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RECAP
DAYTON, Ohio (AP) – Jim Boeheim said he'll wait a few months to
enjoy his 600th career win. Just advancing in the NCAA Tournament
was enough for one night.
|  | | Troy Ostler and the Rainbow Warriors faced a tall order against the defense of Syracuse's Damone Brown. |
Damone Brown had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Preston Shumpert
added 18 points for Syracuse as Boeheim reached another coaching milestone with
a 79-69 victory over Hawaii on Friday night in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
"Well, it's the tournament, that's the significance of it – winning that first game," Boeheim said. "Of all the games I've seen, it seems more underdogs have won than favorites. That's unusual. There's just been so many."
The fifth-seeded Orangemen (25-8) will face fourth-seeded Kansas
in the second round. The Jayhawks beat Cal State Northridge 99-75.
Boeheim, in his 25th year as the head coach at his alma mater, is 600-207. Syracuse fans held up placards reading "600" and chanted "6-0-0! 6-0-0!" in the final minute.
"I really just wanted to advance," Boeheim said. "I'll think
about 600 over the summer."
Allen Griffin scored 15 points and DeShaun Williams added 10 for
Syracuse, making its 23rd appearance in the tournament.
Syracuse was efficient on offense, pounding the ball down to its
big men while blending in a variety of slashes through the lane and
fast-break baskets. The Orangemen hit 52 percent of their shots.
"Coach said if I get my shot, take it," Brown said. "Every
time I took it, something good happened."
Syracuse scored the first four points and never trailed, leading
by as many as 13 points in each half.
"With Hawaii playing so well, I thought we had to be efficient
on offense -- and we did that," Boeheim said.
Hawaii (17-14), winners of the Western Athletic Conference
tournament, were undone by the same thing that had gotten them into
the NCAAs. The Rainbow Warriors had hit at least 10 3-pointers in
four of their previous six games, but missed their first eight and
ended up 7-of-26.
Hawaii shot 39 percent from the field.
"Our zone's a little more flexible than most," Boeheim said.
"If we play it the right way, they're not going to get a lot of
3s. That's what happened tonight. We didn't give them a lot of good
ones."
Hawaii trailed 31-18 with four minutes left in the first half
and cut the Syracuse lead to four with a 13-4 run.
But the Orangemen, winners of five of their past six games,
scored the next nine points -- five by Shumpert and four by Brown -- to push the lead to 44-31.
The Warriors drew as close as seven points on a three-point play
with 1:31 left by Troy Ostler, who led the way with 21 points.
"Coming out we were cold. We just kept trying to force it in. It didn't happen," Ostler said. "We finally buckled down and tried getting it inside and kicking it back out. That's when we made our run, but by that time I think it was a little too late."
Griffin hit three free throws and Brown added two to push the lead back to 12.
"I'm doing a great job of picking my spots," Griffin said. "With Damone and Preston spreading the floor, it gave me some chances to go to the basket."
Mindaugas Burneika added 12 points, Predrag Savovic 12 and Carl
English 10 for Hawaii, making its third NCAA appearance.
Savovic, averaging 17.8 points, never got untracked against
Syracuse's pressure zone defense. He was 4-of-12 from the field.
The Rainbow Warriors lost to Syracuse under almost identical
circumstance the last time they played in the tournament. In 1994,
they were seeded 12th and lost to the fifth-seeded Orangemen 92-78
in the opening round.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Hawaii Clubhouse
Syracuse Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Damone Brown says he just played his game against Hawaii.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Jim Boeheim says Syracuse capitalized on offensive opportunities.
wav: 122 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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