McCullough Steals Win For The Orange At MSG

Story by Lizzy Gomez, 

Photos by Lizzy Gomez and Julia Morris

Video by Michael Castellano

New York, N.Y. -

Iowa had the ball and a chance to take the lead over the No. 23 Syracuse Orange with under a minute left to play in the 2K Classic consolation game at Madison Square Garden on Friday night.

Syracuse forward Chris McCullough stole that chance when he stole the ball from the Hawkeyes under the hoop.

SU Head Coach Jim Boeheim said he thought McCullough made a great play by stealing the Hawkeye pass intended for Iowa forward Aaron White.

“That was the game,” Boeheim said. “If he doesn’t come across and get that one, we don’t win.”

After an Iowa foul, McCullough made two free throws, and Syracuse left the arena with a 66-63 win over the Hawkeyes in The Garden.

But the freshman gave his team more than a potentially game-saving steal.

McCullough also put 20 points on the scoreboard for the Orange, his highest scoring performance in his four games for Syracuse. 

Upperclass Improvements

SU center Rakeem Christmas and guard Trevor Cooney put up a combined 32 points against Iowa — just two points shy of doubling their total offensive contributions from the night before in a loss to Cal.

Cooney had 14 points and made 3 of 9 three-point shot attempts.

Working in the paint, Christmas made 7 of 11 attempted shots for 18 points and six rebounds, but also had four fouls. Boeheim said he liked seeing Christmas make aggressive plays, but said the senior needs to work on staying out of foul trouble.

“He picked one up in the backcourt,” Boeheim said. “You can’t do that. It’s just a learning experience.”

 

Hawkeyes Make It Interesting

Christmas'  fourth foul with under 10 minutes of play remaining in the game was pivotal.

Up to that point, the Orange built up a strong 54-42 lead over the Hawkeyes.

But once Christmas sat on the bench, Iowa ate away at the Syracuse lead with three-point shots and a couple of dunks by White.

Fans from both schools began shouting chants, attempting to drown each other out in the final minutes.

The Hawkeyes cut the SU lead down to one point with just under a minute left in the game, but ultimately McCullough’s steal would push the Hawkeyes to 2-2 on the season.

Up Next For The Orange

Boeheim said it’s too early to draw any conclusions about the Orange at this point in the season.  

“We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next month in this nonconference part of our schedule,” Boeheim said. “It was good, in a way, coming here because we certainly learned what we have to do to get better, and today we did some things better.”

The Orange leave the 2K Classic with one win and one loss, for a 3-1 record.

No. 23 Syracuse goes home to face Loyola (Maryland) on Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

Postgame Conference with SU Head Coach Jim Boeheim - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-HUSfZR4Bw