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Syracuse University
West Virginia
SU Beats WVU In Front Of Season-Best Crowd, 72-64
1/22/2005 5:19:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Coach Boeheim Quotes
SU Player Quotes
SYRACUSE, NY --Â #7 Syracuse (19-1, 6-0)Â tied the best 20-game start in school history with a win against West Virginia (11-5, 1-4), 72-64, in front of a season-high crowd of 29,077 at the Carrier Dome. The Orange equaled 19-1 starts furnished by the 1979-80 and the 1999-00 clubs.
Syracuse won its 12th straight game and its 14th consecutive in the Carrier Dome. The crowd of 29,077 represented the largest in college basketball this season, bettering the gathering of 25,578 that watched Seton Hall at Syracuse on January 8.
Senior forward Hakim Warrick (www.suathletics.com/Hakim) paced the SU attack with his 10th double-double of the campaign, tallying 22 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard Gerry McNamara (www.suathletics.com/Gerry) added 18 points, all in the second half, and junior guard Billy Edelin came off the bench to contribute a season-high 12 points and seven assists.
West Virginia was led by Patrick Beilein, who scored 17 points before fouling out. Mike Gansey had 11 points and a squad-best eight rebounds, D'or Fischer had 11 points and four blocked shots, and Tyrone Sally added 11 points.
Syracuse never trailed in the contest. The Orange closed out the opening period by outscoring West Virginia 10-4. Warrick, who had six points in the run, finished with 16 at the break.
The SU advantage reached 15 after Warrick started the second half off with a three-point play and remained in double-digits for the first seven minutes. The Mountaineers staged on elast rally when Beilein sandwiched two three-point baskets around a Gansey layup and a three from J.D. Collins. It formed a 11-2 run that narrowed the gap to 65-61 with 2:20 remaining. McNamara, who missed all six of his attempts in the first half and did not score, answered the WVU charge with a three ball and was three-of-four from the line in the final 43 seconds.
The SU defense limited West Virginia to 23-of-65 (.354) shooting from the floor. The Orange countered by making 25-of-53 (.472) and by converting 16-of-18 (.889) from the foul line.
Syracuse has won its last six pairings with West Virginia and now leads the overall series, 27-15.
Warrick passed both Bill Smith (903) and Billy Owens (910) on the SU career rebounding chart. He now has 912 in his career.
The victory was the 695th for Jim Boeheim at Syracuse. He is five wins away from joining an exclusive group of 17 Division I coaches with 700 career triumphs.
In 1999-00, Syracuse started the campaign with 19 consecutive wins before losing its next two contests. The 1979-80 club that also began its season with a 19-1 record after 20 games won two more before suffering its second loss.
The Orange play at Rutgers on Monday at 7:00 p.m.
