The No. 6 Syracuse Orange (20-4, 8-3) was upset by the unranked Connecticut Huskies (17-6, 7-4) 66-58 in a physical game at the XL Center in Hartford, CT
Sophomore guard Michael Carter-Williams [12]led the Orange with 15 points on the night and grabbed five rebounds in a game were Syracuse lost the battle on the boards to the Huskies. UConn outrebounded the Orange 19-16 in the first half and went on to outrebound Syracuse 38-36.
The Orange also had trouble defending UConn from behind the arc. UConn shot 8-14 from three-point range. Syracuse only managed to sink four out of the 23 shots they attempted from behind the arc. Head coach Jim Boeheim praised his opponent for their ability to make three pointers and felt that his defense broke down toward the end of the game.
“I though UConn did a tremendous job in terms of getting the ball out into the middle and getting the ball to the three point shooters,” said Boeheim. “They made all the key shots in the second half. Our defense was good, but it broke down at the last second and we didn’t get the defensive rebounds.”
The Orange jumped out to a 11-10 lead to start game, but with eight minutes to go in the first half, the Huskies battled back to tie the game at 16. Senior forward James Southerland [13] scored six points in the eight minutes he played off the bench for Syracuse. He finished the night with 14 total points.
UConn took a 29-24 lead into the locker room at halftime, in a half where Syracuse scored their second lowest point total of the season and only shot 33.3-percent from the field.
“We didn’t rebound well and didn’t shoot the ball that well," forward, C.J. Fair [14] said. “You get in games where you don’t shoot the ball that well but I think we played solid.” Fair finished the game with 10 points and five rebounds.
Syracuse opened the second half with a 6-0 run after UConn committed three straight turnovers. The Huskies countered with a 6-0 run of its own to lead the Orange 35-33. As the battle under the rim intensified, Syracuse ran into foul trouble.
With 4:22 remaining in the game, Carter-Williams picked up his fourth foul, and fouled out three minutes later with less than two minutes remaining in the game. Southerland also picked up his fourth foul with 2:56 remaining in the second half which limited his effectiveness at the end of the game.
The Orange shot 35.4 percent from the field which is their worst percentage this season. Syracuse’s previous low was 36.5 percent against South Florida on Jan. 6. This game was the final time that UConn and Syracuse will face each other in Big East competition before the Orange depart for the ACC.
Tyler Morrissey is a guest contributor to The NewsHouse. He writes for the sports section UConn's The Daily Campus [15] as the assistant sports editor.
