All season, James Southerland has given Syracuse a spark off the bench. Averaging 13.6 points per game and knocking down 49.4 percent of his field goals, he’s been one of the top sixth men in the country.

And now the Orange has to find that production elsewhere.

Southerland was ruled ineligible until further notice before Saturday’s game. The senior forward sat on Syracuse’s bench in street clothes and watched the Orange beat Villanova 72-61 despite his absence. Head coach Jim Boeheim would not expand on the reason for his ineligibility after the game.

“The statement’s out. I can’t say anything more. That’s it,” Boeheim said. “We’ve got to play the guys we can play. That’s all we can do.”

SU had several players step up in Southerland’s place. Freshman forward Jerami Grant scored 13 points off the bench.

Forward C.J. Fair said when Southerland’s on the floor, he expands opposing defenses. So without him, the Wildcats packed the paint and wouldn’t let the Orange scorers drive to the basket and forced Syracuse to attempt 14 3-pointers.

“James stretches the floor a lot. He gets a lot of attention from the defense, so that helps other players,” Fair said. “When he’s not in there, they were trying to force us to shoot 3s because they pack it in. Whenever somebody drives, they pack it in.”

Southerland has had several big games for SU all season, including a nine 3-pointer, 35-point performance against Arkansas on Nov. 30. Without him coming off the bench, Syracuse now has to turn to its younger players to make up for his production.

While Southerland is still supporting his teammates from the bench, Fair said the Orange still misses him on the floor.

“He’s still a part of the team, he’s just not playing with us,” Fair said. “We’ve just got to find a way to make up all his production he made out there.”

 

Published on January 12, 2013 at 5:54 pm

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