Syracuse (6-3) returned to its winning ways, plastering 99 points on Boston University (4-6) in a 99-77 win in the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon. The Orange’s recently stagnant offense woke up, led by John Gillon’s 23 points, Taurean Thompson’s 22 and Andrew White’s 19.

Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s sixth win of the season.

Thompson has career-best day

SU head coach Jim Boeheim has said multiple times that Thompson is Syracuse’s best low-post player. On Saturday, though, the freshman made a living out of the post on offense, scoring 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and even stepping out to hit a 3-pointer early in the second half.

With Thompson playing at center with Dajuan Coleman and Paschal Chukwu only getting single-digit minutes in the first half, the freshman was able to catch the ball at the foul line and have a bevvy of options in front of him. He hit several jumpers from the foul-line area and also showed why he’s arguably SU’s best passing big man.

Thompson exited to a sizable ovation with 14:17 left in the game and didn’t return as the Orange pulled away. But when seated in between SU assistant coaches Mike Hopkins and Gerry McNamara on the bench, the freshman had already done his part.

Gillon shines as primary point guard

After going scoreless in Syracuse’s last two games, the fifth-year senior led SU’s offense in the first half with 14 points on 4-of-4 shooting from deep. He overtook Frank Howard as the Orange’s primary point guard in the first half after the sophomore played 27 minutes to Gillon’s 16 on Monday.

Gillon finished with 23 points with a 7-of-9 mark from the field and 6-of-7 clip from deep, mixing his long-range efforts with penetration only Howard has been able to flash from the point guard spot in the past several games.

While Howard did finish with 11 assists, reaching double digits in that category for the third time this season, he went 0-for-5 from the floor and now hasn’t made a shot in the last two games.

BU hurts Syracuse from deep

Despite Syracuse scoring five fewer points in the first half than it did the entirety of Monday’s game against Connecticut, Boeheim was often irate in the opening 20 minutes, and for good reason.

Cheddi Mosely’s long ball with four seconds left in the first half prompted Boeheim to scold Gillon for not locking Moseley down, a familiar script for the SU zone that surrendered 16 3-pointers on the afternoon, including seven in the first half. The Orange led by only six at the break despite its offensive outburst, and Cedric Hankerson’s five first-half 3-pointers were to credit.

Hankerson led the Terriers with 34 points, and he didn’t attempt a single two-point shot while chucking up 20 3-pointers. He made 10 but could only do so much for a BU offense that received production from one player.

Published on December 10, 2016 at 2:06 pm

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