Both Syracuse Orange basketball teams make the Final Four

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — It was a stunning Sunday for Syracuse University basketball — times two.

The Orange men’s basketball team advanced to the NCAA Tournament Final Four in Houston with a 68-62 win over Virginia in the Midwest Regional final in Chicago. The Orange (23-13) staged a remarkable rally from a 15-point deficit with 9:32 remaining in the game to make college basketball’s biggest weekend for the second time in four years. Syracuse outscored the Cavaliers 29-8 to finish the contest at the United Center, led by a furious full-court press and 14 points from freshman guard Malachi Richardson.

“It was a great comeback, one of the best I’ve coached in, any team I’ve had…,” Jim Boeheim, Syracuse head coach, said in the post-game press conference.

The Orange men are the first 10 seed to ever make the Final Four. They will play the North Carolina Tar Heels (32-6), the East Regional champion and a 1 seed, next Saturday night, April 2. The game at NRG Stadium in Houston is set to tip off at 8:49 p.m., following the contest pitting Oklahoma against Villanova.

The Orange women’s basketball team (29-7) is headed for its first-ever Final Four in Indianapolis following an 89-67 victory over the Tennessee Lady Volunteers in an NCAA Tournament regional final in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Number 4 seed Syracuse made 14 three-point shots in 30 attempts and broke open a relatively close contest by outscoring 7 seed Tennessee 26-11 in the fourth quarter.

The Syracuse women will face another 7 seed, the Washington Huskies, in the national semifinals next Sunday night at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

Contact Rombel at arombel@cnybj.com