Its a final, Syracuse 80, BYU 75. Mark Bigelow missed a good look at a 3 that would have given the Cougars a lead. McNamara finishes with 43, good for 21st on the single game tournament record list. BYU coach Steve Cleveland got caught sleeping when he failed to remove Araujo after his 3rd foul early in the 2nd half. Cleveland had a similar lapse in the MWC semi-final loss to Utah when he was unaware of his own team’s foul total in the final minute of that game, and Utah was able to run out the clock for a victory.

Update…BYU rebounds a McNamara miss. They take a timeout with 32 seconds to go, and can pretty much take the last shot if they desire. Still 77-75 Syracuse.

Final minute…Araujo inexplicably attempts a three-pointer and draws air. Syracuse ball with 47 seconds to go, up 2.

Update…1:36 to go. McNamara’s 9th 3 gives him 40 points. SU 77-75.

Update…final media timeout, 3:40 to go, Syracuse by 1. BYU has weathered the storm with Araujo on the bench. Should be a fun finish. How many bullets does McNamara have left? He sat on the bench for about a minute in the 2nd half, and that’s been his only rest.

CBS has switched to the Wake Forest/VCU game, so I have lost touch with the BYU/Syracuse game for the moment.

Update…SU 65-60, 10:28 to go. BYU is wisely doing all it can to use clock until Araujo can come back. Jake Shoff is performing admirably in Araujo’s absence. Shoff is a prolific fouler committing them at the rate of 9.3 per 40 minutes of playing time, so he normally doesn’t get many minutes. McNamara has hit a couple more 3’s and has 36 points for the game.

Update…BYU center Rafael Araujo picks up his 4th with 14:41 to go. Huge loss for the Cougs. Score tied at 54.

Update…15:44 to go, tied at 50. The offenses are still dominating. Mike Hall is putting the clamps on McNamara early in the 2nd half, but with Warrick back in the lineup, the Orange have another option to go to.

For Syracuse, this game so far is somewhat similar to the 2nd round game against Oklahoma State last year where Carmelo Anthony was non-existent in the 1st half, much like Warrick (4 pts) in this game. The ‘Cuse ended up winning big after trailing by 6 at the half.

Update…Score tied at the half 42-42. Somebody needs to reveal to CBS that Boeheim went away from the zone a few times during the Big East season. Packer and Nantz are acting like this is a sign of the apocalypse. The Orange have to feel pretty good now: Warrick was on the bench for the last 7 minutes of the half and BYU, normally a 35% 3-point shooting team, was on fire in the 1st half. While Syracuse shot well, a lot of it was due to McNamara who’s known to shoot pretty well.

Update…GMac up to 28 points! Still 47 seconds until the half.

Update…McNamara up to 19 points at the final media timeout of the first half. BYU still comfortably ahead 39-31. Syracuse has abandoned the zone with Warrick on the bench. Packer claims he’s never seen the Syracuse zone shredded so easily. He must have missed the first half of the Big East season.

Update…Hakim Warrick gets his 3rd foul – with 7 minutes left until the half. BYU 31-24.

Update…Syracuse needs a timeout after Luis Lemes cans BYU’s 8th 3 pointer of the first half. BYU 29-21.

Update…BYU 23-21 at the second media timeout. GMac is putting on a show for the Orange, 12 points on 3 of 3 from 3 point range, and 3 more points on free throws after being fouled on a 3 attempt. Great contrast here between the size of BYU and the quickness of Syracuse. Neither side can keep scoring at this rate.

The Cougars have scored 3 points in each of their first 6 possessions, yet only hold a 3 point lead over Syracuse at the first media time-out.