CHICAGO — Christian White was so excited for Michael Gbinije, but he just couldn’t time his jump correctly. After Syracuse had erased an 11-point first-half deficit and turned it into a five-point Orange lead, Gonzaga called timeout.

White raced out to celebrate with Gbinije, who had scored the last four points and assisted on the other two to start the half.

“I was real excited after a really good play,” White said. “And has he was going up, I went up a little too late. And he knocked me right off balance and I fell pretty hard. It didn’t hurt and it was all in good fun.”

Syracuse (22-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) would go on to beat Gonzaga (28-8, 15-3 West Coast), 63-60, and one of more memorable moments was White sprawled across the hardwood floor, a moment that was captured by the CBS broadcast.

“The referee had to help me up. And then as I was sitting on the bench, one of the broadcasters was behind us and he was like, ‘Christian, you’re going to be on TV.’ He’s like, ‘What year are you?’ And I’m like, ‘I’m a senior.’ And he says, ‘You’re gonna be on TV.’ So it was funny. I’m definitely not embarrassed by it. I’m excited for these guys.”

White, a walk-on senior, hasn’t played in a game this season by choice, per Syracuse.com. He wants to preserve his final year of eligibility so he can transfer next year to a school where he’ll get consistent playing time. But he’s traveled to every game and practices with the team and, inevitably, gets excited when they do well.

On the CBS broadcast, NBA great Reggie Miller said that White needed to hit the gym. When asked about it, Gbinije just started laughing for several seconds.

“Yeah, I’m aware,” he said through chuckles. “It was accidental … He hit a physical specimen.”

Published on March 26, 2016 at 3:35 pm

Contact Sam: sblum@syr.edu | @SamBlum3