1978–79 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

The 1978–79 Syracuse Orangemen men's basketball team represented Syracuse University during the 1978–79 NCAA men's basketball season. The team qualified for the NCAA Tournament, winning their first game against UCONN before losing in the second round to Penn.

1978–79 Syracuse Orangemen basketball
NCAA Tournament, Second Round, L 76–84 vs. Penn
Conference	Independent
Ranking
Coaches	No. 10
AP	No. 8
Record	26–4
Head coach	Jim Boeheim (3rd season)
Assistant coach	Bernie Fine (3rd season)
Home arena	Manley Field House
Seasons ← 1977–78 1979–80 →

1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball independents standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 8 Syracuse		–			–			26	–	4		.867
Georgetown		–			–			24	–	5		.828
No. 6 DePaul		–			–			26	–	6		.813
No. 4 Notre Dame		–			–			24	–	6		.800
VCU		–			–			20	–	5		.800
Iona		–			–			23	–	6		.793
Detroit		–			–			22	–	6		.786
Tennessee State		–			–			20	–	6		.769
Old Dominion		–			–			23	–	7		.767
No. 10 Marquette		–			–			22	–	7		.759
Wagner		–			–			21	–	7		.750
Connecticut		–			–			21	–	8		.724
UNLV		–			–			21	–	8		.724
UNC Wilmington		–			–			19	–	8		.704
Boston College		–			–			21	–	9		.700
James Madison		–			–			18	–	8		.692
Rhode Island		–			–			20	–	9		.690
George Mason		–			–			17	–	8		.680
St. Bonaventure		–			–			19	–	9		.679
Illinois State		–			–			20	–	10		.667
Dayton		–			–			19	–	10		.655
Boston University		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Fairfield		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Georgia Tech		–			–			17	–	9		.654
Oral Roberts		–			–			17	–	10		.630
Holy Cross		–			–			17	–	11		.607
Cleveland State		–			–			15	–	10		.600
Maine		–			–			14	–	10		.583
Army		–			–			14	–	11		.560
Denver		–			–			15	–	12		.556
South Carolina		–			–			15	–	12		.556
Stetson		–			–			15	–	12		.556
Siena		–			–			14	–	12		.538
St. Francis (NY)		–			–			14	–	12		.538
Navy		–			–			13	–	12		.520
Xavier		–			–			14	–	13		.519
Northeastern		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Saint Francis (PA)		–			–			13	–	13		.500
Robert Morris		–			–			13	–	14		.481
Southern Miss		–			–			13	–	14		.481
Air Force		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Long Island University		–			–			12	–	13		.480
Canisius		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Colgate		–			–			12	–	14		.462
Evansville		–			–			13	–	16		.448
East Carolina		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Loyola-Chicago		–			–			12	–	15		.444
Butler		–			–			11	–	16		.407
North Texas		–			–			11	–	16		.407
Saint Peter's		–			–			10	–	15		.400
Campbell		–			–			10	–	16		.385
New Hampshire		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Providence		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Richmond		–			–			10	–	16		.385
Hawaii		–			–			10	–	17		.370
William & Mary		–			–			9	–	17		.346
Georgia Southern		–			–			9	–	18		.333
Fairleigh Dickinson		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Wisconsin-Milwaukee		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Vermont		–			–			8	–	18		.308
Northwestern State		–			–			7	–	19		.269
Catholic		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Arkansas-Little Rock		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Niagara		–			–			6	–	20		.231
Portland State		–			–			6	–	21		.222
Baltimore		–			–			4	–	20		.167
Valparaiso		–			–			4	–	21		.160
Charleston Southern		–			–			2	–	25		.074
Rankings from AP Poll

