Syracuse was going to have its hands full as it was.
If the Orange were able to get past a higher-seeded Florida State team in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, a matchup with top-seeded Duke awaited them on the other side. The last thing they needed to do was make things harder on themselves.
But that’s exactly what Buddy Boeheim did when he lost his cool in the heat of Wednesday’s blowout of FSU and landed a punch on an unsuspecting opponent.
The refs missed it, and no foul was called. So in the moment, and over the final 30 minutes of the game, the significance of what transpired may have been lost on all involved. But once the ACC announced a one-game suspension for Boeheim hours after the game, it was clear the senior guard made a grave mistake.
The ACC has suspended Syracuse's Buddy Boeheim for Thursday's ACC Tournament game against Duke, per release.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) March 9, 2022
Nothing to see here — just Buddy Boeheim casually punching Wyatt Wilkes under the basket #FSU pic.twitter.com/FddRJiZCLf
— Tomahawk Nation (@TomahawkNation) March 9, 2022
Down the ACC’s leading scorer, Syracuse is a 14.5-point underdog Thursday against Duke. It was likely to be a sizable spread even before Boeheim’s suspension. Now, Duke is as close to a lock as you can get this late in the tournament. Its -1200 moneyline odds on Tipico Sportsbook are the third shortest in college hoops Thursday. Syracuse’s season is about to come to an end.
Statement from Buddy Boeheim pic.twitter.com/1SvERy9GW7
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 9, 2022
In their previous two games against the Blue Devils, the Orange lost by a combined 45 points. The 97 points they allowed in the second matchup two weeks ago was the second-most they allowed all season in non-overtime games.
It was never going to be easy to upset a team among the favorites to win a national championship, but if they were going to do it, they were going to need Boeheim and his hot shooting.
He averaged 19.3 points per game this season and as recently as last Saturday scored 30 in a game, his second time doing so this season. He scored 23 the last time Syracuse played Duke, and that was on an off shooting night where he went just 3-of-10 from deep. For his career, he’s a 36% 3-point shooter.
He had a chance to improve on that, and perhaps give his team a little hope in a game no one outside of Syracuse faithful expect them to win – a fighter’s chance to perhaps win the whole thing and clinch an NCAA tournament bid. Instead, Syracuse’s season — and likely his career — is about to end on a more sour note than it needed to, and they have that punch to blame.
