1986–87 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

The 1986–87 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team represented Syracuse University in the 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Head coach was Jim Boeheim, serving for his 11th year.^[3] The team played home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The team finished with a 31-7 (12-4) record while making it to the Championship game of the NCAA tournament.

1986–87 Syracuse Orangemen basketball
NCAA tournament, Runner-up Big East regular season co-champions
National Championship Game, L 73-74 vs. Indiana
Conference	Big East Conference (1979–2013)
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 10
Record	31–7 [1] (12–4 Big East)
Head coach	Jim Boeheim (11th season)
Assistant coaches	Bernie Fine (11th season) Wayne Morgan (3rd season) Barry Copeland (1st season)
Home arena	Carrier Dome
Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 Big East men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Georgetown†	12	–	4		.750			29	–	5		.853
No. 12 Pittsburgh	12	–	4		.750			25	–	8		.758
No. 10 Syracuse	12	–	4		.750			31	–	7		.816
Providence	10	–	6		.625			25	–	9		.735
St. John's	10	–	6		.625			21	–	9		.700
Villanova	6	–	10		.375			15	–	16		.484
Seton Hall	4	–	12		.250			15	–	14		.517
Boston College	3	–	13		.188			11	–	18		.379
Connecticut	3	–	13		.188			9	–	19		.321
† 1987 Big East tournament winner As of March 30, 1987[2] Rankings from AP Poll

The team was led by junior Rony Seikaly and sophomore Sherman Douglas. Seniors Greg Monroe and Howard Triche, and freshman Derrick Coleman also played key roles.

Season recap

After the graduation of Rafael Addison and Wendell Alexis and the early departure of Dwayne Washington, expectations for the season were low.^[4]

But behind the surprising Sherman Douglas and Derrick Coleman, and despite an early injury to Rony Seikaly, Syracuse won its first 15 games en route to winning the Big East regular season title.^[5] The season included thrilling victories over St. Johns (64-63)^[6] and Seton Hall (84-80).^[7]

Syracuse would defeat Villanova and Pittsburgh to advance to the Big East Championship game before falling to Georgetown, 69-59.^[8]

NCAA tournament

After finishing the regular season at 28-6, the Orangemen earned a 2 seed in the East region of the NCAA tournament.^[9]

Syracuse played its first two tournament games at home in the Carrier Dome. The Orangemen defeated 15 seed Georgia Southern 79-73 and 10 seed Western Kentucky 104-86 to advance to the Sweet 16.

After winning its first two tournament games at the Carrier Dome, the Orangemen moved on to the Sweet 16 held at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, New Jersey.^[9] The Orangemen defeated 6 seed Florida 87-81.^[1]

Syracuse faced 1 seed North Carolina in the regional finals. The Orangemen had to fight off the Tar Heels down the stretch as they fought to overcome a 15 point Syracuse lead.^[10] However, Syracuse was able to hold off the Tar Heels, winning 79-75 to advance to the Final Four.^[1]

In the semi-final game, the Orangemen defeated fellow Big East team and 6 seed Providence 77-63.^[1] The Orangemen had an easy time with the Friars, out rebounding them 53-35 with Coleman, Douglas, and Triche each having at least 10 rebounds.^[4] The Orangemen held the Friars to 36.4% shooting leading Coach Boeheim to credit the team's defense for the win.^[11] The Orangemen also held Providence's leading scorer and future Florida Gators head coach Billy Donovan to 8 points, 18 under his season average.^[11]

In the championship game at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, the Orangemen matched up against the Indiana Hoosiers coached by Bobby Knight.^[1][4] The game was a back and forth battle down until the final whistle. The Orangemen had a one point lead with 28 seconds left in the second half when Coleman missed the front end of a one and one. Indiana grabbed the rebound and tournament MOP Keith Smart made a jumper from the corner with just seconds left on the clock to give the Hoosiers a one point lead and the National Championship.^[12]

NCAA Tournament school records

The team's 104 point outburst against Western Kentucky in the second round is tied for the most points in a tournament game.^[13]

Rony Seikaly's 138 points is a school record and was tied with Indiana's Steve Alford for most in that year's tournament.^[13] He also set records for field goals and free throws made with 53 and 51, respectively.^[13]

