CHICAGO – The chaos had settled as managers and strength coaches were among the last to cut down the secondary net inside the United Center. Syracuse players who had already snipped down their sliver of nylon to the jeers of fans on the opposite end stood inside the arc in a cluster, still in awe with their hats backward and their celebratory “Syracuse, Bring Your Game” T-shirts on.

“All of Syracuse is going to be lit,” Kaleb Joseph said to nobody in particular.

Taking it all in from feet away were Rakeem Christmas, C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis, three former Syracuse standouts wearing SU’s Final Four hats with the orange T-shirt draped over their shoulder. Two of the three had been there before, cutting down the nets en route to a Final Four, but Ennis’ one year saw Syracuse start 25-0 before eventually bowing out in unspectacular fashion against Dayton in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament.

After this year’s much less heralded, No. 10 seed Orange (23-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) stormed back for a 68-62 win over top-seeded Virginia (29-8, 13-5) to advance to this year’s Final Four, Christmas and Ennis reflected on the stunning comeback and the freshman at the forefront of it.

“Malachi just made shots,” Christmas said. “He played on my younger AAU team that I played on so I mean, he’s been doing that since AAU so I know he pays out there. He never backs off from anybody he takes tough shots all the time. I’m very proud of him and he stepped up.”

That would be an understatement, the fearless, sometimes unconscious freshman pulling up in the grill of ACC Defensive Player of the Year Malcolm Brogdon to spearhead a 26-point swing in the second half to make Syracuse the first-ever No. 10 seed to go to the Final Four.

“It all comes back to me, things that we went through, things that coaches said,” Ennis said, “but it’s just great to see them play, be down and come back and win and control the game.”

For the first 30 minutes of the game, it wasn’t the Orange in control but Virginia seizing it. Jim Boeheim knew he wanted to go to the press after five or six UVA possessions and hopefully a 10- or 12-point deficit, but it was getting too late and Syracuse was still trailing by too much.

But abandoning its halfcourt defense flipped the script of a game destined for its predicted outcome and Syracuse turned the pace of the game on its head before mounting a 15-0 run on the back of Richardson, who finished tying a career-high of 23 points, 21 1of which came in the latter 20 minutes.

“He had a rough first half, but second half he came out and kind of took over the game scoring,” Ennis said. “I thought they did a good job of getting him the ball.”

The Orange faces North Carolina next, another No. 1 seed from the ACC, and Syracuse will be five games into an NCAA Tournament some thought it should’ve never been in.

“We belong in the Tournament,” Christmas said.

The Orange has proven so, and will face the Tar Heels as likely significant underdogs for the second consecutive game. SU joins UNC and two No. 2 seeds in the Final Four, crashing the end-of-the-Tournament party that could’ve easily been all chalk.

But Syracuse had its own party on the court following Sunday’s win, and three players who have all been part of defining moments in Syracuse history – Christmas and Fair the 2013 Final Four run and Ennis his buzzer-beating shot against Pittsburgh – were now just spectators.

“To see them be down and kind of switch the momentum and then put the press on and kind of come back and take control of the game is big,” Ennis said, “so I think that’s going to have a lot of momentum going into the Final Four.

“I got to see my schedule. If it’s possible, I’d definitely go.”

Published on March 28, 2016 at 8:03 am

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman