MORGANTOWN, W. Va. – Brandon Triche took a bag of ice from a trainer and set it on the bench inside the locker room. After 40 minutes of pressure and traps and noise, he could finally exhale.

This was the freshman point guard’s biggest test yet.

‘You couldn’t hear anything,’ Triche said. ‘I felt like I was playing Madden, and the noise was all the way up to10. This was the first away game that I’ve been to where it was just blue and yellow. No orange. It definitely puts pressure on you.’

But in the middle of 15,271 fans, Triche delivered. No. 5 Syracuse (17-1, 4-1) endured a barrage of 3-pointers late to edge No. 10 West Virginia, 72-71, at the WVU Coliseum. The freshman had a team-high 16 points and five assists. More so, he stayed poised late.

The early-season showdown was a matchup of two starkly different defenses. On one end was Syracuse’s 2-3 zone, baiting West Virginia (13-3, 4-2) into NBA-range 3s. On the other end was the Mountaineers’ needling man-to-man ‘D,’ trying to psyche out a freshman. In the end, Syracuse won.

But not until West Virginia’s offense rose from the dead late. After rows upon rows of fans had already herded toward the exits, the Mountaineers suddenly couldn’t miss. A comfy 65-55 SU lead with 1:25 left shrunk to 72-71. Kris Joseph was fouled with 2.5 seconds left, missed his first shot, and head coach Jim Boeheim tried to alert Joseph to miss his second shot on purpose.

Joseph never heard him. But he missed anyway, and West Virginia’s desperation heave fell way short. Whew.

‘At the end, West Virginia just kept making plays and pushing further and further, so we are very fortunate that we didn’t turn it over,’ Boeheim said.

At the eye of the storm was Triche.

The atmosphere was deafening. For the first time ever, the WVU Coliseum housed two Top 10 teams. All game – from baseline to baseline – students stood. West Virginia’s defense fed off it, jolting after every pass. By halftime, Syracuse already had 13 turnovers. Triche had double the number of turnovers (four) than shot attempts (two). Syracuse barely slumped to 26 first-half points.

Even worse, Triche’s trusty backcourt mates, Andy Rautins and Scoop Jardine, had three fouls apiece. Triche needed to pick the lock on West Virginia’s defense. And fast.

‘I knew my team needed me, and that’s the best pressure,’ Triche said. ‘They needed me to make plays.’

Instead of playing passive – a natural reaction to SU’s five charges in the first half – Triche stayed aggressive. He took advantage of West Virginia’s overzealous wing defenders by penetrating into the lane.

With three minutes left, Triche threaded a slick backdoor assist to Onuaku for a two-handed jam. The next possession, he stormed past West Virginia’s Darryl Bryant – who was at his hip all game – down the left lane. Mountaineer sophomore Kevin Jones came to help and Triche corralled his 6-foot-4 body into Jones to draw the foul, while simultaneously banking in his shot to give SU a 59-51 lead.

The typically stoic freshman pumped his fist and yelled.

‘He was huge,’ Rautins said. ‘We don’t consider him a freshman anymore the way he played. Those are the types of things we expect out of him. He’s a big, physical guard that has unlimited talent.’

Added Boeheim, ‘Brandon made a couple huge plays. When they were pressuring, he started taking advantage of that.’

Adding more weight on Triche’s shoulders was the fact that Syracuse’s best weapon wasn’t at full strength. Zapped by the flu, Wes Johnson almost didn’t play Saturday. The past three days, he said he’s barely eaten anything. Some bread here, some water there. That’s it. Thus, Johnson barely had any energy. Teammate Rick Jackson told Johnson the Orange needed him.

‘So I tried to fight through it,’ Johnson said.

Battling game-long cottonmouth and foul trouble, Johnson provided a late surge. The junior scored seven of the Orange’s final 11 points, including several clutch free throws.

Whereas Triche solved West Virginia’s defense, the Mountaineers waited too long to bust SU’s zone. As it has all season, the 2-3 zone teased West Virginia into knee-jerk 3-pointers. Before the Mountaineers’ late flurry of treys, they were only 7-of-23 from deep. For stretches, their offense was on life support. The reason was SU’s bait-and-switch defense. West Virginia finished 39 percent from the floor.

Still, the defense is no secret. All year, that’s been the staple of this team. The wild card is Triche. It has been ever since the departure of Jonny Flynn.

The Orange needs a steady hand at point, a sense of peace at the game’s most important position.

With the pressure cranked to a subwoofer boom Saturday, Triche reset the tempo in the second half. He stopped forcing his passes. He played aggressive, yet safe. He found cutters across the lane and took over when he needed to.

All lessons he’ll draw on for the rest of the season.

‘This definitely gives us confidence, playing against the ninth team in the country,’ Triche said. ‘We out-toughened them in the second half. We know that’s how Big East play is going to be. We need to be tougher than everybody.’

thdunne@syr.edu

Published on January 17, 2010 at 12:00 pm