COLUMBUS, Ohio — Syracuse fell down seven early at No. 16 Ohio State. But the Orange (4-2) eventually came back to beat the Buckeyes (6-1) at Value City Arena, 72-62. It hands OSU its first loss of the season, and gives the Orange their second win in a row.

Here are three takeaways from SU’s win.

3-point awakening

Syracuse was two games removed from shooting 5 for 28 from 3-point range against Oregon. But the Orange started the game in Columbus 5 for 8 from 3. Marek Dolezaj hit two in the first half. Oshae Brissett hit his first two attempts from deep. Frank Howard and Elijah Hughes hit multiple 3s, as well.

After that Orange loss to the Ducks, Boeheim praised the looks SU got, and multiple players felt good about their looks, too. Shots didn’t fall, though. On Wednesday at Ohio State, the shots did fall.

Hughes led the way, finishing 4 for 9 from 3. When he hit his fourth 3, about halfway through the second half, he put the Orange up seven and hopped back down the court as OSU used a timeout.

The Orange finished 11 for 24 from deep.

Foul trouble

Brissett played five minutes in the first half. He was called for three fouls. The first came on a push in the back call where Brissett appeared to jump straight up. Then, he was called for a foul in the post on offense.

His third foul, soon after subbing back in with two midway through the half, came on a loose ball. He dove for the ball, and appeared on replay to be pulled down by OSU’s Kyle Young. But the foul went on Brissett, Jim Boeheim yelled at the referees, and the Orange was without one of its best players for the remainder of the first half.

Bourama Sidibe also picked up three first half fouls, one of which he was unhappy with as he appeared to think he had a clean block. On Ohio State’s first second-half possession, Paschal Chukwu picked up his third foul and was subbed out for Sidibe. Sidibe picked up his fourth foul a few minutes later.

Frank Howard picked up his third and fourth fouls before the 11:30 mark in the second half, and Sidibe fouled out right about then, too, going for a defensive rebound. Howard eventually fouled out, too, after Dolezaj did.

The final personal foul count, skewed slightly by late game OSU fouling: Syracuse 28, Ohio State 17.

Aggressive Dolezaj

With Syracuse battling all sorts of foul issues, Dolezaj was crucial for Syracuse off the bench. He drove to the rim twice early on, finishing on the second attempt.

Last season, Dolezaj went 2-for-9 from 3. In the first half against Ohio State, he went 2-for-2, making one from the top of the key and one from the right corner. He was tied for SU’s halftime lead with eight points.

Dolezaj didn’t do as much in the second half before fouling out with 7:55 to go. But he provided Syracuse with 25 big minutes as its other two centers battled foul issues of their own.

Published on November 28, 2018 at 9:31 pm

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