Syracuse Orange Basketball: Syracuse vs. Clemson

Syracuse's Baye Moussa Keita stretches out his leg on the Orange bench in the second half of the Orange's game against Clemson on Feb. 9, 2014, at the Carrier Dome.

(Dennis Nett | dnett@syracuse.com)

Syracuse, N.Y. — With 7 minutes and 2 seconds left in the first half of what would ultimately become a 57-44 Syracuse win over Clemson Sunday night, Baye Moussa Keita grimaced, massaged his right leg and signaled he needed a substitute.

Keita, the Syracuse senior, hobbled from the free-throw lane to the Syracuse bench, where Orange athletic trainer Brad Pike attended to him. A couple minutes later, Keita limped into the Syracuse locker room. Dr. Brad Raphael — the same physician who performed season-ending surgery on SU big man Dajuan Coleman this year — accompanied Keita into the Orange sanctuary.

Keita would not return to the game. His status remains murky as SU prepares to play perhaps the most physical team on its schedule. The Orange visits Pittsburgh on Wednesday. And there is a chance SU will carry a single center on its roster to the raucous Petersen Events Center.

"Hopefully, Baye will be OK," SU coach Jim Boeheim said. "We don't have any ideas, but we hope that it wasn't too bad and we can get him back. But we'll have to wait and see."

The official diagnosis from SU spokesman Pete Moore is a sprained right knee. Syracuse players were puzzled about how Keita sustained the injury, though Moore said it happened when Keita made a defensive play. Orange teammates said they learned at halftime, when Keita was wearing his full warm-ups and revealed his status, that he would be unable to play in the second half.

Keita had cleared out of the Syracuse locker room by the time reporters were allowed post-game access Sunday night. His teammates were unsure about his physical health and uncertain how the injury might affect their sublime 23-0 ride this season. At this point, Rakeem Christmas is the lone option in the middle.

"If Baye isn't able to go Wednesday, that's a little concern," said SU forward C.J. Fair. "They're a team that likes to get it inside. You know they're going to want to take advantage of that opportunity. I think we'll do a good job of packing our defense in and helping Rock out. I think we can kind of save him."

"It's definitely going to be tough," SU forward Jerami Grant said. "They're a physical team. But at the same time, if I'm put in the same situation, I've gotta do the same thing."

The Sunday situation, for Grant, was to slide to the center spot after Christmas found foul trouble that limited him to 26 minutes. Boeheim said Grant had played some center during SU practices, but both Grant and Christmas refuted that contention.

Syracuse sophomore Dajuan Coleman sits behind the Orange bench before his team met Clemson Sunday Feb. 9 in the Carrier Dome.

Christmas said he warned Grant about Clemson big men who would attempt to post him up and use their bigger bodies to exploit him. The key, Christmas said, was to establish that spot quickly. Grant said he probed Boeheim for a swift, in-game tutoring session.

"Jerami stepped up," Christmas said. "He saw what it was to be a 'five' down in there. He did his thing and held his own in the middle."

"We're a little small," Boeheim said, "but Jerami did a good job in there. He's pretty quick in there. If we have to play that way, we will."

Two months ago, Syracuse had a bounty of 15 fouls to use at the center position. Now, a mere five fouls rests with the lone big man still standing. Christmas said the situation will force him to be more judicious about how he parcels out those fouls. Circumstances no longer allow him to slap at the basketball or swat a shot when he has no realistic chance to erase it.

"I got to watch the way I'm doing things," Christmas said, "and try not to pick up stupid fouls, make better decisions. You can't force anything."

"I think it puts a little more pressure on Rakeem," said Fair, "to play honest defense but to play defense at the same time. You don't want to give up anything but you don't want to play too aggressive and get in foul trouble."

The Orange likely will spend the next couple days preparing for the worst, but hoping for Keita's return.

Keita walked gingerly on the knee during breaks in the game to hear conversation during team huddles and to encourage teammates. At least two Orange players — Jerami Grant and Tyler Ennis — guessed that Keita would be ready for Pittsburgh. Those opinions were based solely on their perception of Keita's tenacity.

"I'm not concerned," Grant said. "Baye's a tough player. I feel like he'll be back for Pitt and for the games to come."

"I think Baye will be back, definitely," Ennis said.

If he does not return for Pittsburgh, Ennis envisions the Orange guards helping more on the backboards against a tenacious Panthers team that outrebounded SU 35-24 when the teams met on Jan. 18 in the Carrier Dome.

Grant said his most difficult adjustment came on the defensive end, where he was rebounding from a foreign position. Grant grabbed seven rebounds in the first half while he was playing forward; he hauled in one rebound in the second half when he was forced to perform spot center duties.

"I'll just tell him tomorrow some of the things he needs to do," Christmas said. "Jerami will probably be in our (practice) group (of centers). He'll probably go between groups. He'll pick it up. He's smart."