Tyus Battle didn’t practice all week until Friday. Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said he didn’t want to have to use the freshman guard, who was cleared to play just one day before SU’s matchup with Georgetown.

Battle’s been receiving treatment for a left foot injury over the past several weeks. Against South Carolina State on Nov. 22, he sat on the bench toward the end of the game with ice on his left foot. He played just 13 minutes in the following game against South Carolina, but said he was fine afterward.

While Battle said the injury is minor after the Orange’s 78-71 loss to Georgetown (7-4) on Saturday, it affected SU’s lineup permutations. Syracuse changed its starters again, with Boeheim plugging in John Gillon at the shooting guard spot instead of Battle, who started the previous three games. Since Gillon and Howard weren’t producing, Boeheim eventually turned to Battle for a boost.

Boeheim has said that Syracuse is relying on Howard to distribute and Gillon to score. With both point guards playing at the same time, defenses are off balance, Gillon said, allowing him opportunities to drive to the basket. While he scored 13, Gillon still missed 10 shots, going 4-of-14 from the field against the Hoyas.

“Just getting in the lane, didn’t finish it well today,” Gillon said. “Gotta get in the gym, work on that. But as a whole, I think we just need to get better all around.”

Howard also struggled, committing a season-high six turnovers and racking up just four points and four assists.

In the Orange’s four losses, Howard and Gillon have combined to go 15-for-55, averaging 12.5 points, 5.8 assists and 4.5 turnovers per game among both players.

“We’re just not playing well at the guard spot I don’t think at all,” Boeheim said. “I think we’re making too many mistakes, we’re not getting the ball in the basket from the guard spot, haven’t had any in the four losses. We’ve got to play better there.”

The versatile duo evident in the Orange’s first four games of the year has disappeared. And without Battle at 100 percent, Gillon and Howard have been exposed.

Battle said he should be good to go against Eastern Michigan on Monday and his contributions can only help a currently weak guard unit.

Here’s a look back at the rest of our Syracuse-Georgetown coverage from Saturday.

***

• Frank Howard’s offensive struggles continue in loss to Georgetown

 

• Tyler Lydon’s offensive breakout ‘was just a matter of when’

 

• What we learned from Syracuse’s 78-71 loss to Georgetown

 

• Podcast: Beat writers discuss the Orange’s loss to the Hoyas

 

• Syracuse honored Pearl Washington during game on Saturday

 

• Paschal Chukwu out “a long time” following eye surgery

 

• Gallery: The best photos from Syracuse-Georgetown

 

• A graphical breakdown of Syracuse’s 78-71 loss

 

• Vote for player of the game and grade SU’s performance

 

• Syracuse fans react to loss to Georgetown

 

• Superlatives from Syracuse’s fourth loss of the season

Published on December 18, 2016 at 10:19 am

Contact Paul: [email protected] | @pschweds