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CONNECTICUT 94, 8SYRACUSE 64
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SPORTS
dailyorange.com @dailyorange march 21, 2017 • PAG E 16
kia nurse (11) unloads a shot in front of Syracuse’s Isabella Slim on Monday night at Gampel Pavilion. Nurse tied the NCAA Tournament record with nine 3-pointers in a single game. UConn ended SU’s season for the second straight year. evan jenkins staff photographer
SHOOTERS
SHOOT Connecticut’s Kia Nurse goes 9-of-12 on 3-pointers to sink Syracuse’s season
By Tomer Langer sports editor
K
ia Nurse put her head down, shook it and ran back down the court to play defense. A wry smile crept across her face as she set up on the other side of the court after knocking down her seventh 3-pointer of the first half. As head coach Geno Auriemma said after the game, the 6-foot junior had come to Connecticut to be a spot-up shooter. She found success too, hitting at a 45.5-percent clip on the year. She had two games earlier this season where she shot well and nailed a then-career-high six 3-pointers, including in Saturday’s firstround matchup against Albany. None of that compared to what happened on Monday night. In No. 1 seed UConn’s (34-0, 16-0 American Athletic)
94-64 thumping over No. 8 seed Syracuse (22-11, 11-5 Atlantic Coast), Nurse had the shooting performance of her life. She drilled eight first-half 3s and tacked on a ninth in the second half — banking in one from the corner — to tie the all-time record for 3s made in an NCAA Tournament game. “Usually when Kia hits the side of the backboard in practice it goes out of bounds,” Auriemma quipped. “This time it happened to go in, so you knew it was a big night for us.” Syracuse’s defense got shredded for most of the game. But in the beginning, SU compounded those issues by struggling to make shots, hitting just five field goals. UConn consistently pushed through easily and scored early. The four starters who scored in the game each had at least one basket in the first quarter. Three of those were 3s from Nurse, but it didn’t seem anything out of the see nurse page 14
men’s basketball
Contract extension gives Jim Boeheim exactly what he wants
J
im Boeheim has an untouchable air about him. That’s earned after nearly a half-century of coaching at the same school. He operates his team freely, says what he wants and continues to lead Syracuse even after demonstrating a “lack of institutional control” in the NCAA’s eyes. But the truth is, Boeheim
CONNOR GROSSMAN WEST COAST BIAS
felt boxed in by an email. Specifically, the 11th paragraph of a campus-wide email sent in the wake of NCA A sanctions on March 18, 2015.
“Coach Boeheim … intends to retire as Head Coach in three years,” the message from Chancellor Kent Syverud said. Boeheim no longer dictated his exit from the program he built. An email did. “I did not want to make it public,” Boeheim said of his preplanned retirement on Monday. “I thought that was a mistake … I
was overruled.” Now there’s a new course in place, one that aligns precisely with Boeheim’s desire for secrecy and ambiguity. Mike Hopkins’ hiring as Washington’s next head coach left the Orange without its next head coach. That cornered Director of Athletics John Wildhack into making a decision about Boeheim, slated to yield the head
coaching position to Hopkins after next season. Wildhack offered Boeheim a contract extension, the length of which is being kept secret. So as Boeheim and Wildhack fielded questions at the Carmelo K. Anthony Basketball Center on Monday afternoon, neither offered a new path of succession. The only
see grossman page 15