With a 26-6 record, Syracuse entered the 1987 NCAA Tournament as a No. 2 seed, playing its first-round game in the friendly confines of the Carrier Dome. It was Jim Boeheim’s 10th NCAA Tournament in 11 years as head coach, but SU had yet to win two straight NCAA games. With a sophomore floor leader, a freshman rebounding machine and veteran big men, the best was yet to come for the Orangemen.

This weekend is the 20th anniversary of the Final Four. Stevie Thompson, a member of the national runner-up team, takes us through the Orangemen’s magical run.

First Round, March 13, 1987Carrier Dome2 Syracuse 79, 15 Georgia Southern 73

The Orangemen won its 27th game of the season, a Syracuse record, but it wasn’t easy against the 21-point underdog Eagles. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim shied away from his 2-3 zone defense and used the man-to-man midway through the first half, and SU turned a four-point deficit into a six-point lead.

Still, SU could not put Georgia Southern away, thanks to poor percent free-throw shooting. But the Orangemen out-powered the visitors with Rony Seikaly (22 points), Sherman Douglas (17) and Greg Monroe (16).

Stevie says: ‘As a freshman, I didn’t know any better. That was just the (fighting) mentality that I had. I know Coleman had the same mentality, and Douglas was a sophomore, but he hadn’t played much as a freshman, so he was out there fighting for his life as well. You had some guys who had things to prove and just didn’t want to lose.’

Second Round, March 15, 1987Carrier Dome2 Syracuse 104, 10 Western Kentucky 86

Forget about the monkey on his back. Actually, Boeheim said there was never a monkey on his back, but Seikaly made sure to toss it off. In 1987, Boeheim’s streak of nine consecutive Tournaments without winning more than one game ended, and Seikaly doused Boeheim with a Gatorade shower.

The Orangemen defeated 10th-seeded Western Kentucky – the same team that controversially upset Syracuse nine years earlier in overtime during the second round on a disputed foul call.

Seikaly scored 23 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Douglas led everyone with 27 points and Monroe had 20.

Stevie says: ‘I thought that was a good team. They weren’t a cakewalk by any means. I think being able to beat them, they were a very good team to have to play in the second round.’

Sweet 16, March 19, 1987East Rutherford, N.J.2 Syracuse 87, 6 Florida 81

Seikaly played what he dubbed as the best game of his life, scoring 33 points, a career-high. But while Seikaly dominated down low, Florida hit its shots from outside and held a 71-66 lead with five minutes left.

That’s when Derrick Coleman blocked an Andrew Moten drive and Douglas found Howard Triche for the lay-up and the foul. A minute later, SU took the lead and never trailed again.

‘You don’t at any point in the game think that you’re going to lose,’ Boeheim said to his team in a timeout late in the game. ‘It just becomes a reaction. You don’t even have to think about what to do.’

Elite 8, March 21, 1987East Rutherford, N.J.2 Syracuse 79, 1 North Carolina 75

The improbable happened: Syracuse’s freshman Coleman outdueled North Carolina first-year star J.R. Reid. Syracuse was headed to the Final Four for the first time since 1975 and only the second time in school history.

Coleman held Reid to only 15 points and six rebounds. Reid scored 31 against Notre Dame two days earlier. Coleman had 14 rebounds. Seikaly added 11 and 26 points.

The players jubilantly carried Boeheim off the court after nearly blowing what was once a 15-point lead. In the aftermath, 1,500 people rushed Marshall Street and South Crouse Avenue before police dispersed the party.

Stevie says: ‘It was a great, great feeling to beat the mighty North Carolina. Nobody really thought we had an opportunity to do that. Great ballgame. Our team played a sound game. It wasn’t like we had to do miraculous things. Coleman should shut down J.R. Reid.’

Final Four, March 28, 1987New Orleans2 Syracuse 77, 6 Providence 63

All things considered, the national semifinal was anticlimactic in the streets of New Orleans. Not Syracuse’s Marshall Street.

Police estimated 8,000 people stormed the area in a thunderous mob, destroying businesses, road signs and cars following Syracuse’s victory over Providence, sending the Orangemen to its first-ever shot at a national title.

Syracuse shot below 50 percent from the field for the first time in the Tournament, but out-rebounded the Friars by almost 20 and held star guard Billy Donovan to a season-low eight points.

Stevie says: ‘I remember telling Seikaly early in the year, I said, ‘Man, we’re going to the championship. We’re going to win the championship,’ I remember him kind of laughing in disbelief. When it was all said and done, he said, ‘Man, you were right.”

National championship, March 30, 1987New Orleans1 Indiana 74, 2 Syracuse 73

Five seconds: That’s when everything changed.

‘It was extremely painful being five seconds away from a national championship and having it taken away from you in a split five seconds,’ former SU forward Herman Harried said Tuesday from Baltimore. ‘It was like having a bullet of lightning hit you. You don’t have time to react to it.’

Keith Smart’s jumper with five seconds remaining gave Indiana its fifth national title and denied Syracuse its first. Smart and backcourt mate Steve Alford combined for 44 points.

Coleman grabbed 19 rebounds but missed the front-end of a one-and-one, which would have put SU up at least two before Smart’s game-winner.

Stevie says: ‘I mean, Keith Smart hit a shot where he was angled behind the backboard. I just remember sitting on the bench talking to one of the players saying, ‘Oh, we’re getting ready to see the president.’ But it was something I’ll never forget. Although we didn’t come away with the championship, that game will go down as one of the greatest games in NCAA championship history.’

Published on March 28, 2007 at 12:00 pm