Syracuse University
West Virginia
Syracuse Sends Mountaineers Packing
2/4/2009 9:02:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Coach Boeheim Postgame Quotes | Student-Athlete Postgame Quotes | Box Score
SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Back in action for the first time in a week, #20/20 Syracuse (18-5, 6-4) earned a 74-61 victory against RV/RV West Virginia (15-7, 4-5). Sophomore Jonny Flynn and junior Eric Devendorf each posted a game-high 22 points in front of a Carrier Dome crowd of 21,069. Devendorf is now 25th on SU's career scoring list with 1,432 points.
Junior Paul Harris recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds. It was the 29th game of his career where he pulled down 10 or more boards. Flynn registered three assists, while Harris and Devendorf had four apiece. Senior Kristof Ongenaet led the team with a game-high three blocks.
Up by eight at the start of the second period, Syracuse increased its advantage back to 11 after buckets from Harris, Flynn and Devendorf. The Orange really got into a groove around the 14 minute mark after a jumper from Devendorf. Ongenaet blocked a Da'Sean Butler layup on the Mountaineers next possession and on the pass inbounds by WVU, Devendorf stole the ball from Daryl Bryant and raced down the court for a layup.
Flynn and Devendorf finished off the 10-0 run for Syracuse to put the Orange up by 20, 62-42. Flynn contributed four points off of a layup and two buckets from the foul line, while Devendorf added a jumper.
The Mountaineers fought back to within nine, 68-59, with 3:38 to play with Butler contributing 12 points for WVU. Devendorf put up a layup and Harris added four points off a dunk and two free throws during the waning minutes to secure the win for Syracuse.
Syracuse was 29-of-62 (46.8 percent) from the field and outshot the Mountaineers 46-20 in the paint and 21-6 on the fastbreak. The Orange held West Virginia to 24-of-67 (35.8 percent) and to only 7-for-27 (25.9 percent) from beyond the arc.
The first half started out slow for both teams, but the Orange grabbed a small 11-8 lead by 14:20. Baskets from junior Arinze Onuaku, Harris and freshman Kris Joseph put SU up by five, 17-12, a short time later. However, back-to-back trifectas from Devin Ebanks and Alex Ruoff would give the Mountaineers an 18-17 advantage.
WVU's control lasted only momentarily as Flynn nailed a three-pointer to spark an 18-6 run which lasted almost eight minutes for an 11 point cushion, 35-24. Flynn tallied seven of his 11 first half points during the run with Devendorf adding five.
Mountaineer Kevin Jones cut off the Syracuse run with a layup, but Flynn sank a jumper to keep SU's double-digit lead with nine seconds to play. West Virginia drove down the court as time wound down and Butler put home a buzzer-beating three-pointer to come within eight, 37-29, at the break.
Butler led the Mountaineers with 23 points and four steals, while Ruoff added 10 points and a team-leading six assists.
Syracuse heads to out on the road for its next two games facing Villanova on February 7 and Connecticut on February 11. The Orange will host -/RV Georgetown on Saturday, February 14 in a non matchup at the Dome. Tickets can be purchased online at SUathletics.com, by phone at 1-800-DomeTix or in person at the Carrier Dome box office during regular business hours.
