The Syracuse Orangemen and the Kansas Jayhawks have advanced to the U.S. men's college basketball championship game in New Orleans, Louisiana. Syracuse made it into the final thanks to a hard-fought win over Texas.
The Syracuse Orangemen took the lead early in the game and did not surrender it until early in the second half. The combination of Syracuse's powerful freshman Carmelo Anthony and some late mistakes by Texas put the Orangemen into the championship game for the first time since 1996.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said while Texas was able to counter his 2-3 zone defense, his Orangemen rose to the challenge on offense. "I know that you knew it would be an offensive game. Texas can score points against any defense. We have not been really sharp in the tournament on the offensive end, and tonight we were right from the beginning and we were able to maintain it the whole game. And our offense was good," he said.
Syracuse will take on Kansas in Monday night's title game. Kansas dominated Marquette in the first game Saturday, 94-61. Kansas last won the title in 1988. Syracuse has never won the championship.
