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Boeheim’s Army (2021) and Blue Collar U (2022) are the last two teams to win The Basketball Tournament’s $1 million prize. Friday marked the first matchup between Boehiem’s Army (Syracuse alumni) and Blue Collar U (Buffalo Alumni) in TBT, an anticipated matchup since BA’s central New York neighbors entered the tournament in 2021.

With Boeheim’s Army leading 49-44 in the fourth quarter, Jamil Wilson grabbed his own 3-point miss and passed the ball to Grant Riller. Riller drilled a 3, giving Boeheim’s Army a 52-44 lead 1:02 into the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing defensive possession, Rakeem Christmas blocked CJ Massinburg’s shot, and Riller went coast-to-coast with an open lane. He finished a contested layup, giving BA their largest lead of the game.

Boeheim’s Army beat Blue Collar U 69-54 to advance to West Virginia for the quarterfinals. Despite their third straight game with a sluggish first quarter, Boeheim’s Army overcame their early deficit, outscoring Blue Collar U 60-33 in the last three periods.

“(Blue Collar U) won for a reason last year,” Dwight Buycks said. “I told (the team) ‘They’re going to hit us first, we got to hit them back and we got to respond.’ They hit us, we responded and we kept it going.”

DeAndre Kane kicked off the scoring with a tear-drop layup at the rim, but Boeheim’s Army’s next field goal didn’t come for another five minutes. In that time, Blue Collar U went on a 13-3 run.

BA’s slow start to the game was on full display when Chris McCullough corralled a defensive rebound but then threw the ball away to Wes Clark. Clark dished the ball to Jeremy Harris behind the 3-point line, and he nailed his second shot of the night, giving Blue Collar U a 10-3 lead and forcing Boeheim’s Army to call a timeout.

In the first quarter, Blue Collar U’s defensive pressure and 3-point shooting were too much for Boeheim’s Army to handle, as BCU forced 10 turnovers and shot 4-for-6 from behind the arc. They jumped out to a 21-9 lead after one quarter.

After Christmas traveled with 7:46 left in the second quarter, BCU got the ball to Nick Perkins, who punished Christmas in the paint for his 11th point of the game.

Following a 4-0 run by Riller, Wilson hauled in a rebound and passed the ball to Riller, who dribbled the ball up the court and found McCullough with a mismatch in the post. After getting the ball, McCullough posted up his defender and rattled in an easy layup.

On the ensuing defensive possession, BA failed to corral a rebound, but BCU couldn’t make them pay for it, as Kane stole the ball from Antwon Lillard. In the open court, Kane found Riller and he laid it in.

Blue Collar U still led 26-22 after Boeheim’s Army’s 8-0 run, but it was the closest the game had been since 5:37 left in the first quarter.

Following a Riller side-step 3 and a Kane layup, Boeheim’s Army took a 27-26 lead, their first lead since the opening minute of the first quarter. Blue Collar U ended their 4:34 scoring drought when Perkins converted after a strong post move. But that was their last score of the half.

Backed by their 17-4 run in the last 5:51 of the second quarter, Boeheim’s Army carried a 31-30 lead into halftime.

At the end of the first half, Boeheim’s Army deployed Jim Boeheim’s famous 2-3 zone, and they continued to use it in the second half. Switching to the zone paid off as Blue Collar U only made one of their first six field goals. Perkins was fouled twice, converting all four of his attempts for the charity stripe.

Boeheim’s Army continued to string stops together, but they couldn’t battle on the glass. Despite BA failing to corral three consecutive defensive rebounds on BCU’s offensive threat, Riller pulled down a rebound and got the ball to Jimmy Boeheim near half-court.

With an open lane, Boeheim drove into the paint, sinking a floater that gave Boeheim’s Army a 42-36 lead with 3:34 left in the quarter.

In the last three quarters, Blue Collar U shot 22 3-pointers trying to keep up with Boeheim’s Army on the scoreboard, but they missed all 22 attempts – in large part because they couldn’t adjust to Boeheim’s Army’s defensive adjustment.

“They scored 21 in the first quarter and finished the game with 54 (points),” Boeheim said. “They came out hot early and we just wanted to throw something out at them just to try something, and (the 2-3 zone) was working and we just stuck with it the rest of the game.”

In the Elam Ending portion, BA needed 67 points to advance to the Elite 8. Boeheim’s Army comfortably got there, winning 69-54 on a game-ending 3-pointer by Riller.

“We got punched in the mouth early, but we showed our resilience and bounced back,” Riller said.

Published on July 28, 2023 at 11:18 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon