Tag: Jimmy Boeheim

With one Boeheim out, another went off in a game against Duke that had so many layers

“I was playing for this kid today.”

Jim Boeheim has been the coach of Syracuse since 1976. And since 1976, the Orange have never had a losing season. That’s 45 years without a losing record.

However, that streak will likely come to an end after Syracuse’s loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. The loss dropped the Orange to 16-17 overall, and they aren’t projected to make the NCAA Tournament or NIT. Their season is probably over.

That doesn’t mean Syracuse went down without a fight. Playing the tournament’s top seed, and without Jim’s son and leading scorer Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse covered a 14.5-point spread and gave Duke a serious scare. Buddy got himself suspended for the game by punching an opponent on Wednesday, but his older brother Jimmy Boeheim picked up the slack and played the game of his life. In a performance more reminiscent of Buddy, who leads the ACC in scoring, Jimmy scored a season-high 28 points while making six-of-nine three-pointers.

In the end, he wasn’t able to save his dad’s incredible streak in an 88-79 loss, but that was just one layer of a game that was much more than the sum of its parts.

Notre Dame beats Boeheims, Syracuse for 20th win

The Irish had to earn this one.

Don’t let that 79-69 final score fool you. Notre Dame really had to work against Syracuse to earn its 20th victory of the season. In the end, it doesn’t really matter how the Irish bested the legendary Jim Boeheim and his crew. Of course, Mike Brey probably will remind his team that a better effort will be needed every game from now until at least the end of the ACC Tournament.

The Irish (20-8, 13-4) and Orange (15-13, 9-8) had to endure 15 lead changes and 12 ties, and the game remained stressful even though the Irish never trailed again after the first few minutes of the second half. Every time the Irish went on a run, the Orange had an answer, and that was thanks in no small part to Jimmy (27 points) and Buddy Boeheim (20 points).

The Irish were held without a field goal over the final 2:57, so who knows what would have happened if Blake Wesley and Paul Atkinson Jr. hadn’t made nine of 10 free throws in that time? Their lead was only three with a minute and a half left, so they needed every one of those points to keep the pressure off.

Atkinson had a double-double before the first half was even over, and he finished the game with a stat line that was both balanced and productive:  20 points (half of which coming on free throws), 17 rebounds. Nate Laszewski was recovered enough from his stomach ailment to come off the bench and score 15 of his 17 points on five 3-pointers.

Cormac Ryan shot 6 of 9 for 16 points, and Wesley overcome 3-of-13 shooting from the field to score 13. Prentiss Hubb had a season-high 10 assists and a career-high eight rebounds.

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