Still burdened with a bulky brace on his right leg, Baye Moussa Keita made his return to the court Wednesday against Boston College.

His comeback was overshadowed by No. 1 Syracuse’s 62-59 overtime loss to the Eagles — he only played two minutes, anyway — but Jim Boeheim saw some progress in the senior center.

“I wanted to see him,” the Orange’s head coach said. “He was OK in practice yesterday. He’s fine health-wise, but he’s not moving quite the way he needs to to be effective.”

Keita didn’t post a single statistic in his two minutes played, but his return to the court after a two-game absence due to a right knee sprain was a welcoming sight for SU fans.

Syracuse still went with Jerami Grant in the middle of the zone for about four minutes, but Keita gives the Orange another option in the post moving forward. Rakeem Christmas has played at least 35 minutes in each of the last three games after playing more than 30 minutes just three times all year before Keita’s injury.

“I missed the game,” Keita said. “It was good to get out there and start getting some runs in.”

Keita still apparently favored his left leg and was clearly still slowed by his knee injury and that hefty brace.

He wasn’t upset about spending so much time on the bench. He called it Boeheim’s decision.

“If he wants me to play and calls my name, I’ll be ready to play,” the center said.

Until Boeheim wants to see more of him, Wednesday served as just a tune-up. SU has three days before its next game, but it’s one in which Syracuse could use all the bodies it has. No. 5 Duke plays at a fast pace and Boeheim hopes that Keita will be ready for it.

“He’s getting better,” Boeheim said, “hopefully by Saturday he’ll be better.”

Published on February 20, 2014 at 1:14 am

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