Mate Boeheim continued shooting, carrying his Hall of Fame father and eleventh seeded Syracuse back into the Sweet 16.
The Orange, a top program for forty years under Jim Boeheim, indeed showed they’re similarly pretty much as dangerous as a NCAA Tournament afterthought.
“To win two games and be doubted in both, the underdog, this means everything,” Buddy Boeheim said. “If you were to ask me a month or two months ago where I think we would be, I don’t think I would say Sweet 16, that’s for sure.”
“Buckets” Boeheim scored 22 of his 25 points after halftime to lead the Orange past third-cultivated West Virginia 75-72 on Sunday. Syracuse (18-9) progressed to confront second-cultivated Houston in a Midwest Regional elimination round.
The Orange were an air bubble group this year, a natural spot of late. They won their last two normal season games and once in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament to sneak into the field.
Presently they’re making a beeline for Jim Boeheim’s twentieth Sweet 16, on account of his 6-foot-6, sweet-shooting child.
“I mean, he’s just been playing great,” Jim said. “He’s been putting the ball on the floor and getting his own shot. Teammates have been looking for him.
“He had some really good looks today. He was 6 for 13 (on 3-pointers). I’m surprised he wasn’t 10 for 13, really, the way he’s been shooting it. And I know he was disappointed in himself at halftime, but he showed kind of what he’s made of.”
The Orange moved on to the detriment of another instructing legend, Bob Huggins, in the second March Madness meeting between mentors with at any rate 900 Division I triumphs. Huggins won No. 900 when West Virginia beat Morehead State in the first round on Friday. Boeheim got his 982nd to Huggins’ expense.
Mate Boeheim made two straight 3s soon after halftime. His jumper and 3 on back to back belongings put Syracuse ahead 63-59 with 4:55 left, and he helped set the game aside with three late free throws.
After his peaceful first half, Boeheim got a motivational speech from previous Orange sharpshooter Gerry McNamara, who won the 2003 public title as Carmelo Anthony’s partner and is presently one of Jim Boeheim’s assistants.
“G-Mac just came up to me at halftime and said, ‘Keep going. I don’t care if you miss 200. Just keep shooting,’” Boeheim said. “I just said, all right, if I get clean looks, I’m going to have to take them and I’m going to start making them.”
Sean McNeil scored 23 points to lead the Mountaineers (19-10), who last made the Sweet 16 out of 2018. That was the fifth time West Virginia got that far under Huggins, who additionally made the local semis multiple times with Cincinnati.
WVU trailed 74-72 with 4 seconds left before Boeheim was fouled at midcourt on an inbounds pass. He made one free toss and missed the second, yet Miles McBride went subsequent to snatching the rebound.
The Mountaineers burrowed an early hole and briefly started to lead the pack back in the subsequent half. Yet, Boeheim continued replying with big cheeses.
“They shot it extremely well,” Huggins said. “It seemed like everything they shot went in, and they shot from deep. We wanted to make them bounce it and we let them get too many step-in shots.”
Joe Girard scored each of the 12 of his focuses before halftime, steadying the Orange while Boeheim battled. Quincy Guerrier and Marek Dolezaj additionally scored 12 each for Syracuse.
BIG PICTURE
Syracuse: The Orange are the air pocket group no one needs to play. They have progressed to the Sweet 16 each time they’ve been given a twofold digit cultivating, arriving at the Final Four as a 10 out of 2016 and the Sweet 16 as a 11 of every 2018. That later run finished when Jim Boeheim’s pack lost to Duke and Mike Krzyzewski, the lone past competition game between 900-win mentors. Syracuse lost in the first cycle two years prior when Buddy Boeheim was a freshman role player.
West Virginia: Like numerous Syracuse adversaries, the Mountaineers battled against the 2-3 zone with helpless shooting (37.1%) and turnovers (14). They refocused, yet couldn’t overcome the challenge.
Enormous NUMBERS
Mate Boeheim has 55 points so far in the tournament. Just Gary Clark (60 out of 1957) and McNamara (56 of every 2004) scored more in Syracuse’s initial two tourney games.