Orange Falls in Overtime to Former Big East Rival Villanova

 

By: Lauren Foti

 

Philadelphia -- Despite being ahead for almost all of regulation, the Syracuse Orange could not hold former Big East foe the No. 7 Villanova Wildcats. Leading by five with eleven seconds to go in regulation, the Orange saw the Wildcats tie it with a three, a steal and a layup, then go on to win in overtime 82-77, Saturday afternoon. 

"It was a great effort," Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. "But when you have control of the game at the end you need to finish the game, and we just didn't."

The matchup between the Orange (6-4) and the undefeated Wildcats (11-0) drew a crowd of 18,369 to the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia.

First Half

Syracuse was the first to get on the board jumping out to a quick 4-0 lead after winning the tip off. In the first half the Orange's offense clicked, shooting 63-percent from the field and 66.7-percent from three-point range.
 

Michael Gbinije had eleven first-half points and Syracuse went into halftime leading the Wildcats 43-31.

While the offense moved the ball around the perimeter creating opportunities for Rakeem Christmas and Gbinije, fouls would ultimately hurt. Both fouled out in overtime along with forward Chris McCullough who spent most of the game in foul trouble.

Second Half

The Wildcats struck quickly in the second half going on a 12-4 run.  Villanova's Darrun Hilliard scored eight straight points including a pair of threes. dropping the Syracuse lead from 14 to six within the first minutes.

The Orange men ramped things up but they could not regain the large lead they once had over the Wildcats. They were ahead by 16 early in the second half.

Syracuse appeared to have the upset in hand, leading 69-64 on two Trevor Cooney free throws, but Josh Hart hit a three and on the ensuing inbounds pass JayVaughn Pinkston tipped the ball away from Christmas. Ryan Arcidiacano. grabbed it then hit Pinkston for the tying layup.

Gbinje's heave at the buzzer fell short.

 

Overtime

Villanova’s Hilliard was the first to score in the overtime from the foul line giving ‘Nova its first lead of the game.

The Orange answered back but the Wildcats drew fouls on McCullough and Christmas and both fouled out.

Syracuse trailed by one with :37 left but the Wildcats made six straight free throws to seal it.
Villanova shot 26 for 32 at the line. Syracuse made 13 of 18.

Pinkston led the Wildcats scoring with 25 points, while Hillard had 23 and Hart added 21.


Notes/Next
 

Gbinije and Christmas had 18 points each for Syracuse, while Cooney racked up 17 points, shooting 3-5 from behind the threepoint line.
 

Freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph got the first double-double of his college career. Joseph racked up 10 points and ten assists. 

"Guys were hitting shots, that makes a difference,"  Joseph said. "Helps the guy’s confidence. That makes a world's difference coming into games like this"

 

"This obviously was a much better effort," Boeheim said, when asked about getting ready for ACC play. "But we've still got some work to do.

For now Coach Boeheim is looking at the Orange's next game, against Colgate at the Carrier Dome Monday December 22 at 7:00pm.