2005–06 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team

The 2005–06 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team represented Syracuse University. The head coach was Jim Boeheim, serving for his 30th year. The team played its home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The team finished with a 23–12 (7–9) record, while being eliminated in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

2005–06 Syracuse Orange men's basketball
Big East Tournament Champions (vacated)
NCAA Tournament, First round
ConferenceBig East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
APNo. 21
2005–06 record0–12, 23 wins vacated (0–9 Big East, 7 wins vacated)
Head coachJim Boeheim
Assistant coaches
Home arenaCarrier Dome
2005–06 Big East men's basketball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L PCT  W L PCT
No. 2 Connecticut14–2 .875  30–4  .882
No. 3 Villanova14–2 .875  28–5  .848
No. 22 West Virginia11–5 .688  22–11  .667
Marquette10–6 .625  20–11  .645
No. 23 Georgetown10–6 .625  23–10  .697
No. 16 Pittsburgh10–6 .625  25–8  .758
Seton Hall9–7 .563  18–12  .600
Cincinnati8–8 .500  21–13  .618
No. 21 Syracuse†7–9 .438  23–12  .657
Rutgers7–9 .438  19–14  .576
Louisville6–10 .375  21–13  .618
Notre Dame6–10 .375  16–14  .533
DePaul*5–11 .313  12–15  .444
Providence*5–11 .313  12–15  .444
St. John's*5–11 .313  12–15  .444
South Florida*1–15 .063  7–22  .241
† 2006 Big East Tournament winner
As of April 3, 2006[1]; Rankings from AP Poll
*Did not qualify for 2006 Big East Tournament.

The team was led by Gerry McNamara, the team's lone senior. Also seeing time in the starting lineup were juniors Darryl Watkins, Louie McCroskey, Demetris Nichols and Terrence Roberts, and freshman Eric Devendorf.

Due to NCAA sanctions for use of ineligible players, all wins from this season have been vacated.[2][3][4]

Season recap

Syracuse started off the season losing Josh Pace, Hakim Warrick and Craig Forth to graduation, leaving McNamara as the only consistent returning starter from the 2004–05 team. After starting the season 15–2, Syracuse struggled, losing four in a row to Connecticut, Villanova, Pittsburgh and Seton Hall.[5] The Orange would go 4–5 the rest of the way, including an emotional 92–82 loss to Villanova at the Carrier Dome, despite 29 points from McNamara in his final home game.[6]

After McNamara's home send-off, Syracuse then captured the most unlikely of its Big East Tournament Championships, fueled by the heroics of Gerry McNamara. Prior to the conference tournament two separate publications, Sports Illustrated and the Syracuse Post-Standard conducted polls of Big East players and assistant coaches. In each poll, McNamara was voted the Big East's "Most Overrated" player.[7][8][9]

In the first round he hit a running one-handed three-point shot with less than a second left in the game to spur Syracuse past the University of Cincinnati, 74–73. Following the game Jim Boeheim unleashed a passionate defense of his star player to the attending media.[10]

The next day McNamara hit a three-pointer in the closing seconds of regulation to tie number-one ranked Connecticut and eventually led Syracuse to an overtime 86–84 upset. McNamara finished with 17 points and 13 assists, one assist shy of the Big East Tournament record.[11]

Syracuse fell behind Georgetown University in the tournament's semi-finals, Syracuse's third game in three days. McNamara hit five three-pointers in the second half—including one in the last minute of the game—to slash the Hoyas' lead to one. He dished out an assist to freshman guard Eric Devendorf to put Syracuse in the lead following a Georgetown turnover and forced another turnover in the closing seconds to clinch the game, 58–57.[12]

McNamara had 14 points and 6 assists in Syracuse's 65–61 championship game win over the University of Pittsburgh. Syracuse became the first team to win four games in four days and capture the Big East Tournament Championship.[13]

However, the thrill of Syracuse's unlikely run to the Big East Championship was dampened by a first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. Severely hobbled by his leg injury and exhausted from the run in the Big East tournament, McNamara was only able to score two points in just 23 minutes of play as fifth-seeded Syracuse was upset by 12th-seeded Texas A&M University, 66–58.[14]

Roster
  • Gerry McNamara (16.0 pts, 5.9 ast, 2.7 reb)
  • Demetris Nichols (13.3 pts, 1.4 ast, 5.8 reb)
  • Eric Devendorf (12.2 pts, 2.3 ast, 2.5 reb)
  • Terrence Roberts (10.7 pts, 1.6 ast, 7.6 reb)
  • Darryl Watkins (7.1 pts, 0.7 ast, 7.3 reb)
  • Louie McCroskey (3.8 pts, 1.3 ast, 3.3 reb)
  • Josh Wright (4.3 pts, 1.6 ast, 1.4 reb)
  • Matt Gorman (2.6 pts, 0.3 ast, 2.1 reb)
  • Arinze Onuaku (2.0 pts, 0.1 ast, 2.8 reb)
  • Andy Rautins (2.9 pts, 0.7 ast, 0.9 reb)
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References
  1. "2005-06 Big East Conference Season Summary: Standings" sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11-14-2013.
  2. "Syracuse to vacate wins, lose 12 scholarships; Boeheim suspended". CBSSports.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  3. "NCAA investigation costs Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim 108 wins, drops him to 6th all-time". syracuse.com. Retrieved 2016-02-16.
  4. "Syracuse basketball's 101 vacated wins will include memorable 2006 Big East title". syracuse.com. 2006-10-17. Retrieved 2017-01-30.
  5. "Seton Hall Contributes to Syracuse's Misery". The New York Times. 2006-01-30. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  6. "McNamara Shines, but Villanova Is Victorious". The New York Times. 2006-03-06. Retrieved 2010-04-22.
  7. Yorio, Kara (2006-03-08). "McNamara's not overrated — just ask Boeheim". The Sporting News. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  8. Ramsey, Ethan (2006-02-08). "Is Gerry Overrated?". The Daily Orange. Archived from the original on 2007-12-08. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  9. Winn, Luke (2006-03-08). "McNamara keeps 'Cuse alive ... and Boeheim explodes". CNNSI.com. Archived from the original on 5 August 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  10. "McNamara's miracle saves Syracuse". CNNSI.com. 2006-03-08. Archived from the original on 2006-05-27. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  11. "Gerry buries another clutch trey as Orange oust Huskies". CNNSI.com. 2006-03-09. Archived from the original on 2013-02-02. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
  12. "McNamara magical again as Orange rally to advance to final". The Associated Press. 2006-03-10. Archived from the original on 2013-02-03. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  13. "Syracuse knocks off No. 15 Pitt for Big East title". The Associated Press. 2006-03-12. Archived from the original on 2006-04-26. Retrieved 2007-09-01.
  14. Long, Mark (2006-03-16). "Texas A&M 66, Syracuse 58". The Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2009-02-04. Retrieved 2007-08-23.
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