Syracuse started its exhibition schedule with an 80-49 rout of Saint Rose at the Carrier Dome on Thursday evening. Here are some notes from the game:
- Buddy Boeheim made his debut in the starting rotation and showed he deserves a spot there. Boeheim shot 7-13 from the field, including three 3-pointers and added three rebounds, an assist, and a steal to his stat line. At one point, Boeheim scored ten consecutive points for Syracuse. He also displayed an ability to be clutch by drilling a buzzer-beating 3 to end the first half. It wasn’t a perfect night for Boeheim, as he had three turnovers, but he definitely earned minutes with his performance.
- Syracuse’s star guard Tyus Battle struggled all night long, going 1 for 10 from the field. He looked frustrated with the referees and it seemed like he felt they missed some calls against Saint Rose’s defense. Battle finally hit his first shot in the second half with 5:09 to play. Even with his shooting woes it wasn’t all bad for Battle, as he went 5-6 from the free throw line and had 2 rebounds and 6 assists. Battle played a heavy number of minutes, not coming out of the game until there were 10 minutes left in the second half.
- Syracuse’s interior defense was solid, allowing only one layup in the first half. Center Paschal Chukwu had seven defensive rebounds and three blocks on the night, while forward Bourama Sidibe had four defensive boards and two blocks as well. Forward Marek Dolezaj contributed with a block as well. Sixteen of St. Rose’s 24 first half points came from either the free throw line or beyond the arc.
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- In the first half, Syracuse forced a 10-second violation with the full court press and seemingly abandoned it for the rest of the half. The Orange then came out of halftime with the press and continued using it for the rest of the game along with their traditional zone.
- Oshae Brissett did what he does best; gets boards. Brissett had 14 rebounds on the night. His presence on the glass was most notable when he missed a dunk, grabbed his own miss, and put the ball in the net for two second chance points.
- Syracuse shot well from the free throw line, shooting 14-18 in the first half. Interestingly, the Orange did not attempt a free throw until there was 6:56 in the second half. Syracuse shot 2-4 from the charity stripe in the second half (all shots were taken by Chukwu).
- The most heavily used players for Syracuse were Tyus Battle (34 minutes), Oshae Brissett (34), Elijah Hughes (32) and Buddy Boeheim (28). Brissett, Hughes and Boeheim combined for 60 of the Orange’s 80 points. It will be interesting to see how minutes are distributed when senior guard Frank Howard returns from a leg injury.
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