New York — A furious Syracuse comeback fell short as the No. 1 seed Orange lost to Cincinnati 71-68 in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.
Dion Waiters was the only Syracuse player who played well, but the sophomore guard nearly carried the Orange back from the dead.
The Orange trailed by as many as 17 points, but Waiters' 3-pointer with 17.1 seconds remaining got Syracuse to within 68-66 after the Orange appeared headed for certain defeat.
After JaQuon Parker hit just one of two free throws with 15.6 seconds left, Waiters brought the ball upcourt. Cincinnati's Cashmere Wright fouled Waiters on purpose, preventing Waiters from attempting a game-tying 3-pointer.
With 5.4 seconds on the clock, Waiters made the first free throw. He tried to hit the front of the rim with his second shot, but the ball cleared the rim and went in.
Cincinnati got the ball inbounds against SU's pressure, but the Orange couldn't foul and the Bearcats' Justin Jackson finished off the upset with a dunk.
Waiters finished with a career-high 28 points in a splendid performance that went for naught.
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Syracuse (31-2) lost for just the second time all season, but still figures to be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament when the 68-team field is announced on Sunday.
Cincinnati advanced to play in the Big East Tournament championship game for the first time since joining the conference in the 2005-06 season.
Syracuse seniors Scoop Jardine and Kris Joseph both struggled. Joseph scored nine points on 2-for-6 shooting. Joseph had four turnovers. Meanwhile, Jardine finished with just six points on 2-for-3 shooting. Jardine also turned the ball over five times. He fouled out of the game with 37 seconds remaining.
The Bearcats started the game on fire, hitting eight of their first 10 shots from 3-point range. Cashmere Wright drained a 3-pointer with 5:43 left in the half to give Cincinnati a 34-17 lead.
The 17-point Cincinnati lead was the second-largest deficit Syracuse had faced all season. The Orange trailed by as many as 18 points to Notre Dame in its only loss of the year.
Syracuse chipped into Cincinnati's lead, narrowing the margin to 35-23 at halftime. The Bearcats finished the half 13-for-26 from the field and 8-for-13 from 3-point range.
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Kilpatrick led Cincinnati with 18 points, while Yancy Gates had 18 points and seven rebounds.
After trailing 34-17 in the first half, Syracuse pulled to within 41-33 after Waiters hit a 3-pointer and Joseph made one out of two free throws with 14:11 left in the game.
The Orange, with Waiters doing most of the damage, continued to scrap and claw its way back into the game.
Waiters hit a 3-pointer from outside the NBA line to narrow the margin to 58-53 and then stole the ball from Cashmere Wright and dished to Brandon Triche, who was fouled by Wright. But Triche missed both free throws.
A minute later, Waiters led the Orange break. He missed the layup, but Fab Melo converted the tip-slam to cut the deficit to 58-55. Cincinnati, however, caught Syracuse's players out of position and found Gates all alone at the other end of the court for an easy dunk, restoring the lead to five points.