West Virginia vs Syracuse
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Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, IN - NCAA Midwest 2nd Round  
March 21 , 2021  
Syracuse
75
Pos Player Min FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA Reb Asst TO Stl Blk Fls Pts
G
Joe Girard
29
4
8
4
8
0
1
6
7
3
1
0
0
12
G
Buddy Boeheim
37
8
17
6
13
3
4
3
1
4
2
0
1
25
C
Marek Dolezaj
38
4
6
0
0
4
4
6
5
2
2
1
4
12
F
Alan Griffin
11
1
4
1
4
0
0
0
2
0
0
0
2
3
F
Quincy Guerrier
35
5
9
2
3
0
2
7
1
4
0
5
3
12
-
Kadary Richmond
14
2
2
0
0
0
0
0
2
1
1
0
0
4
-
Robert Braswell
29
3
6
1
3
0
0
3
0
0
0
0
0
7
-
Jesse Edwards
7
0
0
0
0
0
0
2
0
1
0
0
4
0
Syracuse Total
200
27
52
14
31
7
11
29
18
15
6
6
14
75
West Virginia
72
Pos Player Min FG FGA 3FG 3FGA FT FTA Reb Asst TO Stl Blk Fls Pts
G
Sean McNeil
37
4
10
3
5
0
0
3
3
0
1
0
3
23
G
Miles McBride
37
4
10
3
5
0
0
4
7
4
3
0
2
11
C
Derek Culver
21
2
9
0
0
3
3
3
1
2
1
1
1
7
F
Jalen Bridges
21
1
4
0
2
2
2
9
0
3
0
0
0
4
F
Emmitt Matthew Jr
32
6
16
0
1
2
2
7
2
1
1
0
1
14
-
Gabe Osabuohien
19
1
4
0
0
0
2
9
3
1
1
0
4
2
-
Taz Sherman
27
4
12
1
5
2
2
2
2
3
0
0
2
11
-
Jordan McCabe
6
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
1
0
-
Kedrian Johnson
1
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
1
0
 
West Virginia Total
200
26
70
11
26
9
11
41
18
14
8
1
15
72
Attendence -

Comments:

Syracuse would face former Big East foe #13 ranked/#3 seeded West Virginia in the second round of the 2021 NCAA Tournament. The Mountaineers tried hard to keep hot shooting Buddy Boeheim under control, and did well in the first half holding him to three points. Joe Girard picked up the slack and helped the Orange to an early 24-10 lead. Syracuse would continue to lead 30-16 with four minutes to go in the half as the Mountaineers were struggling with attacking the Syracuse zone defense. West Virginia would make a slight run at the end of the half to close the score to 35-29 at the break. Unfortunately Marek Dolezaj would pick up his third foul with under thirty seconds remaining in the half.

Syracuse would work to expand the lead back to double digits early in the second half with multiple Orange players contributing. Buddy Boeheim started getting his scoring going, and that paid dividends for the Orange. Things started to look bad when Dolezaj picked up his fourth foul early in the half, and then very shortly afterwards backup center Jesse Edwards picked up his fourth foul too. Coach Jim Boeheim had little choice but to bring Dolezaj back into the game with four fouls with about twelve minutes left in the game.

Buddy Boeheim would get hot with his shooting in the second half, with 22 points in the half, giving him 25 for the game. The Mountaineers were aggressive on defense with a lot of trapping on the ball and took the lead 53-52 with nine minutes to go. The Orange would retake the lead 58-56 with 6:23 to go in the game when Dolezaj made two free throws. The Orange would lead by nine points with 1:03 left in the game. West Virginia started using a full court press on the inbound baskets and the Orange were not handling it well. Boeheim would make three out of four free throws down the stretch, and in the end the Orange would hold on to win 75-72.

Robert Braswell played extended minutes with some outstanding defense, and Quincy Guerrier blocked five shots keeping WVU's Derek Culver under control.

The Orange would move on to the Sweet Sixteen to face #5 Houston (#2 seed).

© RLYoung 2021