WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – At least a couple times every game, a Syracuse player lobs a pass toward 7-foot-2 Paschal Chukwu. For much of the season, those attempts have gone awry. Chukwu bobbles or doesn’t slam it home.

Early Saturday, though, Elijah Hughes drove and tossed the ball up toward the rim — Chukwu timed his leap and threw the ball almost straight down through the rim.

“He got a couple good alley-oops and he made a couple good plays down there, which he just hasn’t been doing,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “That was a very good sign.”

In Syracuse’s (19-10, 10-6 Atlantic Coast) 79-54 win over Wake Forest (11-17, 4-12) Saturday, Chukwu provided a rare interior option for the Orange this season. He racked up nine points, four rebounds and three blocks, making all four of his shot attempts. And on a day when SU made its fewest 3-pointers in ACC play, Chukwu was part of a dominant effort in the paint that ensured poor perimeter shooting wouldn’t matter.

“I thought Paschal was really important,” Boeheim said. “We found him down low and he finished a couple around the basket. That’s something we haven’t been getting. So even though we didn’t shoot it well from the perimeter, I thought that was something we haven’t had in there.”

Boeheim has spent much of the season pointing out that Chukwu’s counterpart, Marek Dolezaj, isn’t big enough to play loads of minutes in the middle. And considering Bourama Sidibe didn’t check in until Saturday’s game was out of reach, Chukwu will have to provide a presence that he’s proven capable of in short spurts.

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At times, Chukwu’s done what someone might expect a 7-foot-2 player to do. He responded to his midseason benching with a 10-point, 18-rebound effort in an upset over No. 1 Duke that earned him his starting job back from Dolezaj. Recently, Chukwu’s started slow in games, lacking activity and movement but then affects shots in the second half.

Wake Forest took advantage of another slow start for Chukwu, too. Sparingly used WFU freshman forward Isaiah Mucius hit four short jumpers, all in areas of the 2-3 zone that fall on Chukwu to protect. Dolezaj subbed in early for Chukwu, again. But the successful Hughes lob was a sign of things to come.

In the second half, unlike most games, a poorly lobbed pass didn’t result in a turnover. Instead, Chukwu gathered the errant delivery and brought it down to the floor with him. Wake Forest converged, and Chukwu found himself in a common spot: Bringing the ball down and then being unable to get a clean shot off, even as the tallest man on the floor.

But this time, he didn’t put it down. Chukwu kept the ball high and placed it off the glass with his left hand. A whistle blew to add a foul shot. Chukwu added a righty lay-in off a Dolezaj dish where he again kept the ball high. And he converted an offensive rebound tip-in midway through the second half.

“Yeah, it’s definitely fun,” Chukwu said of getting a chance to score the ball.

As is often the case when Chukwu gets a few shots to fall, his defensive activity increased. He didn’t allow more easy looks for Mucius or the other Demon Deacons who planted themselves near the foul line or in the short corner. He rotated to help SU trap players deep into the corners, leading to bad passes and Syracuse steals up top.

Chukwu blocked shots then, too, because that’s what he does best. He’s said he loves to spike the ball away, as if playing volleyball. If not for a foul call that seemed incorrect on replay, Chukwu would’ve added a two-handed spike block to his collection against WFU, as well.

“I thought (Paschal) was good defensively,” Boeheim said, “which he hasn’t been.”

At one point in Saturday’s game, Chukwu had taken off his goggles, thinking he’d been pulled again. But Syracuse only had four players on the floor. Boeheim wanted his 7-foot-2 center out there, just as he’s known he would be needed all season long.

So Chukwu put his goggles back on and jogged out to the center of SU’s 2-3 zone, exactly where the Orange needed him.

Published on March 3, 2019 at 11:31 pm

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