Justin Bibbs went straight at Tyler Lydon, who tumbled backward and sideways under the basket. Whistled for his fourth foul, Lydon took his place in between the hashmarks and watched as Bibbs stretched Virginia Tech’s lead to three with 45.7 seconds left.

When the clock hit triple zeroes minutes later, Lydon was still playing in a game still going.

It wasn’t until three minutes into overtime, after his emphatic two-handed slam gave the Orange its biggest lead of the night at the time, that Lydon finally headed to the bench with his fifth foul. He spent the last 2:04 watching from next to assistant coach Gerry McNamara, the only time he couldn’t play and the only time Syracuse had the game finally in its favor.

The freshman chipped in 13 points before fouling out and his six rebounds were second only to Tyler Roberson’s 15. His three offensive boards reinforced an SU rebounding corps that continues to improve, just as Lydon continued to trend upward while battling foul trouble in Syracuse’s (16-8, 6-5 Atlantic Coast) 68-60 overtime win over Virginia Tech (12-11, 4-6) on Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome.

“He was a game-changer toward the end,” Trevor Cooney said. “He had four fouls and they were driving to the lane but he was able to block a shot or make them miss it and come back again and make that guy miss it again.

“I mean he was unbelievable.”

Lydon’s night was kick-started when his turnaround 3-pointer hit nothing but net as the first-half buzzer sounded. A lethargic Syracuse offense made the worst defensive team in the conference look like one of the best, but the freshman’s deep ball gave the Orange a sliver of momentum heading into the half down six.

With 8:46 left in the game and Syracuse down three, Lydon flushed a two-handed dunk and let out a guttural scream toward the Syracuse bench. Seconds later on the other end of the court, Bibbs went right at Lydon for an answer. A microcosm of the mix of caution and aggression the freshman had to balance as the game teetered and he tried to avoid sending one of the league’s best foul-shooting teams to the line.

“He was aggressive,” Michael Gbinije said, “but he wasn’t stupid.”

Virginia Tech broke Syracuse’s second-half press with relative ease and the familiar sight of a guard charging in open floor faced Lydon on multiple occasions. Earlier this season, Lydon had trouble staying straight up when defending under the basket.

Now, that was his only option.

“I thought Tyler Lydon saved the game when we were trapping and pressing and they got the basket and he changed their shot, got the rebound and we got out and scored,” Jim Boeheim said. “I think he did that once or twice.”

The Orange’s first lead came with 22 seconds into overtime. It quickly vanished. Then a Cooney 3 gave it another and Gbinije took the next possession toward the basket on a fast break, running away from a defender as Syracuse tried to do the same with the game.

The senior’s layup didn’t hit the rim, only the backboard. But as it dropped back toward the court, Lydon charged in pursuit, corralled his third offensive rebound of the night and flushed another two-handed dunk. This time one that would help distance the Orange for good.

“I just saw him get that slight little edge on the defender,” Lydon said. “… I got to be there in case he misses.”

In a game Syracuse looked buried in with under two minutes left, it was now running out the clock. The Hokies didn’t even bother playing defense.

Lydon rose from his seated position on the bench and joined Malachi Richardson in flapping his arms upward with a towel in hand. It was a result he helped finally tilt in Syracuse’s favor, even if he had to watch the finish from the sideline.

Published on February 3, 2016 at 12:31 am

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