Wes Johnson

Going Home Early
By Eric Meyers
March 11, 2010 - 4:38pm
Turnovers, defensive woes and a worrying injury troubled the one-seeded Syracuse Orange as they fell to eighth seed Georgetown in the Big East tournament quarterfinals, 91-84.

Two kinds of fans filled Madison Square Garden this afternoon.  Half wore Orange, and stood in stunned silence.  The other half wore just about anything else, and cheered as loud as they could for the top seed to fall.  And they got their wish.

Six minutes into the second half, Syracuse watched their lead dwindle from a game-high nine points, to one point in under two minutes.  And with a 2-point field goal by Vee Sanford, Georgetown took the lead and never lost it.

Wes Johnson is Big East player of the year, Jim Boeheim is coach of the year
By Erika Wachter
March 9, 2010 - 7:51pm
Plus, College students collect limbs for Haiti and Donovan McNabb and T.O team up again.

Syracuse University Basketball is racking up the Big East awards.

Wes Johnson was named 2009-2010 Big East Player of the Year and Jim Boeheim was selected as 2009-2010 Coach of the Year. The awards were announced at a press conference today at Madison Square Garden, the host site for the Big East Tournament.

Johnson, a junior transfer from Iowa, is the first transfer student to earn Big East Player of the Year honors. He is the fourth Syracuse player to earn the honor.

Saturday's star-studded showdown
By Nick Toney
February 26, 2010 - 4:25pm
The match-up Orange fans have been talking is their banged-up star forward Wesley Johnson vs. Villanova’s all-NCAA point guard Scottie Reynolds.

When a record-breaking crowd of more than 34,000 fans watch the No. 4 Syracuse Orange play the No. 7 Villanova Wildcats at the Carrier Dome on Saturday, they’ll see a matchup of two of the best basketball teams heading into the NCAA tournament.

What they’ll very rarely see, however, is the match-up that Orange fans have been talking about all week: Syracuse’s banged-up star forward Wesley Johnson facing Villanova’s all-NCAA point guard Scottie Reynolds one-on-one.

Miracle on F Street: The Night the Hoya's Were Destroya'd
By Allie Berkowitz
February 25, 2010 - 1:09am
It's not time for March Madness quite yet but last Thursday night in D.C., Cuse fans were definitely ready for the Big Dance. (A fan experience story)

Before leaving for the Georgetown game last Thursday, I turned to my father’s Facebook page for last minute inspiration. His profile picture was a Syracuse fan holding a sign that reads: “I’ve hated Georgetown since I was a little kid.” My dad raised me to appreciate and agree with that statement. (His new profile picture is of me holding a “YOUR MOM IS A HO-YA” sign at the game.) Ready to go, I was fully dressed in Syracuse attire, orange pom-pom in hand, and decked out in my “Go Cuse,” orange and blue Nike sneakers, which I had previously only worn to games at the Dome.

Heartbreaker
By Michael Cohen
February 14, 2010 - 5:56pm
Offensive woes give Syracuse its second loss of the season in a 66-60 Valentine's Day defeat by Louisville.

For the second straight game, the Orange took an early double-digit lead, then squandered it in the final minutes. This time, they couldn’t recover.

“You can’t be in all these games and get down to the end and think you’re going to win,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “You’ve got to play better during the game and tonight offensively we just were not good. And I think that’s the bottom line.”

Hold on tight
By Jason Dumas
February 10, 2010 - 11:43pm
After giving up a 16-point second half lead, the Orange buckled down to hang onto its lead and end with a victory against arch-rival UConn.

With the No. 2 national ranking on the line and the extra anticipation of its first meeting with Connecticut since last year's historic six overtime game at Madison Square Garden, Syracuse found a way to fend off its Big East rival yet again in Wednesday's 72-67 nail-biter win at the Carrier Dome.

Rick Jackson led Syracuse with 15 points, while Kris Joseph and Wes Johnson had 14 and 13 respectively. Joseph and Johnson combined to make six straight free throws in the final 33 seconds to help seal the win for the Orange.

Friday Five - Fourth Edition
By Kyle C. Leach
February 5, 2010 - 10:54am
This is the fourth installment of “Friday Five,” a weekly column with analysis and insight on the Orange, the Big East and the rest of college basketball. Adjust your computer monitor accordingly.

February is a month of adjustments. The number of days on the calendar is known to change, Valentine’s Day can be a disaster or heaven depending on your love life, and in 2010 the Winter Olympics interrupts the normal TV programming.  Halftime Snack is on board with Adjustment Month:

The starting five:

Simply the Best
By Evan Williams
February 2, 2010 - 11:30pm
Kris Joseph and Arinze Onuaku lead No. 3 Syracuse to a 22-1 record and the team's best start ever with an 85-68 win over Providence.

Prized Syracuse forward Wesley Johnson went down hard to the floor eight minutes into the first half, but the story of the night was reserved for the flight of a sophomore standout and senior staple. 

Kris Joseph scored a career-high 23 points and Arinze Onuaku added a season-best 20 as the Orange squashed the Providence Friars 85-68 to improve to a school-best 22-1 record.  

“A.O. was the most active he’s been all year,” SU Coach Jim Boeheim said. “He hasn’t been having the kind of year we need from him." 

Can you repeat that?
By Kyle C. Leach
January 25, 2010 - 11:35pm
Syracuse continues its 7-game winning streak against rival Georgetown in a boisterous Dome.

Big heads, big names, big blocks and big noise filled the Carrier Dome Monday night.

Unofficial technology (i.e. iPhone applications) measured the crowd volume at 105 decibels on press row, somewhere in the neighborhood of the levels recorded in the Louisiana Superdome for the NFC Championship between the NFL’s Minnesota Vikings and New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

Loud and proud, that’s the Syracuse Orange fan right now.

Johnson and Rautins lead the way against Notre Dame
By Michael Cohen
January 19, 2010 - 2:51pm
Syracuse completes a perfect road trip with an 84-71 victory over the Irish in South Bend.

Coming off an emotional win against No. 9 West Virginia, the Orange showed no signs of a letdown when they took on Notre Dame Monday night. Wesley Johnson scored 22 points while Andy Rautins poured in 21 as Syracuse completed a perfect road trip with an 84-71 victory over the Irish in South Bend.