1978-1979 Syracuse Orangemen
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Overall 26-4 NCAA Sweet Sixteen Schedule Results
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Coach: Jim Boeheim

Player Cl Pos G GS FG FGA FG% FT FTA FT% Ast Reb Fls DQ TO ST BS Pts Ppg Apg Rpg
Hal Cohen Jr G
29
21
93
173
53.8%
50
65
76.9%
87
55
62
1
-
-
-
236
8.1
3.0
1.9
Marty Headd So G
30
30
159
302
52.6%
55
67
82.1%
47
43
50
1
-
-
-
373
12.4
1.6
1.4
Dale Shackleford Sr F
30
30
179
361
49.6%
66
110
60.0%
123
192
92
2
-
67
-
424
14.1
4.1
6.4
Louie Orr Jr F
28
27
142
248
57.3%
85
117
72.6%
66
215
76
3
-
-
-
369
13.2
2.3
7.7
Roosevelt Bouie Jr C
30
30
176
279
63.1%
103
162
63.6%
15
257
94
4
-
-
81
455
15.2
0.5
8.6
Danny Schayes So C
29
2
62
117
53.0%
55
66
83.3%
15
121
76
2
-
-
24
179
6.2
0.5
4.2
Eddie Moss So G
26
9
62
109
56.9%
47
63
74.6%
115
63
59
2
-
46
-
171
6.6
4.4
2.4
Rick Harmon Fr G
29
1
44
94
46.8%
37
46
80.4%
58
66
46
1
-
-
-
125
4.3
2.0
2.3
Ron Payton Fr F
18
0
36
71
50.7%
26
39
66.7%
7
39
34
1
-
-
-
98
5.4
0.4
2.1
Mark Cubit Sr G
27
0
39
84
46.4%
16
22
72.7%
44
27
57
2
-
-
-
94
3.5
1.6
1.0
Chris Jerebko So F
14
0
39
68
57.4%
11
17
64.7%
12
46
26
1
-
-
-
89
6.4
0.9
3.2
Dan Boyle Sr F
10
0
14
36
38.9%
1
2
50.0%
2
8
9
0
-
-
-
29
2.9
0.2
0.8
Ken Davis So F
7
0
3
10
30.0%
3
3
100.0%
1
8
3
0
-
-
-
9
1.3
0.1
1.1
Ed Gooding Fr F
3
0
4
8
50.0%
1
2
50.0%
2
5
3
0
-
-
-
9
3.0
0.6
1.6

The Orangemen would return most of a talented team from the previous season. Expectations were high for the team, as they would start out ranked #9 in the country, the highest a Syracuse team had started a season ranked (to that point in time).

Marty Byrnes was gone to the NBA, but senior Dale Shackleford was moving to the front line along with the talented Louis Orr and Roosevelt Bouie. Big Danny Schayes was going to be counted on to back up the front line. Coach Jim Boeheim was hoping to get more offensively out of both Bouie and Shackleford. The backcourt was going to be a trio of guards with Eddie Moss the fast pace playmaker, Hal Cohen a smooth shooting point guard, and Marty Headd a sharp shooting guard.

The Orangemen started the season out strong easily beating Whittier College by 49 points. Syracuse would beat Iona surprisingly easy in the Carrier Classic finals behind Dale Shackleford's 30 point effort.

The team would go 6-0 before heading out to the University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament (UKIT) to face #15 ranked Illinois. The Illini would upset the Orangemen 64-61, giving SU its first lost. The Orangemen had a chance to tie the game at 62 with 8 seconds to play, but Shackleford missed one of two free throws. The University of Kentucky was upset by Texas A&M in its first round of play, and so the Orangemen would face the #11 Wildcats in the consolation game. Kentucky proved to be too much for Syracuse as they won 94-87.

The Orangemen struggled in their next game against unheralded Illinois State, though they team would pull out a 10 point win. A couple of games latter the team would right itself with an outstanding defensive effort against Pittsburgh, which led to easy points and a 100-74 win. A few games later Syracuse would play Siena; the Orangemen would win 144-92, setting a school record for most points scored in a game. Eight different Syracuse players would score double digits in the game.

Syracuse's next ranked opponent was Temple. Eddie Moss had a sore ankle and was limited in the game, giving the Owls a significant speed advantage at the guard position. The Owls would lead 43-37 at the half. Syracuse would rally in the second half and take the lead. The Orangemen led 50-48 when Temple tied up the game with 50 seconds remaining. Syracuse had one last change to win in regulation, but Hal Cohen's long jumper missed. The Orangemen would take the early lead in the overtime, and would never relinquish it. Cohen hit two free throws in the last minute to clinch the win, and would lead all Syracuse scorers with 24 points.

Syracuse entered the post season winning 18 straight games. They would beat St. Bonaventure easily in the first round of the ECAC playoffs to advance to the finals. There the Orangemen faced #15 Georgetown. The Hoyas would end up with the upper hand in that game winning 66-58, though both teams would advance to the NCAA.

Syracuse faced Connecticut in the first round. The Orangemen had one of their best halfs of basketball in the first half, leading by as much as 25 points. They would easily coast to victory in the second half 89-81.

In the Sweet Sixteen, the Orangemen faced the Penn Quakers. Penn had upset highly favored North Carolina in the first round. Syracuse would play extremely sloppy in the first half of the game, committing fifteen turnovers, and missing several free throws. They would trail Penn 50-37 at the half. The Orangemen would make several runs at Penn in the second half, but their poor free throw shooting plus Penn's excellent free throw shooting made the difference. Penn would make 13 of 15 free throws down the stretch, whereas Syracuse made only 12 of 23 for the game, including missing two front ends of one-and-ones in the last 10 minutes. The Orangemen did get within 75-70 with 2:51 to play, but that was as close as they would get.

The Orangemen finished the year with an impressive 26-4 record, but failed to go as far as expected in the NCAA. The team would lead the NCAA in scoring margin at +17.2 ppg.

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