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Throwback Thursday: Syracuse Upsets UNC to Advance to Final Four

A look back at the Orange's upset of North Carolina in the 1987 NCAA Tournament.
Mike McAllister|
Throwback Thursday: Syracuse Upsets UNC to Advance to Final Four
Throwback Thursday: Syracuse Upsets UNC to Advance to Final Four

Legend has it that Syracuse center Rony Seikaly was so amped up to play North Carolina the night before the Elite Eight matchup, that he paced the hall of his hotel instead of sleeping. Seikaly was upset because pregame coverage, specifically from Dick Vitale, was predicting that North Carolina's JR Reid would be too much for Seikaly to handle. 

He proved those prognostications wrong. 

The two seeded Syracuse Orangemen were underdogs to North Carolina, who was considered the favorite to win the national championship. Syracuse would squash those dreams, led by Seikaly's dominant performance. 

The Orange center scored a game high 26 points on 11-15 shooting, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked two shots. His counterpart, the aforementioned JR Reid, finished with 16 points and five rebounds. Seikaly got the better of the individual and team matchup as he led Syracuse to a 79-75 victory. 

Syracuse got out to a double digit lead in the first half, taking a 41-30 advantage in the the locker room. North Carolina would make a run behind a 25 point, seven assist performance from Kenny Smith. Ultimately, Syracuse was too much for the Tar Heels and they would advance to the Final Four. The first Final Four of Jim Boeheim's head coaching career.

Sherman Douglas had a solid outing himself with 14 points and nine assists. Derrick Coleman was just 2-8 shooting for eight points, but grabbed 14 rebounds and blocked three shots. He also had three assists and two steals. Howard Triche did a little bit of everything with 10 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. 

Off the bench, Stevie Thompson was the primary contributor with seven points in just 13 minutes. 

Highlights can be found at the top of the page. 

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Mike McAllister
MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting.  EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans.  After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years.  Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports.  Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College. 

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