Wednesday, November 23, 2016

Orange Stays Out of Fowl Trouble, Feasts on South Carolina State, 101-59, Ahead of Turkey Day

Story by Jon Cerio 

Photos by Rob Schiff

SYRACUSE, N.Y. --  With Thanksgiving two days away, The Orange (4-0) feasted on an over-matched South Carolina State Bulldogs team (1-3) in the Carrier Dome, 101-59 Tuesday night.

All The Fixings

Syracuse carved through the Bulldogs' defense, hitting 54 percent of its field goals, including 54 percent from beyond the arc.  

Six Orange players were in double figures on the night, as Syracuse won its third matchup in the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational.

"Obviously, we're bigger and stronger,"  SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.  "I thought for awhile there we moved the ball better and got some good shots."

Breaking Bread

The Bulldogs' Edward Stephens got the first basket of the game from deep, giving South Carolina State its first and only lead of the game.  

From there, the Orange went on a 15-0 tear to open things up.  The run included threes from Tyler Lydon, Andrew White III and Franklin Howard.  Syracuse was up 15-3 with 14:02 left in the half.

“I think after the first few minutes we were able to find our rhythm, and make some stops,” White said.

The Bulldogs answered back with Tashombe Riley and James Richardson layups, followed by a jumper from Eric Eaves.  South Carolina State cut the lead to 15-9, with 10:35 left in the first half.

Stuffing the Stats

John Gillon and Dajuan Coleman combined for the Orange’s next 13 points.  After a Tyus Battle three-pointer, and a Taurean Thompson slam, Syracuse was up by 17 points, 33-16, with 4:50 left in the half.

Ozante Fields helped keep the Bulldogs competitive, with a couple of fast break layups. He wound up as SC State's leading scorer with eleven points and six rebounds.   

South Carolina State was very aggressive from the early stages of the contest, with several fast break opportunities.  At one point, the Bulldogs had a 16-8 point edge in that department over Syracuse.

Despite that, the Orange held onto a 46-31 advantage at the half.

Second Helping of Squash

Syracuse opened up the second half with a three-ball from White.  He led six Orange in double figures with 15 points on the night.  

After Eaves answered with a dunk for the Bulldogs first points of the half, Richardson and Greg Mortimer provided sporadic offense for South Carolina State during a 36-9 run for the Orange over the next 11:41.

“I think we played really well offensively,” Lydon said. "Defensively, we were able to execute in the second half and we were able to play our game.”

Gravy Train

The Orange spread the wealth, getting multiple players involved in the onslaught.  Howard led the distribution with eleven assists. Gillon chipped in another four.  In all, Syracuse had 25 assists.


Cold Turkey

Though the Bulldogs continued to attack the rim, they weren’t nearly as efficient as they needed to be.  By the end of the game, Syracuse matched South Carolina State’s fast break points with 18.

“We have a lot of depth, so we can run,” White said.  “We use that to our advantage.”

Feather in the Cap

The Orange used its speed and size to outplay the Bulldogs in every facet of the game.  The two Tylers led the charge on the boards, helping SU outrebound its opponent by 22.  

The Orange doubled the Bulldog field goal percentage, 54 to 27 percent.  Syracuse was lights out from downtown, hitting 13-24 threes on the night, including 4-5 from Lydon.


Seventeen Orange players got into the game, including all eight walk-ons and a three-pointer by Ray Featherston with 14 seconds left put SU over the 100-point mark for the first time since a game against Monmouth on Dec. 8, 2012.


Setting the Table

Syracuse now looks to a date with a tough South Carolina team in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Saturday at 2:30. The 4-0 Gamecocks host 4-0 Michigan tonight in Columbia.

"Well, I think we've had the opportunity to give everybody a really good feel for what college basketball is about," Boeheim said.

 "Trying to get this team to fit together, the guys that we have, and I think we have, and I think that we have accomplished that."



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