It’s March, and you know what that means. It’s time for an underachieving Syracuse Orange basketball team to suddenly catch fire and somehow make the NCAA Tournament.
The Orange certainly have their work cut out for them this time, entering the ACC Tournament with a 15-16 record. However, if Wednesday is any indication, the annual tradition has begun. The Orange absolutely dominated the Florida State Seminoles in a 96-57 thrashing that was arguably their most dominating victory of the season.
Naturally, the college basketball world has started reacting accordingly.
Syracuse doing that thing where they become unstoppable in March again. pic.twitter.com/amyb9czvKx
— DraftKings Sportsbook (@DKSportsbook) March 9, 2022
this syracuse team is not good and the two guys who play the most are the sons of their 77-year-old head coach who gets mad any time anyone asks if he might retire soon. they’re knocking off gonzaga in a 1-13 game in the sweet 16. https://t.co/ULOEOUdYs1
— Bill DiFilippo (@billdifilippo) March 9, 2022
Syracuse in March vs. Syracuse in April-February pic.twitter.com/k0YQtTgS1y
— br_betting (@br_betting) March 9, 2022
However, there was an ugly incident during the game that caught many people’s attention. Midway through the first half, Buddy Boeheim, son of head coach Jim Boeheim, appeared to punch Florida State guard Wyatt Wilkes following a basket. Wilkes was visibly hurt and clutched at his chest as Boeheim ran off. Wilkes was forced to leave the game but no foul was called on Boeheim.
https://twitter.com/CarterKarels/status/1501611343174066179
It was an uncharacteristic move for Boeheim, who finished the season as the ACC’s leading scorer.
After the game, Dad Boeheim was asked about the punch and while he felt that it was “inadvertent,” he thinks that it would have been called a Flagrant 1 had the refs seen it.
Syracuse players were asked again about Buddy Boeheim hitting an FSU player. Jim Boeheim jumped in and said if the officials had seen it, it probably would have been a flagrant 1.
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) March 9, 2022
Boeheim also implied that Buddy’s frustrations came out of Wilkes pushing him multiple times beforehand.
Boeheim on the Buddy punch: “I saw the play, the kid pushed him twice, I think it was inadvertent. It wasn’t much of a punch.”
— Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) March 9, 2022
“The kid (Wilkes) pushed him twice and he swung around and hit him,” Jim Boeheim said. “I think it was inadvertent, but that’s okay. It wasn’t much of a punch.”
Not everyone agrees with that sentiment. Syracuse.com’s Brent Axe said that the ACC is going to look into the incident, implying there’s a decent chance he will be punished over it and could miss the Orange’s critical game against the Duke Blue Devils on Thursday.
The reaction around the college basketball world was pretty adamant as well that Buddy deserves some kind of punishment over the incident. Both LaPhonso Ellis and Seth Greenberg said on ESPN that the player deserved a harsher penalty.
“It was not inadvertent. It was intentional,” Ellis said. “It’s a flagrant 2 foul and he should be suspended.”
Should have been reviewed and addressed https://t.co/iJNTAOFyb6
— Seth Greenberg (@SethOnHoops) March 9, 2022
Others agreed that a suspension is likely.
Would be surprised at this point if Buddy Boeheim isn't suspended for tomorrow's Duke-Syracuse game. You can't just sock a dude in the stomach without some sorta consequence.
— Brendan Marks (@BrendanRMarks) March 9, 2022
Here is Buddy Boeheim pretty obviously punching a dude in the gut. pic.twitter.com/xIbUSdoiRa
— Troy Machir (@TroyMachir) March 9, 2022
That should be a flagrant two on Buddy Boeheim. Intentionally and successfully injured Wyatt Wilkes.
— Dan Siegel (ACC Content) (@ACContent__) March 9, 2022
Will the ACC suspend Buddy Boeheim tomorrow for that punch?
Because I’m old enough to remember the ACC making Chris Paul sit a tourney game for the Julius Hodge incident.
— Josh Graham (@JoshGrahamShow) March 9, 2022
To be fair, not everyone agrees that a suspension is in order.
I spoke with ESPN's Jay Bilas briefly here at the ACC tournament and he doesn't think the conference should suspend Buddy Boeheim.
— Mike Waters (@MikeWatersSYR) March 9, 2022
Florida State head coach Leonard Hamilton was willing to look past the incident as a mistake.
Leonard Hamilton on the Buddy punch: “I saw the play. There’s not a better kid in the ACC than Buddy Boeheim. I don’t want anything to take away from how well they played and the type of kid he is. … I know his mother, I know Jim, *I know the family. so we’re going to move on”
— Anthony Dabbundo (@AnthonyDabbundo) March 9, 2022
For his part, Buddy apologized afterward via a statement.
Statement from Buddy Boeheim pic.twitter.com/1SvERy9GW7
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) March 9, 2022
Now we wait to see if the ACC decides to suspend Boeheim over his actions and, if so, for how long. If Syracuse really is going to make one of their patented post-season runs out of nowhere, they’ve certainly made the degree of difficulty as high as possible.
Update: The conference suspended Boeheim for Syracuse’s next game, against Duke:
Buddy Boeheim suspended for tomorrow's ACC quarterfinal against Duke. League just announced.
— David Teel (@ByDavidTeel) March 9, 2022
