Orange hoops outlast Indiana 112-110 in double overtime
Orange hoops outlast Hoosiers 112-110 in double OT
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team did not go down without a fight. And fight they did.
“I just thought this was a will to win a game,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “You have to find a way to win these games, and they found a way”.
The Boeheim brothers, Buddy and Jimmy, combined for 53 points, seven made three-pointers, 8-10 from the free-throw line, eight rebounds, 10 assists and six steals.
Calling this game a barnburner would be selling it short: the 222 total points are the most for an SU game since the Orange began ACC play in 2013. It was the first game since Syracuse’s January 2019 overtime win at Duke where both teams broke the 90+ mark and the first game that played into double overtime since SU’s January 2018 loss at Florida State.
The Orange were outrebounded by 13 but forced a season-high 25 turnovers.
“If we don’t get those turnovers, we don’t have a chance,” Boeheim said.
The Orange shot 58 percent from the field and 50 percent from deep in the first half and took a dominant 49-33 lead into halftime.
Syracuse held Indiana leading scorer Trayce Jackson-Davis to just eight first-half points, down from his 43 total points in IU’s last game against Marshall, the tenth-best scoring night in Hoosier history.
Despite the great offensive output, the Syracuse defense shined. Indiana fumbled away 13 turnovers and shot just 37 percent from the field, 25 percent from three, making just three triples.
The Orange cashed in 16 points off of those 13 turnovers: a season first-half high for the Hoosiers.
Syracuse center Jesse Edwards exploded on the defensive end, nabbing four steals and one big block early to establish himself down low. The backcourt defense was solid as well, with Indiana starting guards Xavier Johnson and Parker Stewart combining for eight points on 2-6 shooting, 2-5 from deep for Stewart.
The Hoosiers and the Orange combined for 38 turnovers at the Dome on Tuesday night.
Buddy Boeheim's 27 points marked his third 20+ point performance in the last four games.
The second half was a wildly different story.
The Hoosiers exploded out of the gate to cut into the lead on a red-hot 14-3 run in the opening four minutes of the second half. Stewart fueled it all and shot 3-4 from deep in that stretch.
With 10:44 to go, IU tied the game for the first time all night at 58 apiece. The Hoosiers then quickly took a 63-60 lead.
But Syracuse answered with a wild run of their own, outsourcing the Hoosiers 16-5 from 7:49 to 4:09, and breaking out a quick lead again: 81-72.
With 26 seconds to go, an Edwards layup tipped the scoreboard 86-80 in SU’s favor, but he fouled out just six seconds later.
Indiana made both free throws and a Jimmy Boeheim missed one-and-one followed up by an IU three-pointer left the score at 86-85 with just six seconds remaining.
Cole Swider swished both free throws to take a three-point lead, but a Khristian Lander made free throw, followed by a miss, and Jackson-Davis rebound resulted in two more free throws made for the Hoosiers with 0.8 seconds remaining. Remarkably, Indiana forced overtime.
Led by Swider’s big three-pointer and clutch steal, the Orange only trailed for 23 seconds in the first overtime.
Indiana didn’t care. The Hoosiers kept clawing back and hit a layup with 1:10 to go to tie the game at 97. Joe Girard III missed a three-pointer with 10 seconds to go and led the game to a second overtime.
21,330 fans marked the highest attendance of any SU men's basketball game this season.
Cole Swider hustled out four rebounds, three steals and 12 points on Tuesday night.
The second extra frame was all Indiana to start. The Hoosiers drained the first four points in the opening minute and a half. Then Frank Anselem showed up and swished four free throws in a row to tie the game at 101-all. Anselem led the Orange to a 6-1 run after those free throws to start to pull away.
“If he doesn’t go to the line and make those four, we don’t win,” coach Boeheim said. “He changed his free throw a couple of weeks ago and he made four in a row. Without those, we don’t win”.
Anselem did not attempt a field goal in the game, one of only two players for the Orange who had minutes and did not (Benny Williams), but his clutch free throws were a huge reason behind Syracuse’s win.
“You gotta be mentally ready to file it. I was ready, I felt like we could’ve won it in regulation,” Anselem said on his clutch free throws. “My number was called, I’m glad he put me back in the game”.
Indiana pulled the game back to within one point after a clutch three with 25 seconds to go. But two made free throws by Jimmy Boeheim upped the lead to three: 110-107.
The Hoosiers then shot a desperation three with seven seconds left. Referees called a tough foul on Buddy Boeheim and IU made all three free throws to tie it up.
Girard got the last laugh, and the Orange closed out the win behind his two made free throws with 0.8 seconds left, closing a 112-110 victory.
“I have a lot of admiration for my team, what they just did,” coach Boeheim said. “There’s not many people that thought we would win the game except for those guys. They had a lot of heart tonight, a lot of heart”.
The Orange move next to Tallahassee, where they’ll take on the Florida State Seminoles this Saturday at 4 p.m.
