WASHINGTON — The confidence level never wavered. But Syracuse’s season had reached its breaking point.

It was March 10, the day after Georgetown’s 61-39 annihilation of the Orange, and the realization finally hit junior forward C.J. Fair and his teammates. The embarrassment from the previous afternoon’s debacle was still tangible as the players met and started practice on their own before the coaches arrived.

They knew they needed to turn it around. Fast.

“We knew something had to change,” Fair said. “I think we took the initiative to turn things around, knowing our season could be over very quick.”

Syracuse pulled off the late-season turnaround, shedding the weight of the team’s four losses in its final five regular-season games with an inspired performance at the Big East tournament followed by the Orange’s dominant run through the East Region to the Elite Eight. After looking like a team left for dead at the Verizon Center three weeks ago, SU is one win away from cutting the nets down in the same arena to reach the Final Four.

Standing in the way is Marquette, a Big East rival the Orange lost to during its brutal finish to the regular season.

“For one of the Big East teams to make it to the Final Four is incredible,” SU guard Brandon Triche said. “Hopefully it will be us.”

Triche said after Thursday night’s win that he and his teammates stayed positive by thinking back to Connecticut’s national championship run in 2011. The Huskies, led by prolific guard Kemba Walker, lost four of their final five regular season games before reeling off 11 straight wins to take the Big East and national championships.

Even before the season, at media day in October, Triche said he’d be happy to have a “basic” regular season like UConn did if it ended with the same result. In the end, Triche said, the regular season is meaningless. Teams are remembered for their performances in March.

At Madison Square Garden, Syracuse showed signs of its capability to match UConn’s run with three wins, including one over Georgetown, before falling to Louisville in the championship game. The Orange started to look like the talented group that spent the majority of the season in the Top 10 again.

Three wins in the NCAA Tournament, including the dominant 11-point victory over top-seeded Indiana, completed the rebirth of Syracuse as a national title contender.

“We’re just a whole different team and our will to win is great,” SU point guard Michael Carter-Williams said.

The transformation started that Sunday after the loss to Georgetown.

It struck assistant coach Gerry McNamara as he and the coaching staff made their way to the gym for practice. The players started early.

At a moment of adversity, when the players could have crumbled and drifted apart, they came together. They were better than they’d been playing, but they needed to show it or their next loss would soon be their last.

“I think it was just a perfect example of a team taking control of their situation and deciding we’re going to get better and we’re going to do it right now,” McNamara said.

So Syracuse is at the Verizon Center, 40 minutes away from the Final Four for a second straight season.

After losing four key players from last season’s 34-3 team that came up short in the Elite Eight against Ohio State, this group has battled through the ups and downs.

The Orange jumped out to an 18-1 start, establishing themselves as national title contenders with a win over then-No. 1 Louisville at the KFC Yum! Center on Jan. 19. They faltered twice during a six-game stretch without sharpshooter James Southerland. And they struggled through all four losses spanning February and March.

Syracuse felt the season slipping away three weeks ago with the fourth loss in five games, but it’s regrouped for the postseason, the only part of the year that really matters. With that mentality and last year’s failure still fresh, the Orange is determined to take the next step and head to Atlanta.

“We know how it feels to get so close and come up short,” Fair said, “so we got another chance this year to have a different outcome.

“I think we are going to do whatever we can do to get to the Final Four.”

Published on March 29, 2013 at 5:59 pm

Contact Ryne: rjgery@syr.edu