Career night for Buddy Boeheim, more takeaways from Syracuse’s ACC Tournament win over Pittsburgh
Alexandra Moreo | Senior Staff Photographer
Frank Howard helped offset the absence of Tyus Battle with 18 points.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — At first, it looked like Syracuse might not have the answer to Tyus Battle’s absence. But the Orange (20-12, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) came back to beat Pittsburgh (14-19, 3-15), 73-59 on Wednesday at the Spectrum Center. It sets up a third meeting this season with Duke that’ll tip off around 9:30 p.m. Thursday night in the ACC tournament quarterfinals.
Here are takeaways from the SU win.
More coverage
- Syracuse’s next opponent: What to know about Duke
- Buddy Boeheim shines with career-night in ACC tournament win over Pittsburgh
- Without Tyus Battle, Syracuse tops Pittsburgh, 73-59, in ACC Tournament 2nd-round matchup
- Tyus Battle ‘realistically 2 or 3 days away’ from return
No Tyus, no problem
Tyus Battle played in the first 102 games of his Syracuse career, and he had started the last 90. But a back bruise suffered at Clemson kept him out against Pittsburgh on Wednesday. It meant Buddy Boeheim started, and he had a good steal and bucket early on to go with an early triple.
Battle’s absence also meant Jalen Carey played minutes for just the second time in seven games. Carey spent time off and on the ball in the first half, and had a sequence where he finished a tough reverse and then set Elijah Hughes up for a 3.
Buddy Boeheim stepped up in the second half, triggering a solo 8-0 run . Hughes also scored more Wednesday than he had in either regular-season meeting with the Panthers, finishing with 18. And Frank Howard made four 3s of his own, two in each half.
The Orange needed secondary players to step up without Battle, and they did.
Buddy buckets
Syracuse trailed early in the second half, and then Buddy Boeheim changed that. He made a short shot in the lane, then a 3 from the top of the key, then a deeper 3 from the top. It put the Orange up 43-39 and forced a Pittsburgh timeout.
Buddy walked away from the Syracuse bench for a second, alone, before slapping his chest and pounding chests with his teammates.
Ok bud!!!! Show that emotion ???
— Eric Devendorf (@edeven23) March 14, 2019
A few minutes later, Buddy crashed the offensive boards. He missed the first follow attempt but made the second, with a foul. Orange head coach Jim Boeheim pumped his right fist on the sideline as SU went up eight.
A Buddy drive inside the final five minutes sent him to the foul line, where he made the first to reach a career-high 17 points. He finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four assists.
The framework
Syracuse was Jared Wilson-Frame’s dream school. Boeheim has said that the Pittsburgh senior always hits shots against the Orange. Those words proved true Wednesday’s first half.
Wilson-Frame drained 6-of-9 3-point attempts before the break. That included a 30-footer from the right wing just before halftime.
But Wilson-Frame couldn’t keep the hot streak going into the second half. He finished just 2-of-7 from beyond the arc after the break.
Tuesday, Wilson-Frame said: “I just want to get that win so I can kind of say something back to (Jim Boeheim), you know, that’s my guy.”
He didn’t get it, and Boeheim will be pleased that finally, he’s coached against Wilson-Frame for the final time.
Published on March 13, 2019 at 11:28 pm
Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3
