The Orange played one of their best games all season and suddenly all of those doubts cast after their first tournament game have begun to dissipate and are being replaced with hope.
Syracuse survived a scare against the No. 16 seed UNC-Asheville in the first round of the NCAA tournament to squeak out a 72-65 win to advance to the second round of the East Regional.
Top-seeded Syracuse played its fourth game this season without its starting center Fab Melo and struggled against the 16th seeded UNC Asheville before hanging on for a 72-65 win.