Syracuse will face Duke in ACC quarterfinal without Buddy Boeheim as he serves 1-game suspension

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Facing No. 1 seed Duke for the third time this season, No. 9 Syracuse will be without its best player after a first-half altercation in the second round of the ACC Tournament against Florida State on Wednesday.

Syracuse senior guard Buddy Boeheim, son of coach Jim Boeheim, appeared to punch FSU's Wyatt Wilkes in the gut after a basket gave the Orange a 25-10 lead over the Seminoles with 10:17 left in the first half.

Boeheim punched Wilkes in the stomach as he turned to get back on defense after teammate Joseph Girard III made a three-pointer.

No foul was called on Boeheim but the ACC handed down a one-game suspension Wednesday evening "as a result of a flagrant act," according to a league release.

Boeheim, who leads Syracuse in scoring this season and was an All-ACC first-team selection, scored 11 points in Syracuse's 96-57 rout of Florida State, setting up a third matchup against Duke today at noon at the Barclays Center.

After the game, coach Boeheim said he saw the video of the play against Buddy and defended his son, stating the strike against Wilkes was “inadvertent” and said Wilkes pushed Buddy twice before the altercation. Boeheim added that he was not concerned that Buddy would be suspended for the game against Duke

"No, I don't think he hit him," Boheim said after the win. "He just swung around and there was contact. The kid pushed him twice. You can't just let people push you around. It wasn't -- it was like this.

FSU coach Leonard Hamilton was asked about the punch and defused the situation.

“There’s not a better kid in the ACC than Buddy Boeheim.," he said. "We’ll move on and let how well they played be the information we need to talk about in relation to this game.”

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The Blue Devils (26-5, 16-4) defeated the Orange by 20 and 25 this season with the last win, 97-72, in the Carrier Dome on Feb. 26.

David Thompson is an award-winning reporter for the USA Today Network covering NC State and Duke athletics. He can be reached at dthompson1@gannett.com, at 828-231-1747, or on Twitter at @daveth89.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Buddy Boeheim suspended for Syracuse's ACC tournament game against Duke