Instant Juice: Syracuse 63, West Virginia 61

A quick take on Syracuse’s 63-61 win against West Virginia:

WHAT HAPPENED: Kevin Jones missed a potential game-winning 3-pointer as time expired, as Syracuse held on for a sloppy win. The play happened after Baye Moussa Keita appeared to get away with goaltending on a Deniz Kilicli putback that would’ve tied the game with 6.2 seconds left. Instead, the Orange held on for its second straight win. Syracuse won despite ice cold shooting from downtown. SU was just 4-for-20 from beyond the arc, including James Southerland missing all four of his shots. SU’s big men were also in foul trouble throughout the entire afternoon. Keita played the final minutes with four fouls, while Rakeem Christmas fouled out. Still, SU was able to win because of its defense, which forced 17 turnovers en route to 22 points.

» What did you think of the blown goaltending call?
» Is Syracuse fatally flawed?

ANALYSIS: The Orange dearly missed Fab Melo in this game, as the Mountaineers dominated SU on the glass, 41-20. West Virginia was particularly potent on the offensive glass, with 19 rebounds leading to 13 points. The close game also afforded an opportunity to get a glimpse into Syracuse’s go-to player down the stretch since so few games for the Orange have gone down to the wire this season. SU coach Jim Boeheim elected to go with sophomore guard Dion Waiters, who had the ball in his hands with the Orange up two points with 33 seconds left. Waiters took a screen and drove left for a running shot that he missed. It was a interesting decision, given Waiters recent struggles and better games offensively for Kris Joseph and Brandon Triche.

HERO: Triche led Syracuse with 18 points while Joseph chipped in 13. Kevin Jones had 20 points and eight rebounds for the Mountaineers.

ZERO: Kilicli had just five points on 2-for-10 shooting from the field, and was 1-for-5 from the free throw line. Dion Waiters was ineffective again, with eight points on 2-for-9 shooting.

WHAT’S NEXT: Syracuse will head to New York City to play St. John’s on Sat., Feb 4 at 12:00 p.m. TV: ESPN.

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About Wes Cheng 2907 Articles
Wes has worked for Rivals.com covering the New York Knicks, as well as for Scout.com covering Syracuse athletics. Wes has also been a contributing writer for the South China Morning Post (Hong Kong), for SportsNet New York (SNY) as a news desk writer covering all of New York professional sports, and reported on the NBA and MLB for the New York Sportscene. A native of Long Island, New York, Wes graduated from Syracuse University in 2005 with a degree in journalism. Contact him at wes[at]sujuiceonline.com.