Miami’s Davon Reed (5) and Syracuse’s Jerami Grant (3) battle for the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Coral Gables, Fla., on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2014. Syracuse won 64-52.READ MOREThis is part of Mark Wiedmer’s annual series on teams with the potential to make the basketball Final Four.Louisville Cardinals basketball dynasty a possibilityArizona’s Cactus Cats could win it allNo 40-0 breeze for Kentucky, but long run possible
The script is becoming familiar. Syracuse looks good early. Falls behind in second half. Rallies at the finish to win. Again. And again.
It happened once more on Saturday, when the No. 2 Orange blew a double-digit lead at Miami, fell behind by one, then came back to comfortably win its 19th game in 19 outings, 64-52.
“I don’t care what our record is – we’ve had seven games, including this one, that could have easily gone the other way,” moaned 69-year-old Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who’s now in his 38th season coaching his alma mater.
But they’ve all gone the Orange’s way heading into this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference games at Wake Forest and at home against Duke. They are one victory from tying the best start in school history and once more in the discussion to win it all come April, after losing to Michigan in the national semifinals last year.