NEW YORK — Syracuse didn’t land top recruit Tobias Harris Thursday night, but the Orange did score a blowout victory over a Top 25 team that traveled 3,000 miles for the beatdown.Before a huge pro-Orange crowd at Madison Square Garden that included former Syracuse great Derrick Coleman, the Orange dispatched No. 13 Cal, 95-73, to advance to the championship game of the 2K Sports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
Scoop Jardine put up 22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists and 4 steals and Wesley Johnson posted 17 points and 11 rebounds for Syracuse, which will meet No. 6 North Carolina, the defending NCAA champion, in Friday’s final at 7 p.m.
“There’s nothing like playing in the Garden,” said Jardine, a Philadelphia native who said he could see his parents in the stands throughout the game. “We play here two days but I would just rather play every day.”
