There was little separation between Syracuse and Oakland. There was no celebration. But when Tyus Battle floated a contest step-back jumper from 15 feet out, there was no doubt. Syracuse fans took a collective seat.

Syracuse fans don’t sit down after tipoff until the Orange makes its first basket. Thirty-one seconds into Monday night’s game, a 74-50 Syracuse victory, Battle hit that jumper. It provided SU fans a reprieve they had not experienced that early in a game since last season.

In the season opener, Cornell’s Jimmy Boeheim drilled a 3-pointer in front of the SU bench. Against Iona, Syracuse didn’t’ score until nearly two minutes in. Saturday against Texas Southern, the Orange missed six shots and needed nearly three minutes to score a point. Even in both scrimmages, against Division II opponents, SU struggled to pick up momentum early.

Not Monday night. Syracuse (4-0) scored first, went down 7-2 to Oakland (2-2), then systematically spread the basketball to produce 39 first-half points, a season high. Overall, the Orange shot an efficient 48.4 percent from the field, 37.5 percent from deep and four players reached double digits. Despite a pedestrian second half, it was the most productive start so far this season for SU. Against its most difficult opponent yet this season, per Kenpom.com, SU won its fourth consecutive nonconference home game to start the season.

“Best game we played so far this year,”  said freshman forward Oshae Brissett, who finished with 11 points over 36 minutes.

Junior center Paschal Chukwu scored 12 points and added eight blocks, both career highs. Frank Howard dropped in a career-best 18 points and Battle had 25, three from his career high, which he set six days ago against Iona.  Meanwhile, Syracuse held Kendrick Nunn, who averages 28 points per game, to 1-for-9 at the half and three turnovers. Nunn finished with only 12 points and four turnovers as the SU defense made pockets air-tight inside the 3-point line.

Syracuse plays next on Wednesday night against Toledo, which Oakland lost to by 13 on Saturday night. Then the Orange plays more formidable opponents in Maryland, Kansas and Connecticut consecutively. The early start Monday night functions as an encouraging sign for Syracuse ahead of those matchups, especially on the defensive end.

“We got them into some spaces where they weren’t comfortable, and they missed their shots,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “We missed a lot of layups tonight, missed a lot of free throws, and yet we still were able to control the game. That’s good. That’s a good thing.”

Both Syracuse’s strong first-half surge, and its run in the second half to widen its lead to 25 with just over four minutes remaining, were marked by dominance inside. The Orange ranks first in the country in average height, per Kenpom.com, while the Golden Grizzlies rank only 247th. SU put particular emphasis on disallowing Oakland from making entry passes to the middle of the zone, said Brissett, who had three steals.

The size advantage became apparent early, even though the Orange led the rebounding battle by only two at the half. Toward the end of the first half, Syracuse freshman forward Marek Dolezaj approached Oakland’s Martez Walker. As Walker rose for a dunk, Dolezaj reached and blocked him from behind.

But a referee called a foul on Dolezaj, who slapped Bourama Sidibe’s hand and smiled. When he checked out because it was his second personal foul,  Boeheim high-fived him and smirked. He walked near a sideline referee, shrugged his shoulders and chuckled. Elijah Hughes, a transfer guard sitting out this year, told Dolezaj, “Hey, nice block.”

The play epitomized Syracuse’s advantage. While a foul, Walker is four inches shorter than Dolezaj. He had little chance of a successful dunk. Overall, SU picked up 15 overall blocks, and several other shots were altered or forced because an SU player was looming inside. Even Battle blocked a 3-point attempt.

Howard, who dished out six assists and picked up two steals, said the defensive effort is a sign of what’s to come. The 2-3 zone has more length this year. Rotations are cleaner than they were last year. When someone gets beat beatline, help comes. If a forward gets stuck outside on the wing, he knows how to compensate and get back in time. All of that added up Monday night in Syracuse’s 24-point victory.

“Our offense wasn’t good most of the game, but our defense was good the whole game,” Boeheim said. “That’s important.”

Published on November 20, 2017 at 9:10 pm

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