TOURNAMENT NOTES

Syracuse has reached this stage of the tournament with teams considered to be more talented. However, few of Coach Jim Boeheim’s team have relied as much on defense.

Opponents shot less than 42% against Syracuse during the regular season and the Orangemen limited Iona to 39% and New Mexico below 26% in tournament victories last week in Lexington, Ky.

“Our zone is not a normal zone,” Boeheim said. “We just don’t sit back and hope you miss. That doesn’t mean people aren’t going to get shots because they’re going to do that against a zone or man-to-man.”

Todd Burgan was one of the key players in Syracuse’s surprising run to the 1996 national championship game. He sees similarities between how that team was perceived and how few expected the Orangemen to get far in this year’s tournament.

“We went through the same thing with everybody looking at the other brackets or the team who played after us. We’re used to it,” said Burgan, who is Syracuse’s leading scorer. “We’re just going to continue to concentrate on what we have to do. If we keep winning, sooner or later we’ll get the attention.”