Hoop Dreams
It’s that time of year again! College basketball championship season. And as a Syracuse alum, it couldn’t be starting off any better.
Hakim Warrick (pictured) had 20 points and 13 rebounds -- his third double-double in three games -- as the No. 16 Orange won the Big East tournament for the first time since 1992 with a 68-59 victory over West Virginia on Saturday night.
Warrick, the conference player of the year, was selected the tournament MVP.
The third-seeded Orange (27-6) won their fourth Big East tournament title under coach Jim Boeheim in 12 championship game appearances.
The loss at Madison Square Garden ended a history-making run for West Virginia (21-10), the first No. 8 seed to ever reach the championship game. No team had ever won four games to take the title and the Mountaineers fell one game short in winning their first conference championship since winning the Atlantic 10 in 1984.
West Virginia had never gotten past the quarterfinal round before this season. But by advancing to the Big East championship, they just may have played their way into the NCAA tournament.
Sunday, the field of 64 is announced. I’ll have an update in the sports section then.
Posted by bernie at March 12, 2005 11:47 PMTrackBack