SWEET DREAMS
KNIGHTS EYEING BERTH IN ‘16’
RUTGERS VS. HOUSTON 7:10 p.m., TBS
Two former Big East foes led by highprofile, colorful coaches with prolific winning records meet on Sunday with an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 berth in the balance.
Syracuse, the No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region, and West Virginia, the No. 3 seed, face each other at 5:15 p.m. at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
The last time the two played each other was in 2012 at the Carrier Dome, a 63-61 Syracuse win, when both were members of the Big East. Neither Syracuse nor West Virginia plays in the Big East any longer. West Virginia has been in the Big 12 since 2012-13 and Syracuse has been in the ACC since 2013-14.
But the goal for each is to get to the Sweet 16 to face the winner of Sunday’s Houston-Rutgers matchup.
Syracuse (18-9) is here because it blew out No. 6 seed San Diego State 78-62 in the first round, with Buddy Boeheim, the son of Orange coach Jim Boeheim, scoring 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting (7-for-10 from 3-point range).
West Virginia (20-9) routed No. 14 seed Morehead State 84-67 in what was the 900th career victory for venerable Mountaineers coach Bob Huggins.
Syracuse dominated San Diego State largely because the Aztecs had little idea how to handle the Orange’s 2-3 zone, chucking up 3-pointers and going only 11of-40 from long distance.
Huggins, who has faced that 2-3 zone dozens of times, will have a better handle on it. His team plays more inside-out offense than the way San Diego State played. The Mountaineers, in fact, have attempted the seventh-most free throws in Division I this season, averaging nearly 24 per game.
“This is the first 2-3 zone we’ve played against all season, and obviously a very good one,’’ SDSU coach Brian Dutcher
said after the loss to Syracuse. “Coach Boeheim has had the success he’s had because he plays it better than anybody.’’
Boeheim said his zone “was better than it’s been’’ on Friday night. An unfamiliar opponent helps, too.
“It’s a little bit more difficult to play against a zone when you don’t see one all year,’’ Boeheim said. “That’s one thing that’s probably helped us as we get into the tournaments the last few years. Most teams don’t see a zone all year. The teams in our league know what we do and they’re pretty good at attacking us. So, it’s not as effective against teams that know you.’’
Huggins knows Boeheim and his zone as well as anyone.
Boeheim said he has seen the Mountaineers play “about four times, five times at least this year’’ and called them “the best West Virginia team I’ve seen.’’
“They always play good defense, but they’ve got multiple guys that can shoot the ball, which I haven’t seen that much from them the last few years,’’ he said.
West Virginia, led by Miles McBride, who scored 30 points on 11-for-17 shooting against Morehead State, shot 50.8 percent from the field in the win and was 9-for-18 from outside the 3-point arc.
Syracuse’s not-so-secret weapon has been Buddy Boeheim, the junior guard, who either has made or assisted on 46 percent of the Orange’s field goals in the past three games — 31 field goals and eight assists in that span.
“He studies the game,’’ Jim Boeheim said. “He’s always studied the game. He understands the game. His teammates really are looking for him and helping him, and when they come on him, he’s getting the ball back to guys to get their shots up.’’
Boeheim credited his wife for Buddy’s good genes.
“I knew because of his mother that he’d be tall,’’ Boeheim said. “If he was 6-foot, he’d still be a pretty good player, but it would probably be at [smaller upstate New York schools] Le Moyne or Ithaca or someplace. But he has the right mother. He could always shoot. Shooters have a way of being able to play, especially shooters with good size.’’