CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tyus Battle, who missed the first game in his Syracuse career on Wednesday, may not return on Thursday to play Duke, Orange head coach Jim Boeheim said after Wednesday’s SU win.

“When he came in (today), he was worse,” Boeheim said. “… We thought he had a chance today. But he’s probably, realistically, two or three days away from being able to play, I think.”

Battle missed the Syracuse (20-12, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) 73-59 win over Pittsburgh (14-19, 3-15) with a back bruise suffered late against Clemson on Saturday. He’d driven down the lane, run into a defender and landed hard on his lower back-hip area. After that game, he wore ice packs on his back in the locker room.

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On Wednesday night, Battle was announced as a game-time decision a few hours before tip-off, but he didn’t warm up with the Orange. During the game, he wore a navy blue sweatshirt and sat alongside the coaches on SU’s bench. It was the first time he missed an SU game after playing in the first 102 possible contests.

Three of Syracuse’s perimeter players stepped up in Battle’s absence: Buddy Boeheim with 20 points to go along with Frank Howard and Elijah Hughes both dropping 18.

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“Coach said some guys got to make a few more plays,” Hughes said. “And I feel like me and Frank did a good job, and Buddy, as well, and everybody stepped up and made big plays.”

Syracuse returns to the Spectrum Center court on Thursday evening to tip-off with No. 3 seed Duke at about 9:30 p.m., and like Wednesday, Battle’s status could be the story of the lead-up.

Published on March 14, 2019 at 12:35 am

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