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Few impressed with Syracuse sharpshooters

by John Kekis
| March 22, 2010 9:00 PM

BUFFALO, N.Y. - It took less than 20 minutes for Syracuse to make Gonzaga coach Mark Few a believer.

"If they shoot it like they did today, nobody will beat them," Few said Sunday after the top-seeded Orange made a dozen 3-pointers in an 87-65 victory over the Bulldogs to earn their second straight trip to the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament.

Wes Johnson scored a career-high 31 points and pulled down 14 rebounds to lead Syracuse.

And so Syracuse's storybook season - the Orange were unranked before the season and made it to No. 1 for the final week before losing to Georgetown in the Big East tournament - continues on Thursday against fifth-seeded Butler (30-4) in Salt Lake City in the semifinals of the West Regional.

"This team has come to play every game," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said after his 829th career victory. "I've never had a team that's come to play every game."

The Orange have played well all year no matter who's been on the floor and didn't miss a beat for the second straight game without 6-foot-9, 260-pound center Arinze Onuaku, who's nursing an injured knee.

Gonzaga (27-7) couldn't keep paced with WCC tournament champ Saint Mary's, which stunned second-seeded Villanova on Saturday to punch its ticket to the Sweet 16. Instead, the Bulldogs dropped to 0-5 against top seeds in the tournament.

In the hallway about a half-hour before the opening tip, 7-foot center Robert Sacre was overheard calling Syracuse "soft" and a bunch of "pretty boys," encouraging his team to take the game to the Orange.

The Zags, who repeatedly attacked inside with success early in the game - Matt Bouldin hit Elias Harris with a perfect lob to open the game - regrouped after a timeout and closed to 32-28 on two free throws by Harris with 3:59 left.

Undaunted, the Orange hit their next five shots and closed the half with a 15-4 run. Rautins scored the first five points and Triche fed Johnson for a 3 from the wing to boost the lead to 41-28 with 1:49 remaining.

The Zags couldn't contain their frustration on their poor play late in the game.

"It was basically four possessions. We just did not stick with the plan," Few said. "And they were very, very efficient and really closed it out. I thought that was the game."

Just in case it wasn't, Rautins hit three 3-pointers in the opening 3 minutes of the second half to give Syracuse a commanding 58-34 edge.

The Zags made just 3 of 21 from beyond the arc against Syracuse's aggressive zone defense and shot 41.7 percent for the game, well below their season average of nearly 50 percent. Syracuse, which leads in nation in field goal percentage, shot 60.7 percent in the first half and 54.7 percent for the game.

"When Wes and are hitting our shots, we're a tough team to beat," Rautins said.

Harris led Gonzaga with 24 points and Sacre had 17 points and eight rebounds. Bouldin, the team's leading scorer at 16 points a game, was 3 of 13 from the field, missing all six shots he took from beyond the arc.