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Syracuse center Bourama Sidibe tore his meniscus in his left knee during Friday’s game against Bryant and will undergo surgery on Tuesday, Syracuse Athletics announced in a release. He’s expected to miss about four weeks.

Sidibe left the Orange’s game against Bryant with 15:37 left in the first half, though he didn’t appear to limp off the court. In the opening four minutes, he recorded two points on free throws and grabbed an offensive rebound.

He entered Syracuse’s starting lineup last season after backing up Paschal Chukwu the previous two years, averaging 6.0 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. In Syracuse’s loss to North Carolina on Feb. 29, he scored a season-high 17 points.

While Sidibe remains out, senior forward Marek Dolezaj will likely slide to the center position, as he did against the Bulldogs for the majority of his 37 minutes. After the game, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said Dolezaj is SU’s “best defensive center” and is more ready than sophomore Jesse Edwards and freshman Frank Anselem to take on the larger role at center.

“With Bourama going down right now, if he can’t play, Marek’s starting at center, Quincy’s at forward, Alan’s at the other forward,” Boeheim said Friday. “That’s our best team.”

The shuffling will lead to increased minutes for Illinois transfer Alan Griffin, redshirt sophomore Robert Braswell and returning sixth-man Quincy Guerrier, who made his first-career start against Bryant. Boeheim said Friday that Braswell “can’t play center” at 6-foot-7, and the head coach couldn’t sub him back in at forward because of how Griffin and Guerrier were playing. He finished with just under three total minutes.

Published on November 30, 2020 at 1:40 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew