Syracuse Orange fall to Oklahoma 84-71 to end season and Elite Eight bid

Oklahoma downs Syracuse, advances to final

By By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Story Created: Mar 27, 2009 at 11:59 PM EST

Story Updated: Mar 30, 2009 at 5:57 PM EST

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) - Oklahoma is dangerous enough with Blake Griffin. Give him some help? The Sooners are nearly unstoppable.

Griffin scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds, and Tony Crocker added a career-high 28 points as the second-seeded Sooners beat Syracuse 84-71 Friday night and advanced to their first regional final since 2003.

Oklahoma (30-5) will play either top-seeded North Carolina or Gonzaga in the South Regional final Sunday looking for their first Final Four since 2002. The last time the Sooners made it this far, Syracuse beat them en route to their own national championship.

And all that talk of an All-Big East Final Four?

That's over with now. Syracuse was the league's lone representative left in the South Region. The Orange (28-10) finally ran out of the magic that helped them pull off such wins as their six-overtime marathon over Connecticut in the Big East tournament.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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