Syracuse 63, West Virginia 61
January 28, 2012 04:09 PM | General
A pair of Brandon Triche free throws with 1:28 left helped fourth-ranked Syracuse to a 63-61 victory over West Virginia Saturday afternoon at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse, N.Y.
But, unfortunately, Mountaineer fans will remember this game more for what didn’t happen than what did happen. With eight seconds left and West Virginia trailing by two, all three game officials missed an obvious goal tend on Deniz Kilicli’s put-back try to tie the game when Syracuse’s Bayne Keita clearly touched the ball after it hit off the glass above the cylinder.
The basketball went out of bounds with 6.2 seconds left and the Mountaineers had two more opportunities to win the game, but Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones both missed 3s ahead of the horn.
“Our kids played their hearts out,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “We didn’t execute well enough at the end. KJ’s look wasn’t very good and Truck’s was a little bit better, but it wasn’t good enough either.”
The game was a back and forth affair throughout, West Virginia leading for most of the first half until the Orange used an 8-2 run over the remaining 3:20 to take a 28-24 lead at halftime.
Syracuse’s biggest lead was six, 33-27, at the beginning of the second half to force Huggins to burn an early timeout. West Virginia responded with a Bryant 3, and eventually the senior tied it at 41 with another 3 from the wing.
After back-to-back Syracuse baskets, West Virginia answered with buckets by Jones and Kilicli to tie the game at 45. The Mountaineers briefly retook the lead at 47-46 with 8:39 remaining, and then again at 49-47 with 8:12 to go on two Bryant free throws.
Then Triche nailed a 3 from NBA distance to give the lead back to Syracuse, 50-49, and another Triche basket gave the ‘Cuse a 52-49 advantage with six minutes remaining.
Gary Browne responded with a bank-shot 3 from the wing to tie the game, and the freshman tied it again at 54 and at 56 with four straight free throws.
Kris Joseph then made a conventional three-point play with 3:03 remaining when he scored going to the basket and was fouled by Browne to put the Orange ahead 59-56. Jabarie Hinds and Joseph exchanged baskets before Jones lined up a 3 from the corner to tie the game at 61.
Jones led all scorers with 20 points, going 8 for 18 from the floor and also pulling down eight rebounds. Bryant added 12, all in the second half, and Browne contributed 10 for West Virginia, which falls to 15-7, 5-4.
WVU had a 41-20 disparity on the glass, which helped keep the Mountaineers in the game, but 17 turnovers – several coming while trying to enter the ball into the middle of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone – led to several fast break baskets for the Orange.
“Syracuse’s length bothered us,” said Huggins.
Triche led the Orange with 18 and Joseph, after a slow start, finished with 13. Syracuse (22-1, 9-1) shot 46 percent overall, but was only 4 of 20 from 3-point range for 20 percent.
Kilcili had a tough all-around afternoon, going just 2 of 10 from the floor and hitting only 1 of 5 from the free throw line for 5 points.
“Deniz missed some close shots he normally makes and KJ missed some follow shots that he normally makes,” said Huggins.
The Orange played their third straight game without 7-foot center Fab Melo, who has been sidelined with academic issues. A crowd of 28,740 – the largest to watch a college game this year – was announced.
“You knew West Virginia was going to come back like this," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. "They’ve been a good road team the whole year. They wiped Kansas State and they should have beaten Baylor in the tournament. They won by 20 at Rutgers; they just had a bad game the other night (against St. John's). Everyone does that at one time or another in this league. They’re tough; Kevin Jones played great and that’s what he does every night."
West Virginia has now lost nine in a row at the Dome and has only defeated Syracuse once in this facility back in 1996. The Mountaineers have also lost a pair of league games to drop to seventh place in the Big East standings.
“We’ve put ourselves in a hole and we’ve got to dig our way out,” said Huggins. “We need to get at least nine wins in the league to get a (NCAA) bid and we probably need to get to 10 or 11 to get a decent seed.”
West Virginia has a quick turnaround facing Pitt on Monday night in the Backyard Brawl at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. That game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
“There are tickets left and it would be nice to have a big sellout crowd with an enthusiastic student section,” said Huggins. “We’ve got to get this thing going in the right direction again and defending the home turf is extremely important for us.”
