ewing, et al, thank you for giving us this rivalry. And, for giving us this incredible game.
The game in full:
Syracuse 83, Villanova 80, Triple OT.
The Dome had only been open for six months.
The Big East Conference was only a year old.
It was just the second Big East Conference tournament, before Madison Square Garden became its permanent home.
Big East Commissioner Dave Gavitt had brought the tourney to Syracuse, and the Dome.
And despite a subpar 16-11 regular season, Syracuse, playing in the tournament at home as a 6-seed, had advanced past St. John’s (No. 3) and Georgetown (No. 2) to face Villanova in the championship game.
A crowd of 15,213 fans came for the game, which sounds preposterously low now, but at the time it seemed about right given the fact no one was conditioned to see even more than 10,000, the maximum capacity at the Orangemen’s previous home Manley Field House.
The game was back and forth. Syracuse basketball was filled with likable, exciting, but young players like sophomores Leo Rautins, Erich Santifer and Tony Bruin around senior center Danny Schayes.
The Orangemen and Wildcats were tied, 62-62 at the end of regulation. Tied at 70 after the first OT (after Syracuse fell behind by 6 only to come back), tied at 78 after the second OT (after Villanova came back from behind down 4 with one minute remaining).
Finally, in the third overtime, Rautins tipped in the winning basket after a Santifer miss, and the place went nuts. The Dome crowds back then were crazy: vulgar, sometimes a bit violent, always passionate.
The game put the Carrier Dome on the map.
Back then, the Big East Tournament champion did not get an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament, and despite Boeheim saying his team belonged in the NCAA, where they had been the previous 8 years, 1981 ended up being the biggest NCAA snub we ever endured.
The team had to go to the NIT where it reached the title game, but it will always be defined by that classic photo of Rautins under the basket, having won the Big East Tournament at the Carrier Dome, with a tip-in.
Next time, Part 5: Top 3 shot blockers.