Elijah Hughes stopped before the block “S” at mid court and fanned his arms out like an angel’s wings. The shot that he created, the seeming dagger in a game that hadn’t even reached halftime, had only just been a presumption at that point.

A play prior, Hughes rotated from the wing, tracked down a Seattle player under the rim and grazed his hair against the bottom of the rim at the peak of his leap. “I just didn’t want to get dunked on,” Hughes said laughing after the game. Like many of the Redhawks (2-3) chances in its 89-67 loss, Hughes slammed it into the ground. He didn’t need to join the break. Joe Girard III caught the ball on the wing with no defenders around him and the Carrier Dome prepared to burst. The shot fell and fans jumped, but Hughes stilled. He looked up toward the ceiling, raised his arms a little higher and took in the roars.

Syracuse (2-1, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) leaned on a first-half surge to total its best offensive performance of the season. At the expense of its second-worst opponent, per KenPom, an SU team that has struggled to limit turnovers turned in its lowest total so far. A team that has struggled in transition scored 14 points on breakaways. A team that promised an identity finally showed it had one, as it scorched the Redhawks with 27 points beyond the arc. 

“There’s pretty much no other way to say it, we got a W,” Girard said. “Scored a lot of points like we could’ve (earlier in the season). And probably had a win like we wanted to.”

Bourama Sidibe dunks the ball. On Saturday night, the junior had seven points and six rebounds. Corey Henry | Photo Editor

Syracuse began the game looking toward an onslaught. Scoring on all three levels, SU jumped out to a 15-4 lead to open the game. Girard, in his firs-career start, scored five points in the opening four and a half minutes.  Out of the timeout, though, Seattle tightened its defense. Hughes was followed all game by Seattle’s Morgan Means, tying up with him several times as he looked to the referee nearby for a foul call and losing the ball on other occasions. Despite a few steals and some timely buckets, Seattle plummeted — down 22 at the end of the first half.

But the Orange nearly lost control a game that was at one point headed for a blowout. The Redhawks chipped away: Syracuse missed shots, gave up the ball and looked, at times, lost defensively. Seattle’s Aaron Nettles was awarded a four-point play that sliced SU’s seemingly ever-lasting double-digit lead to just seven points after the free throw. A near second-half collapse would’ve sent the Orange back to the depths of its first game of the season, unable to stop Seattle from beating them in a way unlike the Redhawks have played all year.

Jim Boeheim didn’t excuse his team of mistakes after the game, but maintained that the Orange fell victim to a bit of misfortune as the Redhawks began to mount the run that nearly erased SU’s lead.

“They are a bad 3-point shooting team and they showed that,” Boeheim said. “Then they made six out of seven.”

But the momentum reset and Syracuse fought back to sweeten the score. Girard swooped into the lane for a floating layup to raise SU’s lead to nine. It grew bigger and bigger. Marek Dolezaj added to his season-best scoring performance. Quincy Guerrier contributed solid minutes that included a driving dunk. 

And with an opportunity to put the game away, Girard had the ball at the top of the key again. Syracuse’s most animated player Wednesday turned into a loose trot towards the bench. After the make, he stayed seated with the game no longer in reach. 

An even steeper cushion in place, the Orange settled and the crowd again took control.

Published on November 16, 2019 at 9:08 pm

Contact Michael: mmcclear@syr.edu | @MikeJMcCleary