# 1989–90 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team

The 1989–90 Syracuse Orangemen basketball team represented Syracuse University in the 1989–90 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Head coach was Jim Boeheim, serving for his 14th year. The team played home games at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. The team finished with a 26–7 (12–4) record, was Big East regular season champions, and advanced to the Southeast Regional semifinal of the NCAA tournament.
The team was led by Big East Player of the Year Derrick Coleman and sophomore Billy Owens.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site city, state |
| Nov 27, 1989* | No. 1 | Rutgers | W 95–79 | 1–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Nov 29, 1989* | No. 1 | Cornell | W 108–56 | 2–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 1, 1989* | No. 1 | VCU Carrier Classic | W 100–73 | 3–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 2, 1989* | No. 1 | No. 16 Temple Carrier Classic | W 73–56 | 4–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 6, 1989* | No. 1 | vs. No. 6 Duke ACC–Big East Challenge | W 78–76 | 5–0 | Greensboro Coliseum Greensboro, NC |
| Dec 9, 1989* | No. 1 | at Canisius | W 92–72 | 6–0 | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium Buffalo, NY |
| Dec 16, 1989* | No. 1 | Towson State | W 105–75 | 7–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 19, 1989* | No. 1 | C. W. Post | W 129–72 | 8–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Dec 28, 1989* | No. 1 | Lafayette | W 85–64 | 9–0 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 3, 1990* | No. 1 | at Pittsburgh | W 80–78 | 10–0 (1–0) | Civic Arena Pittsburgh, PA |
| Jan 6, 1990* | No. 1 | Villanova | L 74–93 | 10–1 (1–1) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 10, 1990* | No. 6 | No. 15 St. John's | W 81–72 | 11–1 (2–1) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 13, 1990* | No. 6 | at Boston College | W 81–66 | 12–1 (3–1) | Silvio O. Conte Forum Chestnut Hill, MA |
| Jan 15, 1990* | No. 6 | at Connecticut Rivalry | L 59–70 | 12–2 (3–2) | Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, CT |
| Jan 20, 1990* | No. 5 | Providence | L 86–87 | 12–3 (3–3) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 23, 1990* | No. 11 | Pittsburgh | W 83–74 | 13–3 (4–3) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Jan 27, 1990* | No. 11 | at No. 3 Georgetown | W 95–76 | 14–3 (5–3) | Capital Centre Landover, MD |
| Jan 29, 1990* | No. 11 | at No. 15 St. John's | W 70–65 | 15–3 (6–3) | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| Feb 3, 1990* | No. 7 | vs. Florida State | W 90–69 | 16–3 | Orlando Arena Orlando, FL |
| Feb 5, 1990* | No. 7 | Seton Hall | W 74–65 | 17–3 (7–3) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 10, 1990* | No. 6 | No. 8 Connecticut Rivalry | W 90–86 | 18–3 (8–3) | Carrier Dome (32,820) Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 12, 1990* | No. 6 | at Villanova | L 56–60 | 18–4 (8–4) | The Spectrum Philadelphia, PA |
| Feb 17, 1990* | No. 4 | Notre Dame | L 65–66 | 18–5 | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 20, 1990* | No. 11 | Boston College | W 105–69 | 19–5 (9–4) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Feb 25, 1990* | No. 11 | at Providence | W 93–89 | 20–5 (10–4) | Providence Civic Center Providence, RI |
| Feb 28, 1990* | No. 10 | at Seton Hall | W 71–69 | 21–5 (11–4) | Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, NJ |
| Mar 4, 1990* | No. 10 | No. 7 Georgetown | W 89–87 | 22–5 (12–4) | Carrier Dome Syracuse, NY |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| Mar 9, 1990* | No. 4 | vs. Pittsburgh Big East tournament quarterfinal | W 58–55 | 23–5 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| Mar 10, 1990* | No. 4 | vs. Villanova Big East tournament semifinal | W 73–61 | 24–5 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| Mar 11, 1990* | No. 4 | vs. No. 8 Connecticut Big East tournament championship / Rivalry | L 75–78 | 24–6 | Madison Square Garden New York, NY |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 16, 1990* CBS | (2 SE) No. 6 | vs. (15 SE) Coppin State First round | W 70–48 | 25–6 | Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA |
| Mar 18, 1990* CBS | (2 SE) No. 6 | vs. (7 SE) Virginia Second Round | W 63–61 | 26–6 | Richmond Coliseum Richmond, VA |
| Mar 23, 1990* CBS | (2 SE) No. 6 | vs. (6 SE) No. 20 Minnesota Southeast Regional semifinal | L 75–82 | 26–7 | Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SE=Southeast. All times are in EST. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 6 |
| Coaches | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 5 | 10 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 6 |

## Awards and honors

* Derrick Coleman – Big East Player of the Year

## 1990 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 1 | 1 | Derrick Coleman | New Jersey Nets |