22-point rally punches ticket to semifinals

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AP PHOTO

Dante Milligan of the University of Massachusetts dunks in front of Syracuse's Scoop Jardine to give the Minutemen a 78-77 lead with 28 seconds left in the NIT quarterfinal round game Tuesday. UMass won 81-77.

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AP Photo

Etienne Brower of the University of Massachusetts shoots against Syracuse during the NIT quarterfinal round in Syracuse, N.Y., Tuesday. UMass won 81-77.

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - If it had happened in that other March tournament, the University of Massachusetts men's basketball team's 81-77 comeback win over Syracuse after being down 22 points Tuesday night would have been the talk of the nation.

Still, it will go down as one of the best wins in UMass history as the Minutemen (24-10) advanced to the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament for the second time in school history.

They will face Florida (24-11) at Madison Square Garden next Tuesday at either 7 or 9:30 p.m. Florida defeated Arizona State 70-57 in another quarterfinal Tuesday.

The magnitude of his team's accomplishment was not lost on UMass coach Travis Ford.

"It was an incredible, incredible comeback," Ford said. "Our kids were talking about the Garden and the Final Four of the NIT. I told them you need to embrace what you've done here."

With 14 minutes, 37 left, the game seemed over. Many of the 20,162 fans in the Carrier Dome were already pondering the matchup with either Florida or Arizona State in the semifinals when the Orange led 54-32. That's as close to a lock as it gets in college basketball.

"I didn't want my senior season to end this way, a loss to Syracuse on national television by 20-plus points," senior center Dante Milligan said. "We all got after each other and made sure we were going to go out fighting."

Etienne Brower started the comeback with two 3-pointers that began a 10-0 run cutting the deficit to 54-42 with 12:44 left.

From there the Minutemen looked confident and the Orange (21-14) looked tired. UMass, which struggled from outside in the first half, found the range in the second.

A 3-pointer by Ricky Harris with 9:07 left cut the Syracuse lead to 64-55. It was the first time that UMass had trailed by less than 10 since late in the first half.

The Orange looked like they might sidestep the knockout blow with a 6-1 run that swelled their edge back to 14 points with 7:48 left. But a 3-pointer by Brower and another by Luke Bonner (13 points) kept UMass afloat.

The Minutemen kept attacking as the Orange started to panic. Donte Greene missed two free throws in a 9-2 UMass run that brought the Minutemen within 76-73 after Milligan put in the rebound of a Brower miss with 1:20 remaining.

Greene made one of two free throws and Ricky Harris answered with his fifth 3-pointer to get UMass within 77-76 with 54 seconds left.

Forbes stripped Paul Harris at the other end. Forbes could not score on a drive to the basket, but the ball went out of bounds off Syracuse.

Chris Lowe and Dante Milligan executed a perfect screen and roll to put UMass ahead. Lowe came around Milligan's pick and drove, while Milligan slipped behind the zone. Lowe fed him on the baseline for an uncontested dunk that gave UMass a 78-77 lead with 26 seconds left.

After Greene missed a jump shot, Forbes grabbed the rebound and fed the ball to Lowe who was fouled. He made one free throw to extend the lead to 79-77 with 17 seconds left.

Jonny Flynn tried to drive for the tying basket, but Milligan stole the ball in traffic and passed it to Ricky Harris, who was fouled. He made both free throws to clinch the win.

When the final seconds ticked off the clock, UMass celebrated as the Orange fans stormed out of the building. Brower unleashed a happy scream, while Ford hugged players, managers and anyone else who was willing.

Ricky Harris led the Minutemen with 23 points, while Brower had 19. Milligan added 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Arinze Onuaku led Syracuse with 20 points, while Greene added 19 points and nine rebounds.

Neither team shot well at the start. UMass missed its first six shots and the Orange their first nine. But Syracuse recovered and the Minutemen never did in the first half.

UMass got plenty of good looks over the trademark Orange zone, but not enough shots fell. The Minutemen were 2-for-15 from behind the arc before the break. Inside it wasn't much better early as UMass was 10-for-43 (23.3 percent) from the field in the first half.

The Minutemen tried to drive the ball inside, but the Syracuse big men blocked six shots. The Orange scored 12 straight points in the final four minutes before a layup by Lowe cut UMass' deficit to 43-24 at halftime.

"It was the worst half of basketball our team has played in a long time," Ford said. "We could have been down 30."

As it turned out, that just set the stage for the comeback.

"This is the most games UMass has won in the postseason in a while," Milligan said. "We just want to keep it going."

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. For more UMass coverage including a UMass sports blog, go to www.dailyhampshiregazette.com/umsports.