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Tuesday, Jan. 11 7:30pm ET
Bland grand for 12-0 Syracuse | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) -- Even Jim Boeheim, a notorious naysayer, found some good things in Syracuse's 76-63 victory over West Virginia. "We've got a long way to go," Boeheim said. "There's going to be a lot of these games. We've got to get better. We're nowhere near what we have to be to compete. We think we can get there. There were some good signs tonight." Sophomore Tony Bland scored nine of his career-high 22 points in the final five minutes as Syracuse (No. 6 ESPN/USA Today, No. 7 AP) remained the only unbeaten major-college team at 12-0, 3-0 in the Big East. Bland's previous high was 16 last season against UCLA. "The guy that hurt us the most was Tony Bland," West Virginia coach Gale Catlett said. "We watched him on tape and he did not play this way against other teams." Etan Thomas has. The Syracuse center had his fifth straight game in double figures with 14 points. He also had a season-high 15 rebounds and contributed five blocks. "We had to attack him in order to win, and we didn't do a good enough job of it," West Virginia forward Marcus Goree said. The Orangemen won for the second straight time on the road following a 10-game homestand. This one wasn't a cinch. After Thomas went to the bench with his fourth foul midway through the second half, Syracuse went scoreless over a five-minute stretch. West Virginia (7-6, 0-3) then went inside to pick away at a 10-point deficit. Calvin Bowman's dunk started an 8-0 run that brought the Mountaineers within 54-52 with 7:14 left. "We were trying to attack inside when Etan Thomas had the four fouls," Catlett said. "But our guards passed up some passes and we didn't get the ball where we were supposed to." Thomas returned and his alley-oop dunk from Jason Hart with 5:48 left started a decisive 14-2 run and the Mountaineers never recovered. "I know everyone was counting on me," Thomas said. "I just tried to play the best that I could without fouling out." Bland, hitting 62 percent of his shots the season, hit variety of baskets down the stretch, including a 3-pointer with five minutes left that put the Orangemen ahead 59-52. "They were so worried about Etan and Ryan (Blackwell) down low, they kind of forgot about me," Bland said. Boeheim said Bland has a habit of passing up the open jumper. "Tonight, they were leaving him there and he's been getting a little more confident," he said. Syracuse hit 17 of 21 free throws and the Big East's top defense limited West Virginia to 41 percent shooting in the second half and 44 percent for the game. Bowman scored a career-high 21 points on 10-of-16 shooting, most of them inside shots. Goree added 17 and Lionel Armstead 12. West Virginia's outside game was its sore spot. The Mountaineers made just 3-of-18 3-pointers. West Virginia was without starting point guard Tim Lyles. The freshman, who averages nearly 9 points, was suspended indefinitely after arguing with the coaching staff at halftime of Saturday's loss to St. John's. His replacement, Jason D'Alesio, scored just three points and combined with Armstead to go 5-of-22 from the floor. "Our guards left a lot to be desired," Catlett said. Despite the loss, West Virginia played the Orangemen tough for the fourth straight time at home. The Mountaineers won two of their previous home meetings and took Syracuse to overtime the other time. This year, West Virginia is playing all 16 home games at arenas around the state because of asbestos removal at its 14,000-seat venue. | ALSO SEE Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO   Etan Thomas takes the steal in for the dunk.avi: 621 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Etan Thomas displays nice footwork en route to the basket.avi: 454 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 Tony Bland runs the floor for the bucket.avi: 738 k RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1 | |||||