Mountaineers storm past Orange 81-61
The meeting between West Virginia and Syracuse marks the first time ever that Jim Boeheim and Bob Huggins faced off against one another. Between the two storied head coaches, they’ve collected almost 1,400 wins, but on this afternoon Huggins earned win No. 601 rather easily against Boeheim.
West Virginia held Syracuse to a season-low in points and Alex Ruoff lead the charge for the Mountaineers, as West Virginia blew by Syracuse 81-61 on Sunday afternoon. Ruoff drained 7-of-10 3-point attempts on the afternoon, finishing with 23 points.
Ruoff led four Mountaineer players in double figures. Darris Nichols had 17 points and six assists, Joe Alexander and Da’Sean Butler each added 13 points for West Virginia (12-4, 2-2).
Syracuse (12-5, 2-2) was held to just 61 points, a season low for the Orange. They were dreadful from the outset, and playing on the road in the Big East, slow starts and poor shooting will kill you. Syracuse miss-fired on 16 of their first 23 shots, and finished with just seven field goals in the first half. As if there poor shooting wasn’t bad enough, the Orange turned the ball over a season-high 19 times, including 10 first half turnovers.
The man-to-man defense for WVU stymied the Orange, and more impressively, WVU was able to keep up their man-to-man pressure throughout the entire game without tiring. They wore down and wore out Syracuse, who just didn’t compete on this afternoon. Syracuse missed 10-of-13 3-point attempts, with leading scorer Donte Greene going 2-of-8 from beyond the arc and 3-of-12 overall. Greene finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Arinze Onuaku led Syracuse with 15 points.
The poor shooting by Syracuse in the first half helped propel West Virginia to a 35-20 halftime lead, and things only got worse for SU. West Virginia went on a 23-5 run that carried over from the first half to the second half, and before Syracuse knew it, they were in a big hole, down 45-23 with 16 minutes to play. The closest Syracuse got was within 15 points the entire second half. The Mountaineers led by as many as 26 with five minutes to play in the ballgame. Both teams are now tied in the Big East standings at 2-2.
It was the biggest home victory for West Virginia over Syracuse in more than 30 years. Of their 12 wins this season, they’ve won by an average margin of 14 points, however, they’ve dropped their first two games on the road in the Big East. West Virginia has now won 14 straight home games, and they’ll aim for 15 in a row at home when they host St. John’s on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Syracuse has dropped two straight in the Big East, with both losses coming on the road. The Orange had won their previous six games. They’ll head back home on Wednesday night when they welcome Rutgers into the Carrier Dome at 7 p.m.
Tags: Big East Basketball, NCAA Men's basketball, Syracuse Orange, West Virginia Mountaineers