Syracuse (13-9, 5-4 Atlantic Coast) upset No. 6 Florida State (18-4, 6-3) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon, holding off the Seminoles for a 82-72 win. The Orange led by 18 at the break, its largest advantage at halftime in 20 conference games, but let it slip to as few as two in the second half. Jim Boeheim’s team held on, though, and continued its hot streak at home.

Here are superlatives from Syracuse’s fifth conference win.

Stud: Tyler Lydon

Even though Andrew White led the way with a game-high 24 points, Lydon did it all – again – to keep the Orange in front. The sophomore scored 14 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and tied a career high with six blocks, continuing to prove his worth as Syracuse’s star player.

Dud: Taurean Thompson

The freshman big man was unable to log back-to-back double-digit scoring games for only the second time in league play, as he was plagued by foul trouble and sat the bench for almost the entire second half. Thompson picked up two quick fouls to begin the second stanza, even though one appeared to be a clean block, and scored only two points in seven minutes of action.

Highlight: Lydon’s one-handed putback slam

With Syracuse only leading by two after allowing its 18-point halftime lead to vanish, Tyus Battle hoisted a corner 3 that bounced off the front rim. Lydon soared in from the weak side and flushed a putback slam with his right hand to give the Orange a little more breathing room and secure his place in Saturday night’s SportsCenter Top 10.

Lowlight: Tyler Roberson’s missed free throws

Coming into the game, Syracuse was the best free-throw shooting team in conference play. For the most part, the Orange lived up to that billing Saturday. SU shot 23-of-30 from the charity stripe in total, but excluding Roberson, the team went 23-of-24. While Lydon, Battle, White and John Gillon hit a combined all but one foul shot, Roberson missed all six of his.

Turning point: Gillon acrobatic layup to put SU up four

With Syracuse leading by two and just over a minute left, Gillon drove the lane. Almost every time before, he kicked out since a mammoth FSU defender awaited, but this time he found space and spun a layup off the right side of the backboard to put Syracuse up four while falling to the ground.

Published on January 28, 2017 at 2:18 pm

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