Syracuse Basketball: Top 3 NCAA Tournament games in Boeheim era

2. Syracuse vs. Virginia, 2016 Regional Final

Virginia was the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region.

Syracuse was No. 10 in the region, barely getting into the tournament as a bubble team after Boeheim served a 9-game suspension from the NCAA earlier in the season.

Virginia had beaten us pretty easily earlier in the campaign. Their coach Tony Bennett, their system and discipline were just so intimidatingly good. They were led by the unflappable Malcolm Brogdon, ACC Player of the Year.

And fairly deep into the second half, Virginia was leading Syracuse by 16 points, 54-39.

This game was over.

I was there. I brought my 13-year-old son at the time, to Chicago for the game. And I was resigned to face reality. How could we possibly come back against a team this good?

Adding insult to injury, the fan sitting next to me was a UVa grad, and at that point in the game, he got up and went to get an ice cream. Came back to his seat and as I sat there in excruciating pain of believing our run was over, he sat next to me eating an ice cream, with so much confidence that his team was going to the Final Four.

I slumped over, and I told my son it was over. And my son said, “it’s not over.”

It was not over.

Syracuse basketball went into Boeheim’s famous frantic press and scored 25 out of the next 29 points. Freshman Malachi Richardson appeared to be sent to us from the heavens, scoring 21 points in the second half on amazing plays and a hot hand from 3. His “3-goggles” will live in our hearts forever. The electricity going through that building, where Michael Jordan had played for the Bulls, was beyond thrilling.

At one point during the comeback, Boeheim was wheeling his arms like The Who’s Pete Townsend on a guitar as his defense and offense were clicking together on par with any stretch in the history of his program. It was as if the Coach was on a big winner’s roll at the craps table.

And I seriously almost passed out. Now standing up with a major head rush, cheering this improbable comeback.

As I stood there amazed as the clock ran out, I looked at my son, who hadn’t given up, and he looked up at me and said the magic words, “FINAL FOUR!”

Yes, the win earned Boeheim his fifth trip to the Final Four as head coach. Getting a chance to watch him cut down the nets in person was something I’ll always cherish.

Seven players saw the court for the Orange in the game, with the three others joining Malachi in double figures scoring being forward Tyler Roberson (10 points, 8 rebounds), Duke transfer Michael Gbinije (11 points, 6 assists) who had made a successful move to an unnatural point guard position and created all kinds of problems for teams at the top of the zone, and freshman Tyler Lydon who had 11 points (including 3-5 from three featuring one splash despite having lost his shoe before the shot), six boards and five blocked shots. Senior Trevor Cooney made it to his second Final Four with 8 points, homegrown center Dajuan Coleman had 7 rebounds and guard Frank Howard got in for nine minutes, converting two free throws.

And that meme of the overconfident Virginia player on the bench during the game? Yeah, that will live forever too.

Re-watch the highlights from comeback: