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Buddy Boeheim tried to take his Virginia defender right, tried to drive and gain a step on him, tried to, again, create a basket inside. He elevated near the right block, timed with the precise window of time before the help defense closed it. But then he made the same mistake he had twice before, forcing a pass into a window that was no longer there and into the hands of a Virginia defender.

The clock had just ticked under 12 minutes in the second half when Buddy broke toward the basket, and Virginia had built its lead up to 14 after two free throws from Jay Huff. After stealing Buddy’s pass, the Cavaliers raced up the court in a fastbreak opportunity that ended the same way eight others did for UVA: an elevating player, a wide-open dunk, an arm swinging from the rim as Syracuse players looked on.

Settling near the 3-point line on that dunk was Buddy. He had chased Kihei Clark to half-court, but then the Virginia guard flung a pass to Casey Morsell by the rim. It was one of five turnovers by Buddy, tying his career-high and the most he’s committed since Feb. 11 of last season. Virginia scored points off four of them.

And when combined with 4-for-13 shooting from the field, including 1-for-8 on 3-pointers, Buddy’s struggles throughout the first half of this season continued. His shooting has ebbed and flowed, topping 20 points in four games but also failing to exit single-digits in four others. The most accurate 3-point in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season has just a 27% clip this year. And in a season of stops and starts, Buddy — who missed two weeks after contracting COVID-19 during the Orange’s season pause and contact tracing — has stopped and started the most, making it difficult to find a consistent rhythm. He scored just nine points in Syracuse’s (9-5, 3-4 ACC) 81-58 loss to No. 8 Virginia (11-2, 7-0), and has totaled a combined 16 points over the past two games after tallying a season-high 23 against Miami.

“I thought he really got good looks,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. “His 3s were better than his 2s. His 2s were under pressure somewhat and he made them, but his 3s were pretty good. I thought he had good looks and they didn’t go.”

The difference of where Buddy is now to where he needs to be, Boeheim said, isn’t much. It’s a matter of one or two more shots falling, one or two more makes per game from behind the arc to get the percentage to where it was the previous two seasons. And in games against the Hurricanes and Georgetown, those shots, and more, have fallen.

He hit three 3-pointers in the second half to help hold off the Hoyas’ comeback, and shot 50% from the field that game. But afterward, Buddy said he’s “still trying to get there, missing shots I shouldn’t miss.”

Buddy Boeheim (pictured against Miami on Jan. 19) committed five turnovers against Virginia on Monday night. Courtesy of Rich Barnes | USA TODAY Sports

After defeating Miami, Boeheim confirmed that Buddy had COVID-19 earlier in the season, going into isolation after the Buffalo game on Dec. 19 when the entire program paused. He missed practice for 10 days and had to get his strength back. The win over the Hurricanes one month later was the best he had played all season, Boeheim said, as Buddy was getting into the lane and looking to make shots.

“People forget — everybody knows this happens and knows that they were, but then they expect them to come back and play like nothing ever happened,” Boeheim said after that game. “It just doesn’t work that way.”

Since that game, Buddy’s shots haven’t fallen. He converted just three of 13 attempts against the Hokies before making the four against UVA, and he committed the five turnovers after having just two combined the previous three games — squashing possessions Syracuse desperately needed to keep pace.

His offensive approach still gave Syracuse life at times, though. The Orange upset Virginia Tech two days ago by driving inside, and Buddy continued that trend on Monday. After SU went on a five-minute scoring drought in the first half, Buddy backed Clark into the paint, spun around and hit a mid-range jumper that pulled Syracuse within 14-8. On other possessions, he tried to force passes to Marek Dolezaj and others when they weren’t open. Virginia’s defense, often led by Clark and Huff, smothered Buddy when he reached the block and his passes deflected away — either into UVA hands or out of bounds.

His one made 3-pointer came after an offensive rebound late in the first half, hitting a shot before the UVA defender could close out. But otherwise, he missed the rest of his shots on the perimeter, shots that Boeheim said Syracuse wanted heading into the game and got. All they lacked was the execution.

“We need him to make another one a game to get his percentages up to 33 or 34,” Boeheim said, “and that would be helpful.”

As Syracuse set up its transition offense with seven minutes left in the first half, following a UVA miss, Buddy pulled back near the right wing and waited for a cutter. It was Dolezaj again, but Buddy’s lob pass was knocked away by Trey Murphy III. The Cavaliers raced up on a fast break of their own, ending with a 3-pointer on the left wing.

Buddy raced back to close out, but the shot sunk in. He dropped his head, and jogged back up the court.

Published on January 25, 2021 at 11:53 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew