Syracuse on three game win streak after rout of Clemson

The Orange outscored Clemson 30-22 in the first half to give Syracuse a stable lead for the rest of the game.

Story by Dakota Palmer

Published: January 10, 2019

After a 61-53 victory over Clemson, Syracuse was able to tie the eight-game series between the schools 4-4. The win over the Tigers gives the Orange a four-game win streak and a two-conference game win streak.

“Our defense was really good the first half, [and] it was still pretty good the second half,” Syracuse Head Coach Jim Boeheim said. “We should have had more separation the first half. But we did some dumb things, made some dumb turnovers.”

Clemson (10-5, 0-2) made their first few shots to take a 5-2 lead, but Syracuse (11-4, 2-0) continued on a 10-0 run to pretty much dominate the Tigers in the first half.

While the Orange kept a lead for the majority of the game, Clemson did creep up a few times — once with a five-point margin (25-20) late in the first half and again with a six-point margin (56-50) late in the second half.

The Orange looked good defensively, forcing Clemson to shoot only 35.8 percent in field goals and 25 percent in threes. Marcquise Reed, who averages 19.6 points per game for Clemson, was limited to only 16 today — and only four in the first half.

“We did a good job defensively, we did a really good job on Reed until the end,” Boeheim said.

Syracuse pulled down a good number of rebounds tonight but didn’t grab an offensive rebound until nearly 13 minutes into the first half. Due to an improved second half from the Tigers, Syracuse ended with 35 rebounds compared to Clemson’s 36.

Syracuse really started to take off after Boeheim put in Bourama Sidibe at the center position and put Marek Dolezaj back to his usual forward position. Sidibe, who is coming off of a knee injury he sustained last season, said his knee is getting stronger.

“I’ve just got to keep working every day,” Sidibe said.

Dolezaj and Sidibe each had a bit if trouble containing Elijah Thomas, a 245 pound, 6’9” giant, but they limited him to 13 points and seven rebounds.

“When Bourama went in, he was really good in the first half,” Boeheim said. “He made some plays that really made a difference for us.”

Paschal Chukwu, whose starting position was taken over by Dolezaj, did not play at all tonight. Boeheim didn’t comment on the reasoning behind his lack of playing time.

The most impressive part of the game was when team-high scorer for the Orange Elijah Hughes (14 points) shot and made a three. Typically, he does this every game — but not with only one shoe on. Hughes said the shoe fell off during the previous play, but he received the pass and just shot anyway.

Syracuse will take on Georgia Tech in the Dome on Saturday at 6 p.m.