NCAA: Butler leads Syracuse 35-25 at half; Washington leads West Virginia in first half

NCAA: Butler leads Syracuse 35-25 at half

Maybe it’s tough defense. Or trying to live up to great expectations. Or missing a star player. Or nerves. Syracuse trails Butler 35-25 at halftime. Lowest-scoring first half this season for the Orange (had 26 vs WVU). Not that Washington and West Virginia are burning the nets, either. Huskies lead 13-10 after 12 minutes.

Syracuse is playing the same time in Utah as the West Virginia-Washington game, but that hasn’t kept fans away from the Carrier Dome. The dome is mostly full, and Cornell red is the popular color of the day.

But the Huskies brought hundreds of fans, and they’re standing all dressed in purple. They haven’t seen much scoring.

The Huskies lead 10-6 midway through the first half. Not a lot of scoring in the first 10 minutes for two teams — Mountaineers get only two baskets in 13 possessions.

Butler-Syracuse have combined for 19 FTs and taken three timeouts on top of the five for TV. They’re shooting a combined 16-for-41. A bit choppy and ugly to everyone except for the Bulldogs. Butler 31, Syracuse 21, 3:25 left in first.

Washington’s Quincy Pondexter picks up his second foul of the game just 6 minutes in. He’s the Huskies’ top scorer and already has a game-winning shot in the tournament. Tough break for them.

Syracuse starting to show its frustration. Plays great defense for 33 seconds, forces Mack into a forced 3-pointer, but Rautins makes contact, gets called for a foul and yells at ref.

Matt Howard of Butler gets his shot rejected off glass by Wes Johnson of Syracuse, but has presence of mind to scramble and tap the rebound back to teammate Shelvin Mack. Who drains a 12-footer. Hustle play that helps explain how Bulldogs have run out to 19-12 lead at 7:36 mark of first half. Having no turnovers also helps.

Washington and West Virginia starting slowly. Huskies lead 4-2 at the first timeout despite an air ball by Quincy Poindexter to start the game, two turnovers and a missed layup. Kevin Jones matched that air ball for the Mountaineers, who have three turnovers and only an alley-oop dunk by Da’Sean Butler.

Jitters? 3½ minutes in, it’s West Virginia 2, Washington 2 — and two turnovers for each team.

More TOs in SLC, too.

Turnovers: Syracuse 8, Butler 0. Score: Butler 17, Syracuse 10.

Exhibit A on how to beat a zone, courtesy of Butler: Work the ball around the perimeter, bounce it down to the baseline and drive there, look for collapsing defense, then kick it back out to the open man. Bulldogs are doing that against Boeheim’s vaunted zone and have a surprising 13-6 lead with 10:53 left in the first. Boeheim on the bench, shaking his head.

Six Syracuse turnovers in first 9 minutes. The No. 1 doesn’t look like a No. 1 against Butler. Also shooting 2-for-6.

We may never see an NCAA tournament game back at the Huntsman Center, the home of the Utah Utes. The building that hosted the classic 1979 final between Magic and Bird, along with 15 other early-round and regional weekends from 1971 through 2006, is dark this week. The West regional is being held at Energy Solutions Arena, formerly known as the Delta Center. Huntsman was one of the most intimate venues in basketball which, predictably, is probably the reason it’s being phased out of the rotation. The tourney’s next visit to Salt Lake City is in 2013, also at Energy Solutions.

A quick thought: With the opening-round game always held in Dayton, how about rotating each year around college basketball’s hallowed arenas? Pauley Pavilion at UCLA one year, Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas the next, then the venerable Palestra in Philly?

West tidbit: For all the big-name teams that Butler has beaten over the years in the tournament — Louisville, Maryland and more — the highest-ranked team the Bulldogs have ever beaten was No. 3 Michigan in 1965. Syracuse was ranked No. 4 heading into the tournament.

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim chaired the USA Basketball committee that put Butler’s Gordon Hayward and Shelvin Mack on the team that won July’s under-19 world championship. Could use ‘em about now. The Orange had yet to take a shot before the first TV timeout, 0-for-3.

Good seats available: With no West regional team located within 1,000 miles of Salt Lake City, there are huge chunks of wide-open seats, especially in the upper deck. Without a real rooting interest, fans tend to pull for the underdog — cheers as Butler takes a 5-0 lead after 4½ minutes.

Regional semifinals. Tonight it gets real serious in the NCAA tournament. Two wins, you’re in the Final Four.

All eyes will be on Syracuse, one way or another. The top-seeded Orange go first this evening, playing perennially pesky Butler in the Salt Lake City.

A little later, the East games start up at the Carrier Dome, with West Virginia-Washington followed by the most intriguing matchup of all — Kentucky vs. Cornell. Should make for a neat scene with perhaps some Syracuse fans trying to follow their team from across the country.