The Panthers play Georgetown later today.
But, unfortunately, Mountaineer fans will remember this game more for what didn’t happen than what did happen. With eight seconds left and West Virginia trailing by two, all three game officials missed an obvious goal tend on Deniz Kilicli’s put-back try to tie the game when Syracuse’s Bayne Keita clearly touched the ball after it hit off the glass above the cylinder.
The basketball went out of bounds with 6.2 seconds left and the Mountaineers had two more opportunities to win the game, but Truck Bryant and Kevin Jones both missed 3s ahead of the horn.
“Our kids played their hearts out,” said West Virginia coach Bob Huggins. “We didn’t execute well enough at the end. KJ’s look wasn’t very good and Truck’s was a little bit better, but it wasn’t good enough either.”
The game was a back and forth affair throughout, West Virginia leading for most of the first half until the Orange used an 8-2 run over the remaining 3:20 to take a 28-24 lead at halftime.
Syracuse’s biggest lead was six, 33-27, at the beginning of the second half to force Huggins to burn an early timeout. West Virginia responded with a Bryant 3, and eventually the senior tied it at 41 with another 3 from the wing.
After back-to-back Syracuse baskets, West Virginia answered with buckets by Jones and Kilicli to tie the game at 45. The Mountaineers briefly retook the lead at 47-46 with 8:39 remaining, and then again at 49-47 with 8:12 to go on two Bryant free throws.
Then Triche nailed a 3 from NBA distance to give the lead back to Syracuse, 50-49, and another Triche basket gave the ‘Cuse a 52-49 advantage with six minutes remaining.
Gary Browne responded with a bank-shot 3 from the wing to tie the game, and the freshman tied it again at 54 and at 56 with four straight free throws.
Kris Joseph then made a conventional three-point play with 3:03 remaining when he scored going to the basket and was fouled by Browne to put the Orange ahead 59-56. Jabarie Hinds and Joseph exchanged baskets before Jones lined up a 3 from the corner to tie the game at 61.
Jones led all scorers with 20 points, going 8 for 18 from the floor and also pulling down eight rebounds. Bryant added 12, all in the second half, and Browne contributed 10 for West Virginia, which falls to 15-7, 5-4.
WVU had a 41-20 disparity on the glass, which helped keep the Mountaineers in the game, but 17 turnovers – several coming while trying to enter the ball into the middle of Syracuse’s 2-3 zone – led to several fast break baskets for the Orange.
“Syracuse’s length bothered us,” said Huggins.
Triche led the Orange with 18 and Joseph, after a slow start, finished with 13. Syracuse (22-1, 9-1) shot 46 percent overall, but was only 4 of 20 from 3-point range for 20 percent.
Kilcili had a tough all-around afternoon, going just 2 of 10 from the floor and hitting only 1 of 5 from the free throw line for 5 points.
“Deniz missed some close shots he normally makes and KJ missed some follow shots that he normally makes,” said Huggins.
The Orange played their third straight game without 7-foot center Fab Melo, who has been sidelined with academic issues. A crowd of 28,740 – the largest to watch a college game this year – was announced.
“You knew West Virginia was going to come back like this," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. "They’ve been a good road team the whole year. They wiped Kansas State and they should have beaten Baylor in the tournament. They won by 20 at Rutgers; they just had a bad game the other night (against St. John's). Everyone does that at one time or another in this league. They’re tough; Kevin Jones played great and that’s what he does every night."
West Virginia has now lost nine in a row at the Dome and has only defeated Syracuse once in this facility back in 1996. The Mountaineers have also lost a pair of league games to drop to seventh place in the Big East standings.
“We’ve put ourselves in a hole and we’ve got to dig our way out,” said Huggins. “We need to get at least nine wins in the league to get a (NCAA) bid and we probably need to get to 10 or 11 to get a decent seed.”
West Virginia has a quick turnaround facing Pitt on Monday night in the Backyard Brawl at the WVU Coliseum in Morgantown. That game will be televised nationally on ESPN.
“There are tickets left and it would be nice to have a big sellout crowd with an enthusiastic student section,” said Huggins. “We’ve got to get this thing going in the right direction again and defending the home turf is extremely important for us.”
The Panthers play Georgetown later today.
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