Syracuse Steps Into Hostile Environment Against Spartans
3/21/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 21, 2000
By JOHN KEKIS
AP Sports Writer
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - The crowd will be against them and so will the odds. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim is unfazed as he tries to lead his Orangemen back to the NCAA tournament's Final Four for the second time in five years.
"We're playing the game where they tell us to play it," Boeheim said as he began preparing for a trip into Michigan State's backyard on Thursday. "We're going to go out and play. We're not worried about something we can't control."
After victories over Samford and Kentucky in the Midwest Regional, fourth-seeded Syracuse (26-5) will play the top-seeded Spartans (28-7) at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Mich. That's just a short drive from the Michigan State campus and, to top it off, Magic Johnson, who led Michigan State to the national championship in 1979, is expected to be in the stands rooting for his alma mater.
Spartans coach Tom Izzo is happy for that, but doesn't think the site offers his team that much of an edge.
"We haven't played a game there," he said. "None of the players have been there. The crowd could be an advantage a little bit, but nothing like what we went through in North Carolina" in a third-round loss in 1998.
The Spartans, led by point guard Mateen Cleaves, are on a seven-game winning streak, with tournament victories over Valparaiso (65-38) and Utah (73-61). Since the start of the new year, they are 19-3 and playing as well as any team in the country.
This, however, is not the regular season.
"Everybody understands it's a one-game situation," said Syracuse's Jason Hart, whose job will be to neutralize Cleaves. "The pressure isn't just on us. It's on them as well. They're supposed to do it. We're just going to be right here as a stumbling block."
Syracuse is coming off a difficult 52-50 victory over Kentucky. The Orangemen, who had to play much of the second half without center Etan Thomas because of foul trouble, hit just 20-of-63 shots from the field (32 percent) and were 4-of-21 on 3-pointers.
"We shot pretty bad," said Preston Shumpert, who won the game with a clutch basket from the right corner in the final minute off a feed from Hart. "Sometimes that's going to happen. We've just got to try to look forward to the next game and try to get that out of our minds."
Because the Spartans are soaring and Syracuse has gone 7-5 since beginning the season with a flourish, the Orangemen are decided underdogs. That suits them just fine.
"People are picking Michigan State to win it all. That doesn't matter," Syracuse senior forward Ryan Blackwell said. "All the records from the past are thrown out. We weren't 19-0 and one of the top four teams in the country for no reason. We have high expectations.
"We're going in there with the right state of mind and with a lot of confidence," Blackwell said. "We're there to do a job - win."