Syracuse Upsets No. 6 Florida State

Story by Ashley Moore

Photo by Mike Drew

SYRACUSE, N.Y – Syracuse outscored No. 6 Florida State by 18 points in the first half, then beat back a furious Seminoles' second half rally before cementing an 82-72 upset win with superb free throw shooting by John Gillon at the Carrier Dome Saturday afternoon.

In the final minute of the game Gillon made 8-of-8 free throws to seal the deal for Syracuse.

“It’s the best first half we’ve had in a long time,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. “And we kind of hung out there and were tough at the end.”

Upset Alert

With just short of 25,000 spectators in the stands, three lead changes in the first 12 minutes had Orange fans on the edge of their seats, as Syracuse (13-9, 5-4 ACC) went toe to toe with a top ten team. Florida State (18-4, 6-3) capitalized on nine offensive boards compared to the Orange’s two, but Syracuse’s shooting started to heat up.

Tyler Roberson sparked the team with an uncontested dunk, driving the crowd wild. With the energy from the fans, it was lights out from there. The Orange managed to pull away, going on a 20-6 run to end the half.

Tyler Lydon was active on the defensive end, tying a career-high six blocks in the first half.

A Tale of Two Halves

The Seminoles started the second half on a 25-10 run, rallying back to bring the lead within single digits, shooting 5-for-6 from beyond the arc. Jonathan Isaac scored 16 points and added nine boards after managing to score just three points before halftime.

“We didn’t make a whole lot of adjustments at halftime, only thing we did was ask them to do what we had from the game plan in the beginning,” Seminoles head coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Our guys executed a lot better, defended a lot better but we dug such a hole for ourselves.”

Down the Stretch

With ten minutes left in the game, Lydon grabbed an offensive rebound from an Andrew White III missed three-pointer and slammed home a one-handed dunk to give Syracuse momentum. But Florida State’s Dwayne Bacon silenced the crowd, downing a three-pointer pulling FSU within two points.

Coming in Clutch

With three minutes left in the game, Syracuse led by just three but those final minutes belonged to Gillon as he scored 13 points compared to Florida State’s five. 

 “I was just at a point where it wasn’t an option for me to miss,” Gillon said. “I had to just do what I could for my team.”

Next Up

Syracuse heads to Raleigh Wednesday to face NC State, hoping to earn its first road win of the season. Florida State will look to snap a two-game losing streak Wednesday at Miami.