Syracuse Preview
March 13, 2009 04:42 PM | General
March 13, 2009
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Will Syracuse be out of gas? That’s the question that will be asked tonight when West Virginia faces the Orange, fresh off Thursday night’s 127-117 six-overtime epic against fourth-ranked Connecticut.
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| Da'Sean Butler scored 16 points in West Virginia's 74-60 win over Pitt Thursday night.
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Syracuse (25-8) won a game that took nearly four hours to finish despite never leading in any of the first five overtime periods. Finally in the sixth overtime, Andy Rautins put Syracuse ahead for good with a 3.
Point guard Jonny Flynn was magnificent against UConn, scoring 34 points and handing out 11 assists in 67 minutes of action. In two tournament games, Flynn has played 102 minutes in victories over Seton Hall and Connecticut. Flynn led the Orange with 19 points and 11 assists in Wednesday’s victory over the Pirates.
Paul Harris added 29 points and 22 rebounds against Connecticut despite having what Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim sarcastically described as an “awful game.” Harris was just 8 of 23 shooting in 55 minutes of action against the Huskies.
Eric Devendorf, whose 3-point shot at the buzzer in regulation was waved off, logged 61 minutes before fouling out with 22 points. Rautins finished with 20 points in 51 minutes.
In addition to Flynn’s 102 minutes in two tournament games, Devendorf has logged 91 minutes, Rautins and Harris 79 each, and center Arinze Onuaku 60. The freshest Syracuse regular is Rick Jackson with 50 minutes played.
West Virginia (23-10), meanwhile, has produced back-to-back double-digit wins against Notre Dame and second-ranked Pitt despite shooting poorly in both contests. The Mountaineers shot 44.2 percent against the Panthers after making only 35.9 percent of their field goal tries against Notre Dame.
The difference in both games was rebounding. West Virginia had a 52-32 advantage on the glass against Notre Dame and had a 33-27 edge against Pitt Thursday night. West Virginia will have to continue to fare well on the boards against Syracuse if it shoots poorly once again.
Freshman Devin Ebanks is emerging in the Big East Tournament just as Joe Alexander did last year. Ebanks pulled down a season-high 18 rebounds against Notre Dame Wednesday night and he scored a season-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds in the upset of Pitt.
Ebanks is now averaging 10 points and 7.7 rebounds per game. Alex Ruoff had another solid effort against Pitt with 18 points on 7 of 14 shooting. Ruoff scored a team-high 25 points against Notre Dame, and is 13 of 27 shooting in two Big East Tournament games.
West Virginia’s only meeting against Syracuse took place at the Carrier Dome Feb. 4 when the Orange came away with a 74-61 victory. In that game, West Virginia had trouble handling Flynn and Devendorf, who combined to score 44 of Syracuse’s 74 points.
West Virginia shot just 35.8 percent from the floor and got pounded on the glass, 46-35. Da’Sean Butler led West Virginia with 23 points.
Syracuse is one of the hottest teams in the country having won six straight since Feb. 24.
The Mountaineers are making their second consecutive Big East Tournament semifinal appearance and their third in the last five years. Eight of West Virginia’s nine Big East Tournament victories have come since 2005.
Also, West Virginia coach Bob Huggins has moved into sole possession of 25th place on the all-time NCAA Division I wins list with 639 victories. Huggins needs two more wins to tie Billy Tubbs for 24th place with 641.
One more victory will give Huggins 50 in his two seasons coaching at West Virginia (49-21), making him the fastest to reach 50 wins in school history.
Tipoff for tonight’s game will follow the first semifinal match up against Louisville and Villanova at 7 p.m.
MSN’s airtime (MountaineerTV on the Internet) will begin at 8:30 p.m. with the Coliseum Countdown.
