FanHouse Arinze Onuaku

NEW YORK (AP) -- Brandon Triche and Arinze Onuaku combined for 13 points in Syracuse's 22-1 run to open the second half and the Orange went on to a 87-71 victory over No. 6 North Carolina on Friday night in the championship game of the 2K Sports Classic.

The Orange (4-0) were the only unranked team in the semifinals of the tournament that benefits Coaches vs. Cancer but they left Madison Square Garden with blowout wins over No. 13 California and the Tar Heels (4-1).

North Carolina had a 39-37 halftime lead but that was gone in a hurry as Triche and Onuaku had field goals in the first 40 seconds. By the time the run ended 8 minutes into the second half Syracuse had a 59-40 lead.

Tournament MVP Wesley Johnson (pictured, right) had 25 points for the Orange, who beat California 95-73 in the semifinals. Onuaku finished with 15 points and Triche had 11.

There was not going to be an answer for Blake Griffin. Rick Jackson and Arinze Onuaku did everything they could. Jackson in particular player a very tough first half, but Griffin was just too much, as he has been for everybody all year, and Jim Boeheim doubtless knew he would be before the game ever began.

Thing is, Syracuse could have survived an unstoppable Griffin if it had been able to do something else exceptionally well. Something they'd done all year. Something that takes place far away from the spot on the court where Griffin spends most of his time. Yeah, that's right. We're talking about 3-point shooting.

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This is Syracuse forward/center Arinze Onuaku at the free throw line in last night's NIT game against UMass:

Did Onuaku think he was standing at the top of the key or something? Onuaku shot 44% from the line this season, but he actually managed to go 2-for-4 last night, boosting his average in the final game of the season. Fan IQ is wondering how Memphis coach John Calipari failed to land Onuaku.

Syracuse led by 22 in the second half last night before blowing the game to UMass. Free throw shooting was far from the only reason, but doesn't it seem like Syracuse has been terrible at shooting free throws for 30 years?