Syracuse led for most of its game with No. 14 Buffalo. But the Bulls (11-0) came back and outscored the Orange (7-4) in the second half to take a win in the Carrier Dome on Tuesday, 71-59. It’s the first time in the Jim Boeheim era that the Orange have lost back-to-back nonconference home games.

Here are four takeaways from the game.

Bulls inside

Syracuse outsized Buffalo. Occasionally, the Bulls went with 6-foot-10 Montell McRae at center, but more often it was 6-foot-8 Nick Perkins. But UB dominated on the glass. The Bulls won the overall rebounding battle and finished with 18 offensive boards.

It wasn’t just Perkins either. With about seven minutes to go, 6-foot-2 guard Davonta Jordan beat Oshae Brissett inside and grabbed an offensive rebound before going up to finish. That put the Bulls up two.

With three minutes left in the game, Perkins rose above all the SU players to grab an offensive board. Two passes later, CJ Massinburg spun through the lane and finished off the glass to put the Bulls up seven.

Missed free throws

Syracuse missed 12 free throws in its loss to Old Dominion. Afterward, Boeheim was baffled that the Orange could miss that many free throws in a home game. But it didn’t improve against Buffalo.

The Orange shot six free throws in the first half against the Bulls and missed four. The Orange only had one first-half trip to the line that didn’t feature a miss.

When Elijah Hughes got to the line in the second half, he made his first but back-rimmed the second, keeping up the inconsistency. With SU down four, Battle had a 2-for-2 trip to bring the Orange within two under five minutes left in the second half.

But with Syracuse trailing by seven, Brissett missed both on a trip to the line. Massinburg answered with a 3 at the other end to make it a 10-point game, and that was that. The Orange finished 5-for-13 from the line.

Finding Frank

It’s been a tough road back for Frank Howard since his return from injury. He hadn’t hit double-digits in any of his games since returning against Colgate. Jim Boeheim had said last week before SU played Old Dominion was big for his recovery, and he scored nine against the Monarchs.

But for the first time in his senior season, Howard looked aggressive in the first half against Buffalo. He knocked down a few outside shots and looked to attack more than he had all season.

At the end of the first half, Oshae Brissett grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the floor. Howard trailed on the left wing, and Brissett pitched it to him as the clock wound down. With just a few seconds left on the clock, Howard rose up and swished a 3 to end the half.

Howard couldn’t keep it going in the second half, though, as he finished with only three more points. He kept creating solid looks, but they weren’t falling.

Huge Hughes

Elijah Hughes got hot in spurts on Tuesday. In the first half, he made an array of jumpers and attacked the rim. In the second half, he found the 3-point touch he’s showed much of the season.

First, he drained a 3 from the top of the key. Then, with about 12 minutes to go, he rose up from deep on the right wing and knocked down another 3 to put Syracuse up six. Hughes had a costly play late on, though, as he gambled on a steal on the wing and when he missed, Massinburg was left open in the corner. Buffalo’s star drained the 3.

Published on December 18, 2018 at 10:07 pm

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