Personnel

1978–79 Syracuse Orange men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown C Roosevelt Bouie 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — Jr Dan Boyle — — Hal Cohen — — G Mark Cubit 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) — Ken Davis — — Ed Gooding — — G Rick Harmon 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) — G Marty Headd 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So F Chris Jerebko 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — So G Eddie Moss 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) — So F Louis Orr 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) — Jr F Ron Payton 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — Fr C Danny Schayes 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) — So F Dale Shackleford 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Sr	Head coach Jim Boeheim Assistant coach(es) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site city, state
Regular Season
Nov 25, 1978*	No. 9	Whittier College	W 102–77	1–0	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Nov 29, 1978*	No. 9	North Carolina A&T	W 102–77	2–0	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Dec 1, 1978*	No. 9	Western Michigan Carrier Classic	W 93–71	3–0	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Dec 2, 1978*	No. 9	Iona Carrier Classic	W 89–76	4–0	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Dec 9, 1978*	No. 9	Rhode Island	W 70–68	5–0	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Dec 16, 1978*	No. 9	at Penn State	W 67–50	6–0	Rec Hall  University Park, Pennsylvania
Dec 22, 1978*	No. 8	vs. No. 15 Illinois Kentucky Invitational	L 61–64	6–1	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 23, 1978*	No. 8	at No. 11 Kentucky Kentucky Invitational	L 87–94	6–2	Rupp Arena  Lexington, Kentucky
Dec 29, 1978*	No. 19	Illinois State	W 82–72	7–2	Manley Field House (9,221) Syracuse, New York
Jan 3, 1979*		at Cornell	W 78–52	8–2	Barton Hall  Ithaca, New York
Jan 6, 1979*		Pittsburgh	W 100–74	9–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 8, 1979*		American	W 103–73	10–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 10, 1979*	No. 20	Penn State	W 85–70	11–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 13, 1979*	No. 20	at Connecticut	W 74–60	12–2	Hugh S. Greer Field House  Storrs, Connecticut
Jan 17, 1979*	No. 12	Siena	W 144–92	13–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 20, 1979*	No. 12	at Canisius	W 103–92	14–2	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium  Buffalo, New York
Jan 22, 1979*	No. 12	Rutgers	W 71–65	15–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 24, 1979*	No. 12	at No. 16 Temple	W 78–76	16–2	The Palestra  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Jan 27, 1979*	No. 12	Manhattan	W 113–68	17–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Jan 29, 1979*	No. 12	West Virginia	W 90–74	18–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Feb 7, 1979*	No. 7	vs. South Carolina	W 71–64	19–2	Madison Square Garden  New York, New York
Feb 10, 1979*	No. 7	at St. Bonaventure	W 74–69	20–2	Reilly Center  St. Bonaventure, New York
Feb 17, 1979*	No. 7	St. John's	W 79–72	21–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Feb 21, 1979*	No. 8	Niagara	W 120–82	22–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Feb 24, 1979*	No. 8	Colgate	W 113–62	23–2	Manley Field House  Syracuse, New York
Feb 26, 1979*	No. 8	Le Moyne	W 92–60	24–2	Onondaga County War Memorial  Syracuse, New York
ECAC Tournament
Mar 1, 1979*	No. 6	at St. Bonaventure ECAC Upstate Playoffs	W 83–71	25–2	Rochester War Memorial  Rochester, New York
Mar 2, 1979*	No. 6	vs. No. 16 Georgetown ECAC South-Upstate Final	L 58–66	25–3	Cole Fieldhouse  College Park, Maryland
NCAA Tournament
Mar 10, 1979*	(4 E) No. 8	vs. (5 E) Connecticut First Round	W 89–81	26–3	Providence Civic Center  Providence, Rhode Island
Mar 16, 1979*	(4 E) No. 8	vs. (9 E) No. 14 Penn	L 76–84^[1]^[2]	26–4	Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, North Carolina
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East.

Rankings

Main article: 1978–79 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

^[3]

References

1. "Penn, St. John's Pull Upsets". The Washington Post. March 17, 1979. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
2. "FOR PENN, THE PRICE WAS RIGHT". Sports Illustrated. March 26, 1979. Retrieved June 13, 2021. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
3. ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia. Random House. 2009. pp. 854–855. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.