HOUSTON – Michael Gbinije seemed lost as his eyes fixated on the bright camera lights in the distance. He fidgeted with his lip, covered his mouth with his right hand and cleared his throat before an answer that was simple, but one that carried far more depth than its six words.

“I’m a little crushed right now.”

Gbinije’s season was over. His college career was over.

Syracuse’s best, most consistent player, who morphed into a star point guard and scored in double digits in each of the Orange’s 37 games, finished a memorable run from the bench after fouling out with 1:25 remaining.

When he exited for the last time, the entire sideline stood to embrace him one at a time. Jim Boeheim met him with a firm handshake and a pat on the back, if only as consolation for a spectacular season that came to an unspectacular end in front of 75,000-plus people and with SU in the Final Four.

Gbinije’s 28-percent mark from the field was not enough in 10th-seeded Syracuse’s (23-14, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) 83-66 loss to No. 1 seed North Carolina (33-6, 14-4) in the national semifinal on Saturday night, but a tainted end could only take away so much from everything that came before it.

“He’s a hell of a guy and a hell of a player and that’s all you can ask for of a teammate,” Trevor Cooney said. “Making this run is a bond that we’ll share forever and I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else.”

For the first time in the NCAA Tournament, Gbinije played the fifth-year senior struggling to lift his team from the depths of a game with its season on the brink. He did it against Gonzaga and helped Malachi Richardson do it against Virginia. But against the Tar Heels, 12 points, no 3-pointers and five fouls couldn’t resuscitate the Orange one final time.

After Gbinije picked up his third foul with 4:23 left and SU trailing by 11, Cooney looked up at the scoreboard hanging from the ceiling before lowering to a squat on the court. Each jolt Syracuse delivered that gave a sliver of possibility at another comeback was met with an answer. Each answer hit the chance of Gbinije extending his career one more game harder.

“The sad thing about tonight’s game, he got probably some of the best shots he’s gotten all year,” Boeheim said. “… It was just one of those days when he could not get the ball to go in the basket.”

Those days came few and far between in the past 37 games. Gbinije still managed to score 10 or more points even on nights when it seemed like he did everything to prevent that. Only four times this season did he shoot less than 30 percent from the field. Only five times this season did he fail to hit a shot from behind the arc.

It almost seemed unfair that in one game both would happen as Syracuse was on the verge of being the lowest-seeded team ever to make the national championship.

“It’s never easy because it’s not just a game,” assistant coach Mike Hopkins said. “It’s the end of your career as a college student, as a college basketball player.”

When Gbinije first walked in the door at Syracuse, assistant coach Adrian Autry raved about the all-around product. Gbinije couldn’t show it off in his first year after transferring from Duke, and rarely had a niche to flourish in until this season. A shift to the hardest position on the court, according to Cooney, came with a mix of intrigue and hesitation.

Gbinije struggled against smaller guards at first. He looked better off the ball at times. He was Syracuse’s best scorer, but had to handle the ball in an offense hardly predicated on one player. As the season progressed, those questions were buried and Gbinije solidified himself as a Syracuse starter instead of a Duke transfer still finding his way.

“Just an incredible player, one of the best players in the country all year, one of the top players in the ACC,” Hopkins said. “…Everything you want from your son or daughter is how we feel about Mike.”

From home in his redshirt year at Syracuse, Gbinije watched Syracuse lose to Michigan in the Final Four. That was a game decided in the final 15 seconds. In his fourth year at Syracuse, Gbinije again watched the Orange lose in the Final Four. He was still sitting in the last 15 seconds, but this time the game was well past decided.

He was the second player to jog off the court behind Cooney, and that jog slowly turned to a walk as each player slowed to touch hands with the Syracuse fans lining the tunnel. Gbinije held a towel over his mouth as he dripped with sweat, hiding any facial expression that could sum up one final game, if there even was one.

“That finality,” Hopkins said, “is always pretty tough for anybody.”

Published on April 3, 2016 at 3:18 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman