Three takeaways from Syracuse’s 93-62 win over Brown

Syracuse beat Brown 93-62 at the Dome on Monday night, 16 days after SU last took the court in a 79-75 loss to Georgetown.

The Orange (6-5) offense played one of its strongest games of the season despite the two-week layoff caused by two Covid postponements against Lehigh and Cornell. Buddy Boeheim led all scorers with 28 points in his highest offensive output of 2021.

SU limited the Bears, who played North Carolina tight earlier this season, to 34% from the field. Kino Lilly Jr. led Brown with 13 points.

The Orange stopped their two-game skid stemming from road losses against Villanova and the Hoyas earlier this month. After going without action for nearly two weeks, they’ll host Cornell on Wednesday night and Virginia on Saturday for three games in six days.

Orange got things going from deep:

Syracuse hit five of six triples to open a 16-4 lead over Brown in the first five minutes of Monday night’s game. The start of the second half mimicked the beginning of the first, as SU sank six of seven from the floor and three of three from behind the arc.

“Tonight, we came out offensively very sharp, hit some threes early,” Jim Boeheim said. “We ran some plays for Buddy and Joe (Girard III) right away and they got open shots and they knocked them down.”

Cole Swider hit all three deep balls he attempted, while Girard III, Jimmy Boeheim and Symir Torrence combined for six more. Nobody on the floor drained more than Buddy’s four triples.

Came out firing! 🔥

'Cuse is 5-of-6 from 3.

📺 ACC Network pic.twitter.com/3gwslmiI0R

— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 27, 2021

Missed free throws kept Brown in the game:

Where the Orange were successful in drawing fouls and getting to the free-throw line, the team hit just seven of 16 free throws in the first half. The number improved slightly to three of four in the second half. Brown outshot SU 70% to 50% from the charity stripe on the night.

Brown whittled Syracuse’s hot start turned 14-point lead into a six-point halftime deficit. The Bears shot 39.3% from the field in the first 20 minutes and stayed in the game thanks to SU’s weak, often rim-rattling, first-half free-throw effort.

“That’s all mental,” Jim said about the team’s missed free throws. “We can’t miss nine free throws.”

“These are the things that are inexcusable, and we can’t do them and be successful.”

Buddy Boeheim played his best game of the year:

Buddy’s 28 points on Monday were the most he’s scored in a game since Syracuse’s NCAA Tournament win over San Diego State on March 19 last spring. He shot nearly 58% from the field and 66% from three. After Buddy’s offensive woes earlier this month, the senior from Fayetteville, New York, played like SU’s best scorer against the Bears.

“I haven’t been shooting the ball well, haven’t been shooting great,” Buddy said about his struggles this season. “Just to see some go down early in the second half, get in a rhythm, proved to me that I can do that when my team needs me to.”