Two former Big East foes, led by high-profile, colorful coaches, recorded a resounding win with the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 berth balancing on Sunday.
Syracuse, No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region and No. 3 seed in West Virginia, Indianapolis, face each other at 5:15 pm at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The last time the two played each other was a 63–61 Syracuse win at the Career Dome in 2012, when both were members of the Big East. Neither Syracuse nor West Virginia plays in the Big East. West Virginia is in the Big 12 from 2012–13 and Syracuse is in the ACC from 2013–14.
But the goal for each is to get the Sweet 16 to face the winner of Sunday’s Houston-Rutgers matchup.
Syracuse (18-9) is here because it beat No. 6 seed San Diego State 78-62 in the first round, with Buddy Boehm, the son of Orange coach Jim Boehm, scoring 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting. 7-for-10 from 3-point range).
West Virginia (20-9) passed No. 14 seed Morehead State 84-67 which was the 900th career victory of venerable Mountaineer coach Bob Huggins.
Syracuse dominated San Diego State in a big way as the Aztec had little idea to handle the Orange’s 2-3 zone, snapping 3-pointers and going only 11-40 from long range.
Huggins, who have faced that 2-3 zone dozens of times, will have a better handle on it. His team plays more inside-out offense than the way San Diego State plays. The Mountaineers, in fact, have attempted the seventh-most free throws this season, averaging around 24 per game.
“This is the first 2-3 zones we’ve played against all season, and obviously very good,” SDSU coach Brian Dutcher said after the loss to Syracuse. “Coach Boehm has found success because he plays it better than anyone.”
Boehm said his field was better than Friday night. An unfamiliar opponent also helps.
“When you don’t watch a full year, it’s a little bit difficult to play against the zone,” Boeim said. “We might be helped in reaching the tournaments in the last few years,” he said. Most teams do not see a zone throughout the year. Our league teams know what we do and they are very good at attacking us. Therefore, it is not as effective against teams that know you. ”
Huggins knows Boeheim and his region as well as anyone.
Boehm said he has seen the Mountaineers play “four times, at least five times this year” and that they are “the best West Virginia team I’ve seen.” said.
“They always make a good defense, but they’ve got many people who can shoot the ball, which I haven’t seen much of them over the years,” he said.
West Virginia led by Miles McBride, who scored 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting against Morehead State, shot 50.8 percent from the field in the win and was 9-for-18 from outside the 3-point arc.
Syracuse’s not-so-secret weapon is Buddy Boehm, a junior guard who has provided 31 percent of the Orange’s 46 percent field goals and eight assists in the last three games.
“He studies sports,” said Jim Boehm. “He has always studied the game. He understands the game. His teammates are really looking for and helping him, and when they come to that, they get to get their shots. Bringing the ball back to the people. ”
Boehm credits his wife for Buddy’s good genes.
“I knew he would grow tall because of his mother,” Boeheim said. “If he was 6-foot, he would still be a very good player, but it would probably be [smaller upstate New York schools] Of Le Moyne or Ithaca or somewhere. But he has the right mother. He could always shoot. There is a way of being able to play shooters, especially good sized shooters. ”
Leave a Reply