When the Syracuse men’s basketball team met West Virginia last night, it tried to copy the Mountaineers’ style – hoisting 3-pointers and hoping for the best. But the Orange isn’t West Virginia and it showed.

So instead SU relied on the two areas which have plagued it this year: frontcourt and defense.

The Orange capitalized on its strong inside players and trademark 2-3 zone, quickly learning it couldn’t run with the Mountaineers. With its maligned frontcourt leading the way, Syracuse upset No. 14 West Virginia, 60-58, at the Carrier Dome in front of 25,206.

While the Orange big men have often found themselves receiving the brunt of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim’s criticism this year, without them, SU (19-8, 7-6 Big East) wouldn’t have won. Forwards Terrence Roberts and Demetris Nichols and center Darryl Watkins combined for 34 points and 22 rebounds.

‘We did have an advantage,’ Watkins said. ‘We saw coming into the game they were shorter than we were, so we wanted to dominate in front of the basket.’

At 6-foot-11, West Virginia center Kevin Pittsnogle was the tallest Mountaineer starter. Pittsnogle is known primarily as an outside threat, though. He scored 12 of his 20 points on 3’s.

Syracuse knew its zone could control WVU’s shooters. The Orange rotated quickly, extending the zone to meet the Mountaineers (18-8, 9-4) outside. When West Virginia’s outside game failed in the second half, it was unable to turn to anything else. WVU did not score in the final four minutes of the game, thanks in part to the active SU zone.

‘We didn’t give up a shot,’ Syracuse guard Gerry McNamara said. ‘That’s what it boils down to. If we’re going to be productive, win games, we’re going to have to be pretty active, pretty good in the zone.’

Still, WVU was undeterred by its lack of open shots outside and absence of an inside game. It continued to pull the trigger on perimeter shots with mixed results. The Mountaineers took 55 shots, 33 of them from beyond the 3-point line. It finished with a 36.4 3-point percentage.

While West Virginia looked hesitant to penetrate SU’s zone, the Orange had no reservations about dumping the ball into the paint or slashing in for lay-ups. The Orange scored 34 points in the paint, while WVU scored 22.

The Orange didn’t have a great offensive game, Boeheim said, but it had good shot selection. Probably the biggest knock on the SU offense was McNamara’s inability to score.

With the senior guard unable to find open looks due to intense defensive pressure, the rest of the Orange had plenty of space to take shots. Roberts scored SU’s last six points, bowling over Mountaineer defenders to find his way to the basket.

McNamara finished with five points, but hurt WVU by finding his teammates, resulting in nine assists. He did not score in the second half.

But that was about the only success West Virginia had in the second half. Syracuse led for most of the half, matching whatever WVU threw at it. Both teams shot 50 percent.

‘Emotionally, this is a big win for us,’ Roberts said. ‘They’re a great team. Our defense won that game for us.’

Published on February 20, 2006 at 12:00 pm