Syracuse finishes pre-conference play with win over St. Bonaventure

The Orange ended their pre-conference season with a win over a St. Bonaventure in the Carrier Dome, 81-48. This game was the last in a seven-home game streak.

St. Bonaventure (4-7) struggled on both ends of the court, while Syracuse (9-4) played one of their better games this season.

“Our defense was better, the whole game it was consistent,” Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim said. “We made just a couple mistakes early. They made threes, but other than that the defense was good.”

The Bonnies weren’t able to get past the Syracuse zone defense, but when they could it wasn’t pretty. St. Bonaventure either threw away passes or turned over the ball when Syracuse stole it mid-bounce pass. The Bonnies finished with 25 turnovers, while the Orange finished with 14.

Tyus Battle led the game in scoring with 21 points, followed by Elijah Hughes with 16. Marek Dolezaj, who started at the center position again over Paschal Chukwu today, went 3-4 in field goals for a total of nine points.

“Tyus played at full speed,” Boeheim said. “He was very efficient at what he did, and I thought it was just a good overall game. I thought we just had more of a complete game than we’ve had.”

Syracuse shot better than they have been, shooting at 58 percent in field goals and 35 percent from beyond the arc. Additionally, they went 17-22 in free throws for a solid 77 percent (season-average is 67 percent).

Bench players like Robert Braswell and Jalen Carey each contributed four points today. In total, bench players scored 25 points. Buddy Boeheim scored a career-high 12 points after going 4-8 in field goals and 3-3 at the line.

“He’s getting better, he just needs time,” Jim Boeheim said of his son. “Both Jalen and him just need time on the court – they’re both freshmen. Some freshmen need time, and there are very few freshmen who can right away go out there.”

Boeheim said he thinks this is going to be the last time the team will have an extended time for practice, as their next game isn’t until a week from today.

“We need to get better, but I think the practices this week will help us,” Boeheim said. “The practices have been good, and I think it showed today that we just played at a better pace.”