Michael Gbinije’s outstretched arm wasn’t enough to corral a ball that clanked right back at him off the rim. Vitto Brown’s missed jumper instead trickled out past the 3-point arc and found the hands of Bronson Koenig for a fresh possession, the first of 16 offensive rebounds on the night.

Less than three minutes into the game, what would be Syracuse’s downfall was already materializing.

“You work your butt off … and then it’s a long rebound, they get it back,” SU center Tyler Lydon said. “So you just got to work again. It’s a little frustrating.”

Tyler Roberson, SU’s best rebounder, picked up his fourth foul with 13:39 left in the game. He was averaging 9.5 rebounds coming into Wednesday, but his two boards left much to be desired from him, and Syracuse, by head coach Jim Boeheim as SU was dominated on the glass all night.

In Syracuse’s Battle 4 Atlantis title game win, Texas A&M outrebounded the Orange by eight, but SU found a way to win. On Wednesday, a 26-rebound advantage for Wisconsin (5-3), including a 16-6 edge on the offensive glass, was too much for No. 14 Syracuse (6-1) to overcome in a 66-58 overtime loss in the Carrier Dome.

“We got crushed on the boards,” Boeheim said, “and it’s the first game where we’ve really been just absolutely crushed on the boards.”

While Syracuse’s length forced 20 turnovers, it wasn’t enough to prevent Wisconsin’s second- and third-chance points. Ethan Happ tied the game at 12 in the first half on a third-chance opportunity. Syracuse didn’t have the lead for another 20 minutes as UW owned a 23-11 advantage on the glass by halftime.

Instead of beating the zone over the top or by feeding the high post, the Badgers filled empty spots with bodies headed for the glass instead of ones with the ball.

“Everyone knows that the 2-3 zone is hard to rebound out of because they’re not boxing out men, they’re boxing out an area,” Wisconsin forward Nigel Hayes said. “That was definitely our emphasis, to crash the boards offensively and defensively.”

The second half began with much of the same. Happ snagged a rebound over Lydon and Roberson, slithered between the two and dropped in an uncontested layup from point-blank range.

“They just did a good job of preparing to rebound before the shots even went up,” Gbinije said. “Instead of trying to get open sometimes, they sat in dead areas of the zone.”

On the ensuing inbounds, Hayes backed down Lydon before making the bucket while being fouled and sinking the free throw. Syracuse fell behind by as many as eight in the first half, but took a lead that grew to as many as six in the second.

Roberson re-entered with 9:13 left and Syracuse up five, but a game seemingly shifting into the Orange’s grasp slowly fell into balance. The junior didn’t foul out until 2:15 remained in overtime, but he didn’t pick up a rebound in those 12 minutes either.

“When you really want to go after every rebound,” Roberson said, “it’s in the back of your mind because you don’t want to foul out with 10 minutes left.”

Roberson couldn’t rescue Syracuse from the rebounding crater it was buried in. Dajuan Coleman didn’t play aside from the first five minutes, so he couldn’t either. And Lydon only grabbed four boards, receiving little support from the four-guard lineup often around him.

Syracuse’s last miss came when it didn’t matter, with seven seconds left and the Orange down eight. Happ grabbed his 15th and final rebound on the night and dribbled all the way down the court to the Badgers’ bench.

Nobody on Syracuse followed him. Lydon watched, not contesting Wisconsin’s 51st rebound on the night, as perfection officially slipped away.

Published on December 2, 2015 at 9:31 pm

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