Syracuse Basketball: Orange ride Buddy Boeheim's 27 to win over Wolfpack

By Kenneth Cross

Syracuse guard Buddy Boeheim looks the type of guard who might get on a roll and carry his Syracuse team deep in the ACC Tournament. Boeheim scored 27 points and made six threes as the Orange ran to an 89-68 win over NC State in Wednesday’s first game of the ACC Tournament in Greensboro.

Boeheim hit three triples in a span of 1:46 as the third one gave Syracuse a 28-17 lead with 10:14 remaining.

“I feel like I was going early in the first half and guys were looking for me,” said Buddy Boeheim. “In the second half, everyone was going, and it’s just a lot of fun when you know someone is going to make a play, doesn’t matter who it is.”

After Boeheim hit another three with 4:41 remaining to put Syracuse up 37-25, the Wolfpack closed on a 13-6 run behind five points from Jerichole Hellums.

Out of halftime, Syracuse hit the separating run as Joesph Girard, III, and Quincy Guerrier scored nine combined points and Buddy Boeheim connected on a three an a subsewuent free throw as the Orange took a 59-41 lead with 16:26 remaining.

“We started out second half, really moved the ball well,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim. “We got four good looks from the three-point line. I think we made all four. Buddy made the four-point play, Joe made one, and Alan made one, and then Quincy made one.”

Syracuse shot 57 percent for the game and they made 16-of-29 shots in the second half.

“I thought, again, they pressed a lot, and we handled the press,” noted Jim Boeheim. “We just made maybe one turnover against it. It was a really good job of attacking their press, getting him (Buddy) open shots, and he was hot. He got it going, and they’d look for him.”

Girard fiinished with 14 and Adrian Griffin scored 12 while Robert Braswell added 11 points.

D.J. Funderburk led the Wolfpack with 14 while Manny Bates posted 12 points as NC State made only 8-of-27 field goals in the second half.

“We have seven guys that’s playing, and we have such a small room for error, and if we don’t have one or two of our main guys play well, then it puts us in a tough situation to win the game,” said NC State coach Kevin Keatts.

Ken Cross, the self-proclaimed “CEO of College Hoops,” has a plethora of experience over a 20-plus year period in both print and broadcast journalism as a free-lancer on the east coast and in the Charlotte, NC area, in particular. He started with the now defunct Sports Fan Radio Network in 1997 as a reporter, giving in-game updates and then facilitating postgame interviews with players on winning teams after games via smart phones. He has also worked in the same capacity for ESPN Radio, CBS Sports Radio, Fox Sports Radio, Sporting News Radio, Yahoo! Sports Radio over the same period.

In print and on the Internet, Cross continues to write for Lindy’s Sports Annuals as one of the primary writers for the College Basketball preview as well as a writer on the Lindy’s College Football preview staff. He also contributes frequently to the Lindy’s Sports website with articles on all sports throughout the year in a feature, editorial, and game summary mode. He also writes preview material for Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook and covers Wake Forest basketball for Rivals.com.

Cross has a Bachelor’s degree in Mass Communications from Appalachian State University and a Master’s in English and Education from Radford University in Virginia. He is a member of the US Basketball Writers Association and the Football Writers Association of America.