Syracuse guard Buddy Boeheim named to All-ACC 1st Team
Corey Henry | Senior Staff Photographer
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Syracuse guard Buddy Boehiem has been named to the All-Atlantic Coast Conference’s First Team after leading the conference in points per game and total points scored during the regular season — with 19.3 and 599, respectively. He’s the fifth SU player to earn the honor, the Orange’s first since Elijah Hughes during the 2019-20 season.
He scored at least 20 points in three of his last four games to close the season, including 30 against Miami on Saturday to tie his season-high on 8-of-17 shooting. But opponents constantly doubled him throughout the year after Buddy’s stretch last March. He topped at least 21 points in seven of SU’s final 10 games en route to its Sweet 16 run, which forced him into four games with single-digit point totals this season. He only made two shots against Miami on Jan. 5, and he only connected on the same number two weeks later against Duke.
“If Buddy hadn’t made some really hard shots early, it would’ve been 30-2,” head coach Jim Boeheim said after SU’s second loss to the Blue Devils on Feb. 26, where Buddy totaled 23 points. “Every shot he made was against a really good defensive player. … He’s been making some plays in the last two games that I didn’t think he’d ever be able to make, to be honest with you.”
Buddy’s 34.1% 3-point clip during the regular season was nearly four percentage points lower than his last two years. He also finished with the sixth-highest minutes percentage in the country at 93.5, per KenPom, after playing below 30 minutes in only one game during the 2021-22 campaign. He’s joined by UNC’s Armando Bacot, Wake Forest’s Alondes Williams, Duke’s Paolo Banchero and Miami’s Kameron McGusty on the ACC’s first team.
After finishing the regular season with four consecutive losses, including their most recent one to Miami on Saturday after blowing an 18-point lead, the Orange head to Brooklyn for the ACC Tournament, and they’ll face Florida State on Wednesday.
Published on March 7, 2022 at 11:14 am
Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew