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Marek Dolezaj was on the bench with four fouls for two minutes and eight seconds.

When backup center Jesse Edwards took two fouls in a 24-second stretch in one West Virginia possession to pick up his fourth foul, Jim Boeheim only had one option.

Syracuse was teetering on the edge after the Mountaineers had cut SU’s 14-point lead in half. Edwards and Dolezaj both had four fouls, and Boeheim had no third option to anchor his 2-3 zone. Dolezaj jogged back to the scorer’s table and checked back into the game.

The Orange needed him to match up with one of the nation’s best big men and most elite offensive rebounding units for almost 13 minutes without fouling even once.

Sunday could have been his final game. Any potential whistle for a fifth foul could have also signaled the end of his collegiate career. Boeheim said that Dolezaj is more than likely not returning to Syracuse next year.

Syracuse needed him to rebound and he grabbed six. The Orange needed to run their offense through Dolezaj, and he dished out five assists. SU needed Dolezaj to help break the press and relieve pressure in the backcourt. Except for two turnovers and one charge, he played 38 mistake-free minutes in Syracuse’s (18-9, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) 75-72 win over West Virginia (19-10, 11-6 Big 12) to advance to its third Sweet 16 in five years. For Dolezaj, it’s two appearances in the Sweet 16 to serve as potential bookends of his Syracuse career.

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“He’s just a terrific basketball player,” Boeheim said. “I mean, he really is. He’s one of the most underrated players in the country. He’s just a great, great team player. He makes winning plays that are not noticed sometimes, but they’re there.”

Four minutes into the season, Dolezaj’s entire role for the 2020-21 season changed. His primary position in the zone shifted from forward and wing responsibilities to the anchor role of Boeheim’s 2-3 zone. All season, Dolezaj has battled with guys bigger and stronger than him. He’s had great games and bad ones, but Sunday’s win might have been his best.

Immediately after Boeheim opted to start him in the second half with three fouls, Dolezaj hit a free-throw line jumper and the Orange doubled their six-point halftime lead in the opening minutes of the second half. Defensively, Dolezaj executed the Orange’s defensive game plan on first-team All-Big 12 center Derek Culver.

Marek Dolezaj’s vision to see open shooters catalyzed Syracuse’s win over West Virginia. Courtesy of Brett Wilhelm | NCAA Photos

The Orange wanted to sag off Culver in the middle and when he caught the ball near the free-throw line from the basket, look to take charges as he drove the paint. Three minutes into the game, Dolezaj took position just outside the restricted circle, and Culver barreled him over. The same player who lost a tooth from a stray Georgetown elbow earlier this season and took a memorable charge from Duke and now NBA star Zion Williamson at full speed in 2019 drew the first foul on Culver.

Dolezaj is 6-foot-10, barely 200 pounds, Boeheim said. Culver outweighs him by 55 pounds. Williamson outweighed him by 80 then.

When Gabe Osabuohien caught the ball at the high post and tried to drive the middle of the zone, Dolezaj was there again. Another charge taken. Osabuohien holds 40 pounds on the forward.

Boeheim called Dolezaj the MVP of the team following a loss to Georgia Tech on Feb. 24. Syracuse hasn’t just asked him to guard way bigger players in the middle of the 2-3 zone, but he’s also a major reason the Orange are top-15 in offensive efficiency for the first time since 2011-12. He’s battled through a fracture in a finger on his left hand, and Boeheim said he hasn’t really been able to use it. During the ACC Tournament, he wasn’t even practicing.

“Marek does so much for us,” Boeheim said. “It’s hard to even – you can’t even look at the stat sheet because his importance is so much more than that. I mean, he has a good stat sheet, but his importance to our team is so much.”

Dolezaj said his finger is improving, and his two NCAA Tournament games have been among his best of the season. West Virginia kept switching ball screens, head coach Bob Huggins said, even after he told them not to. Dolezaj’s effective screening, dribble handoffs and passing ability opened up easy looks for Buddy Boeheim to drain 3s over smaller defenders.

His vision to see open shooters like Robert Braswell in the corner, and his decision-making to pass to them instead of driving into the strength of the WVU defense inside. The Mountaineers were vulnerable on the perimeter and have been all year, and Doelzaj found the shooters. Even when Buddy missed five of his first six shots, Dolezaj kept creating open looks.

“My first two shots were wide open, and that’s all credit to Marek giving me a handoff and finding me in the corner,” Buddy said. “They knew eventually I was going to start making shots.”

When the Orange ran ball screens, the Mountaineers doubled it, and Dolezaj’s rolling ability created four-on-three opportunities more often than not, Buddy said. Syracuse and specifically Buddy were in favorable offensive matchups all night, and Buddy scored 22 second half points to propel the Orange to victory.

A victory that 22 days ago seemed improbable after the Orange lost at Georgia Tech on Feb. 27. In that game, Dolezaj sat in a chair on the bench with a white Gatorade towel after having fouled out. It was his worst performance of the season. At that point, the Orange seemed destined to miss the NCAA Tournament and Dolezaj’s career that had begun with a Sweet 16 run looked as though it would end with a first round exit and two consecutive missed tournaments.

Now Syracuse is in the Sweet 16. When the clock hit all zeroes and the buzzer sounded inside Bankers Life Fieldhouse, Buddy dropped the basketball in his hands and leaped into Dolezaj. The two architects of Syracuse’s late season renaissance enjoyed the high moment of the Orange’s rollercoaster 2020-21 season.

Published on March 21, 2021 at 11:03 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @AnthonyDabbundo