Five Takeaways from Syracuse's Win Over West Virginia
Syracuse held off West Virginia 75-72 to advance to the Sweet-16 where it will face the two seed Houston. Here are the key takeaways from the victory.
1. BUDDY BUCKETS
Buddy Boeheim scored 25 points, made six of 13 three pointers and made clutch plays throughout. Buddy got great looks in the first half, but had just two points on 1-6 shooting. He looked human. Then he reminded everyone he is not that. He is a cheat code. In the second half, he scored 23 points and made five of eight three pointers. He was incredible and proved why he is the hottest shooter in the country right now.
2. GRIT AND DETERMINATION
Syracuse jumped out to a 14 point lead, but allowed West Virginia to close the first half on a 13-5 run to trim the advantage to just six. In the second half, after Syracuse pushed the lead back to double digits, West Virginia battled back. The Mountaineers took the lead 53-52 with 9:47 left. Calls were not going Syracuse's way, West Virginia had all of the momentum. And yet Syracuse did what it has shown all season. Grit, determination, moxie. Syracuse simply would not be denied. Syracuse would respond to WVU's first (and only) lead of the night with a 17-5 run. Yes the Orange had to sweat it out down the stretch, but it was a gutsy performance after West Virginia took the lead.
3. INTERIOR DEFENSE WAS SUPERB
West Virginia made some threes (11-26, 42%), but the interior defense from the Orange was simply fantastic. Syracuse held the Mountaineers to 15-44 (34%) shooting inside the arc. That includes WVU big Derek Culver going 2-9 from the floor despite all of his shots being at the rim. Whenever West Virginia drove, Syracuse had two or three defenders there. It trapped in the paint and made life extremely difficult for the Mountaineers in close. Syracuse had six blocks, but altered so many other shots.
4. INBOUNDING LATE, WOOF
It was a struggle in the final minute. Syracuse should have cruised in the final minute or two of this game, but instead had to sweat it out. A big reason why was the lack of execution against the West Virginia press. Syracuse turned it over, had to call multiple timeouts and were so close it being disastrous. Kadary Richmond made a critical play when he caught the ball and turned up court to escape a potential trap. Few can pressure as well as West Virginia, but that still has to be better in critical situations.
5. GIRARD, DOLEZAJ WITH HUGE PERFORMANCES
When Buddy was struggling to hit shots in the first half, Joe Girard picked up the slack. He finished with 12 points, seven assists and six rebounds. He did a little bit of everything. Marek Dolezaj was also his usual swiss army knife self. Dolezaj finished with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. He made several key passes down the stretch to set up easy buckets and played fantastic defense over the final eight minutes despite having four fouls. Syracuse does not win this game without their efforts.