Derrick Coleman's 19 rebounds against Indiana is a school record that still stands as of 2008. He also set tournament records for rebounds and blocked shots with 73 and 16, respectively.^[13]

Sherman Douglas set a record for assists with 49.^[13]

Roster

1986–87 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C 4 Rony Seikaly 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Jr Athens, Greece G 11 Greg Monroe 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Rochester, New York G 20 Sherman Douglas 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) So Washington, D.C. G 21 Matt Roe 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Manlius, New York G 24 Joel Katz 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 182 lb (83 kg) Sr San Juan, Puerto Rico F 25 Howard Triche 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Sr Syracuse, New York F/C 30 Derek Brower 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Jr North Babylon, New York G 32 Stephen Thompson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) Fr Los Angeles, California F 33 Herman Harried 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Baltimore, Maryland C 41 Erik Rogers 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Temple City, California PF 42 Rodney Walker 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — So F 43 Keith Hughes 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Carteret, New Jersey F 44 Derrick Coleman 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Fr Detroit, Michigan F 50 Joey Kohm 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Ithaca, New York	Head coach Jim Boeheim (Syracuse) Assistant coach(es) Bernie Fine (Syracuse) Wayne Morgan (St. Lawrence) Barry Copeland (Central Michigan) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2019-Mar-16

^[14]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Non-conference Regular season
Nov 29, 1986*	No. 15	Loyola–Chicago	W 87–66	1–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 1, 1986*	No. 17	George Washington	W 82–69	2–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 5, 1986*	No. 17	Oklahoma State Carrier Classic	W 73–62	3–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 6, 1986*	No. 17	No. 19 Northeastern Carrier Classic	W 94–74	4–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 8, 1986*	No. 12	Cornell	W 83–76	5–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 11, 1986*	No. 12	vs. St. Bonaventure	W 66–52	6–0	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, New York
Dec 13, 1986*	No. 12	Canisius	W 99–67	7–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 20, 1986*	No. 9	Fairfield	W 93–74	8–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Dec 26, 1986*	No. 7	vs. Wichita State Hawaii Loa Holiday Classic	W 83–69	9–0	Kaneohe Armory  Kaneohe, Hawaii
Dec 27, 1986	No. 7	at vs. Hawaii Loa Hawaii Loa Holiday Classic	W 107–89	10–0	Kaneohe Armory  Kaneohe, Hawaii
Dec 30, 1986*	No. 7	Boston University	W 96–67	11–0	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Big East Regular season
Jan 3, 1987	No. 7	at Connecticut	W 88–71	12–0 (1–0)	Hartford Civic Center  Hartford, Connecticut
Jan 5, 1987	No. 7	at Providence	W 89–85	13–0 (2–0)	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
Jan 10, 1987	No. 5	Seton Hall	W 92–84	14–0 (3–0)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Jan 13, 1987	No. 5	at Boston College	W 76–64	15–0 (4–0)	Roberts Center  Boston, Massachusetts
Jan 18, 1987*	No. 5	at Michigan	L 88–91	15–1	Crisler Arena  Ann Arbor, Michigan
Jan 21, 1987	No. 5	Villanova	W 70–58	16–1 (5–0)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Jan 24, 1987	No. 7	No. 14 St. John's	W 64–63	17–1 (6–0)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Jan 26, 1987	No. 7	No. 17 Pittsburgh	L 70–84	17–2 (6–1)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Jan 31, 1987	No. 6	at No. 11 Georgetown	L 81–83 OT	17–3 (6–2)	Capital Centre  Landover, Maryland
Feb 3, 1987	No. 11	at Seton Hall	W 84–80	18–3 (7–2)	Brendan Byrne Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Feb 7, 1987	No. 11	Connecticut	W 59–53	19–3 (8–2)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Feb 9, 1987	No. 9	at No. 10 Pittsburgh	L 61–63	19–4 (8–3)	Fitzgerald Field House  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Feb 14, 1987*	No. 9	Louisville	W 99–72	20–4	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Feb 16, 1987*	No. 9	vs. Villanova	W 96–82	21–4 (9–3)	The Spectrum  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Feb 19, 1987	No. 9	No. 19 Providence	W 90–81	22–4 (10–3)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Feb 22, 1987	No. 9	No. 11 Georgetown	L 71–72	22–5 (10–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Feb 25, 1987	No. 11	at St. John's	W 88–80	23–5 (11–4)	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Feb 28, 1987	No. 11	Boston College	W 87–63	24–5 (12–4)	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Big East Tournament
Mar 6, 1987	No. 10	vs. Villanova Quarterfinals	W 72–66	25–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Mar 7, 1987	No. 10	vs. No. 11 Pittsburgh Semifinals	W 99–85	26–5	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Mar 8, 1987	No. 10	vs. No. 7 Georgetown Championship game	L 59–69	26–6	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
NCAA Tournament
Mar 13, 1987*	(2 E) No. 10	vs. (15 E) Georgia Southern First round	W 79–73[15]	27–6	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Mar 15, 1987*	(2 E) No. 10	vs. (10 E) Western Kentucky Second Round	W 104–86	28–6	Carrier Dome  Syracuse, New York
Mar 19, 1987*	(2 E) No. 10	vs. (6 E) Florida East Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen	W 87–81[16]	29–6	Brendan Byrne Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Mar 21, 1987*	(2 E) No. 10	vs. (1 E) No. 2 North Carolina East Regional Final – Elite Eight	W 79–75	30–6	Brendan Byrne Arena  East Rutherford, New Jersey
Mar 28, 1987*	(2 E) No. 10	vs. (6 SE) Providence National semifinal – Final Four	W 77–63[17]	31–6	Louisiana Superdome (64,959) New Orleans, Louisiana
Mar 30, 1987*	(2 E) No. 10	vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Indiana National Championship Game	L 73–74	31–7	Louisiana Superdome  New Orleans, Louisiana
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.

^[18]

Rankings

Main article: 1986–87 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	15	17	12	9	7	7	5	5	7	6	11	9	9	11	10	10
Coaches	Not released	13	12	10	7	7	6	6	7	6	11	9	9	11	11	10

^[19]

References

1. "SU Athletics - 1986-87 Final (31-7, 12-4)". Syracuse University. Archived from the original on March 10, 2007. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
2. "1986-87 Big East Conference Season Summary". sports-reference.com. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
3. "Jim Boeheim Year by Year" (PDF). Syracuse University. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 23, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
4. "Syracuse Basketball 1986-1987". RLYoung. 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
5. Rhoden, William C. (January 18, 1987). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL '87: SYRACUSE; New Talent Bolsters 15-0 Syracuse". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
6. "COLLEGE BASKETBALL; SYRACUSE HOLDS OFF ST. JOHN'S". The New York Times. January 25, 1987. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
7. Rhoden, William C. (February 4, 1987). "SYRACUSE SURVIVES DOGGED SETON HALL". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
8. Rhoden, William C. (March 9, 1987). "Williams Connects As Georgetown Wins Big East". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
9. "1987 NCAA basketball tournament bracket". Shrp Sports. Archived from the original on February 26, 2009. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
10. Malcolm Moran (March 22, 1987). "College Basketball: East Regional Syracuse, Providence Gain Final 4; Tar Heels Hurt by Rebounding". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
11. Roy S. Johnson (March 29, 1987). "COLLEGE BASKETBALL: SYRACUSE AND INDIANA REACH FINAL; ORANGEMEN COOL FRIAR'S SHOOTING". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
12. Malcolm Moran (March 31, 1987). "PLAYERS; KNIGHT'S METHODS WIN ONCE MORE". The New York Times. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
13. "SU NCAA Tournament Records" (PDF). Syracuse University. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 23, 2006. Retrieved July 8, 2008.
14. "1987 NCAA Final Four program". March 1987. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
15. "No. 10 Syracuse 79, Georgia Southern 73". UPI Archives. March 14, 1987. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
16. "SEIKALY, SYRACUSE TOP FLORIDA". The Chicago Tribune. March 20, 1987. Retrieved January 30, 2022.
17. "Providence Goes Cold, and Syracuse Is in Title Game, 77-63". Los Angeles Times. March 29, 1987. Retrieved March 3, 2019.
18. "1986-87 Men's Basketball Schedule". Syracuse University Athletics. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
19. • ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 910–911. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.