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Faced with their first real battle of the season and down for most of the game, the Syracuse Orange did what we've come to expect the Syracuse Orange to do. They took control quickly and never looked back.
Kris Joseph scored 20 points in 39 minutes of action while Brandon Triche added 18 and No. 5 Syracuse pulled away to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies, 69-58, Wednesday night in the semifinals of the NIT Season Tip-Off (highlights).
C.J. Fair added 12 points and grabbed ten boards for the first double-double of his career. He also scored the points that gave Syracuse it's first lead of the night with almost eight minutes gone in the second half made it 44-42.
It was part of an 11-0 run that turned the game around for a team that had won its first four games this season by an average of 32.5 points.
Dion Waiters scored 11 to complete the foursome of players who basically carried the Orange on their backs all night.
We may have gotten a peak into how Boeheim is going to trim this roster when it matters. Rakeem Christmas saw three minutes of action and didn't tally a single stat (Club Three Trillion). Michael Carter-Williams only saw two minutes of gametime while James Southerland returned to the bench and logged only six minutes.
Even some players who saw significant time on the floor weren't able to make anything happen. Baye Moussa Keita logged 15 minutes but nabbed one rebound and three fouls for his efforts. Meanwhile, Scoop Jardine was a non-factor in 20 minutes, garnering 2 points and 4 assists.
Fab Melo scored six points but he also blocked five shots (full boxscore).
Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images
Syracuse shot 48.3 percent from the floor, including 55.2 percent in the second half. The Hokies shot 37.5 percent after halftime and 42.6 percent in the game.
SU will play Stanford, who topped Oklahoma State earlier in the evening, in the finals of the NIT Season Tip Off on Friday at 5:00 p.m. (ESPN).
This was Boeheim’s 111th game at the Garden. It was the first without Bernie Fine on the bench beside him.
As you might imagine, Boeheim didn't like what he saw offensively for most of the game:
The Syracuse Orange basketball players give their thoughts on their game against Virginia Tech.