NEW YORK — Syracuse star Buddy Boeheim punched Florida State’s Wyatt Wilkes in the stomach during the first half of the Orange’s 96-57 victory in the second round of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament on Wednesday.
“In the heat of today’s game, after some shoving in the lane, I swung my arm while turning to go back up court. It was wrong to act out in frustration,” Boeheim said in a statement posted on Syracuse basketball’s Twitter account. “I apologized to Wyatt Wilkes multiple times in the handshake line. He said not to worry about it, but I know it was wrong.”
Boeheim was not called for a foul after he swung his right hand into Wilkes’ midsection as he turned to run back to the defensive end, following a made basket by Syracuse.
“I saw the play, the kid pushed him twice,” said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who is Buddy’s father. “I think it was inadvertent. It wasn’t much of a punch.”
Jim Boeheim dismissed the idea of his son possibly being suspended for ninth-seeded Syracuse’s quarterfinal game Thursday at Barclays Center against top-seeded Duke.
He said if officials had noticed the play, a flagrant foul 1 might have been called on Buddy Boeheim.
Buddy Boeheim leads the ACC in scoring at 19.3 points per game.
The ACC does a postgame review of all its games.
Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton defused the situation during his postgame news conference, praising Buddy Boeheim’s character.
“I don’t want anything to take away from how well they played and what type of fine young man he is,” Hamilton said. “The game is physical. We expect guys to go out and bang and be aggressive. If something inadvertently happens sometimes we want to categorize it in one way or another.
“I’ve lost my composure sometimes. I’ve made some mistakes.”
Wilkes doubled over and squatted for a moment after being struck about midway through the first half. He continued to play. The two players spoke to each other after the game, with Boeheim walking away smiling.
The two players could be seen speaking to each other after the game, with Boeheim walking away smiling.
“I pride myself in respecting the game and and our opponent,” Boeheim said. “I will not react that away again.”
Boeheim helped the Orange reach the NCAA Sweet 16 last year with sharp shooting to back up his “Buddy Buckets” moniker. This year he was named first-team All-ACC.
Syracuse lost both meetings against No. 7 Duke this season, the first by 20 points at home and then by 25 on the road.