After trailing at halftime, Syracuse stormed out of locker room to a big victory.
First it was Joey Lockett, then Southern Connecticut State looked to the corners for space against Syracuse’s zone and found it. Jerry Luckett hit a three. Then Joey Wallace, son of former Syracuse Orange forward John Wallace, buried SU from deep early.
The scoreboard read 9-0, the goose-egg next to Syracuse, as the student section gasped.
Three minutes in Jim Boeheim called timeout, two minutes later Syracuse trailed 11-0. Oshae Brissett finally grabbed Tyus Battle’s second miss and hit a layup through the foul to let the crowd sit down.
It was another early offensive drought, one reminiscent of last week’s against Southern New Hampshire. Only this time it lasted the entire half, where SU shot 8-of-31. By the end of the game their offense once again opened up between Battle and Brissett to facilitate a 84-59 win.
Brissett picked up his second foul out of scrap in the paint for a rebound. Bourama Sidibe, an early substitution for Paschal Chukwu, got active with two quick offensive rebounds but almost halfway through the first half the Orange only had five points on 2-of-13 shooting.
"We've gotten off to slow starts offensively,” Boeheim said. “Not enough movement, a little bit too relaxed on shooting the jump-shot. That's not the strong point right now. I think we can make shots, but we don't want to start off that way.
Syracuse’s struggles did not end there. Isaiah McLeod attacked Sidibe on the baseline, earning a layup and handing Sidibe his second foul. Geno Thorpe got stopped in his tracks trying post-up and the Owls took advantage of their stops, getting on the run with two mid-range jumpers to go up 22-8.
With over six minutes remaining Brissett returned and sparked some life, scoring over Luke Beesley standing in the restricted zone on a baseline drive. After Luckett converted on an easy break after a Howard Washington turnover, Brissett cleaned up Chukwu’s one-handed post floater miss. But Southern Connecticut answered again with three from McLeod to stay up 15.
Then Chukwu missed a point blank layup on an offensive rebound. The most shocking of all the shots that rolled out of the rim in the half.
Battle got the ball back after two ensuing misses, drove across the entire court, and got rejected at the opposite net for his sixth miss in his first seven attempts.
“As a team our jumpers are going to come from drive,” Howard said on the offense. “Kicks, movements, stuff like that. Stand-still jumpers, it doesn't help any team to take those.”
The Orange stayed in their press, forcing some deflections but kept leaving holes that the Owls found. Beesley hit Taurus Adams for two on the deep baseline underneath the zone. With 3:03 left Syracuse went to timeout again down double-digits, Battle and Sidibe talking as the Orange struggled to find offensive life. The goal, as it was against SNHU, was to open up the offense by forcing turnovers.
Fortunes turned for Syracuse when they got Battle going. Chukwu subbed in for Sidibe finalized two stops with rebounds, as the Orange found Battle with two outlet passes that became free throws and a three-pointer. Sidibe returned with a steal at mid-court, Battle got it again, sizing up Wallace before getting his drive thrown off amongst a mass of bodies. One minute later he walked with the team into the locker room trailing 29-24 to a Division II opponent at half.
“The biggest disappointment in the first half, we got out-rebounded,” Boeheim said. (There were) four or five rebounds which we didn't go after the ball, didn't make the effort ... second half we out-rebounded them ... sometimes with young guys they don't understand the level of intensity that you have to play with.”
Syracuse came out of the half on a 14-3 run, quickly retaking the lead behind two makes from Brissett and Howard’s steal and score at half court.
Out of the first Owl’s timeout, Chukwu retuned to his defensive play from the first game. Beesley got free underneath for a layup attempt and Chukwu recovered with a swat, his third. Through four minutes the Southern Connecticut only managed a Ulyen Coleman three-pointer.
Battle’s struggles from the field continued as Howard fed him with a wide-open transition three on the wing on the drive. He missed, clapped his hands and got subbed out. Brissett continued to drive the offense, hitting two free throws on a drive and setting up Washington for a jumper off a steal in the press.
Beesley, Luckett and Bernard Brantley kept the Owls within 12 on a string of eight points before Syracuse solidified their touch around the rim. Moyer cleaned up a Battle miss then caught a feed from Thorpe across the baseline for a swinging dunk to push the lead to 66-49.
Washington said the focus at halftime was being able to shift focus to other areas of impact when shots weren’t falling.
“Coming out and wanting to get rebounds,” he said. “Coming out and being in the right position ... running the floor every single play. So there's things that we should be doing that we can control. You can control your shot ... but shots are going to miss.”
Howard continued an efficient shooting and passing night, catching a pass from Thorpe for two inside as the two shared passing responsibilities. A spot-up three from Howard a few possessions later put Syracuse up 76-57.
The Orange once again escaped early struggles but looks of frustration on shots that spanned throughout the game continue to highlight an offense that’s trying to find itself.
Ignoring a question about facing Jimmy Boeheim in the team’s opener on Friday against Cornell, Boeheim said there’s many too many things to improve on to highlight any strides they made through the exhibition games.
"We've got a long way to go."
