Wallace Gives His All in Last College Effort

With 1:05 remaining in Monday’s championship game, Syracuse’s John Wallace collegiate career came to an end when he picked up his fifth foul diving for a loose ball with Kentucky ahead by five points.

Wallace took a couple of steps around the court then finally looked up at the scoreboard and saw that despite his 29 points and 10 rebounds, his dream of leading the Orangemen to their first NCAA basketball title would not become a reality.

“It was such a bad feeling to foul out and to leave your team hanging like that,” said Wallace, who had never before fouled out of a game in a Syracuse uniform. “I really thought that we still could win the game. We were only down five points and had a minute left. We were still in it.”

As Wallace made his way to the bench, he had some choice words for the game officials, who he felt had made several questionable calls that helped Kentucky to a 76-67 victory and its first title since 1978.

“We played very good, and we should have won the game,” Wallace said. “Personally, I thought we had a couple of bad calls that could have gone either way.”

After being called for a traveling violation in the first two minutes of the game, Wallace had a running feud with the officials. He sneered at them every time a call went against him or his teammates and one time he loudly cursed at one after he was called for a loose ball foul.

Wallace’s determination to win almost carried Syracuse to one of the biggest upsets in NCAA championship game history as he played 38 minutes against a deep Kentucky team determined to stop him with double teams.

“I was going to play hard regardless . . . no matter how many fouls I had,” said Wallace, who made 11 of 19 shots from the field and grabbed seven defensive rebounds. “I wasn’t going to let any foul problems hinder my game.”

There were stretches during the game when Wallace not only played like the best player on the floor, but also the best player in college basketball.

“John Wallace is a great player,” Kentucky guard Jeff Sheppard said. “We couldn’t do much with him tonight.”

After passing up the NBA a year ago, Wallace took his play to a higher level as Syracuse progressed in the tournament, which did not go unnoticed by Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino.

“He’s terrific,” Pitino said of Wallace. “He shoots the three, he’s explosive off the dribble, and the best thing is that he’s a young man who did the strong thing by staying in school. He’s going to be a great pro. He might not be the No. 1 pick, but he’s going to be as good as the No. 1 pick. I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s not the rookie of the year in the NBA next year.”

Against Kentucky, Wallace displayed all of his talent while his fellow teammates struggled inside. Otis Hill, who had been on a scoring tear in the tournament, missed several easy shots and finished with only seven points, and his backup J.B. Reafsnyder did not score in 13 minutes.

“John stepped up with as big a game as anybody ever played in a big game,” said Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim, whose team finished the season 29-9.

Whenever it seemed as though Kentucky was close to blowing the Orangemen off the floor, Wallace made plays to keep the game close with either a spot-up jumper, a spin move to the basket or a power dunk.

He made his biggest impact after Kentucky took a 59-46 lead with 11:12 left when he scored seven consecutive points to help the Orangemen close to 64-62 with 4:46 remaining.

“At no point during the game did I feel like we were going to lose,” Wallace said. “I tried to lead by example, so every time the ball got into my hands I tried to make things happen.”

In the end, Wallace--who became only the fourth player in history to score more than 20 points and grab 10 or more rebounds in the NCAA championship game--simply did not get enough help from his teammates.

“John did all the things we needed in order for us to be in position to win,” Syracuse guard Lazarus Sims said. “It’s tough because he’s like a brother to me. I’m going to miss him.”

So will the entire Syracuse basketball program.