Syracuse men's basketball falls to South Carolina for first loss of season

Sindarius Thornwell opened the game with a 3-pointer and the South Carolina Gamecocks (6-0) never looked back, mounting an insurmountable lead over the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (4-1) in Brooklyn, New York. The game on Saturday afternoon was part of the Brooklyn Hoops Holiday Invitational, held at the Barclays Center

This was the first time the Gamecocks faced the Orange since March 26, 2002, in New York. The Gamecocks won that matchup 66-59. Syracuse now leads the all-time series 3-2.

Photo: Jonathan Colon

Syracuse had just six assists and a whopping 11 turnovers in the first half and, coupled with tight defense from South Carolina, the Orange just couldn’t get anything going offensively.

“I think we’ve got a long ways to go,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said following the game. “We’ve got five new guys, and they looked a little lost out there today. We’ve got some work ahead of us.”

“[South Carolina] was very good defensively,” Boeheim added. “They got in the lanes, and I don’t think our guards did a good job getting in the lane.”

Syracuse’s front-court was surprisingly blank on the scoresheet. Forward Tyler Roberson and center DaJuan Coleman combined for just 5 points, 1 assist, and 10 rebounds in 36 total minutes of play. 

Boeheim said he wasn’t happy with the performance from his centers, choosing instead to play Tyler Lydon at the five spot. He said this was the teams best offensive lineup and Lydon finished the game with 18 points and seven rebounds. Boeheim said he needs to see something from Coleman that’ll warrant more than 15 minutes of playing time per game. 

South Carolina scored 30 points in the paint, while Syracuse scored just eight.

Syracuse came out strong in the second half, cutting the deficit down to just four points. Andrew White III hit a free throw to make the score 47-43, but, the Orange couldn’t complete the comeback, as the Gamecocks eventually pulled away.

This is the lowest number of points Syracuse has totaled since March 2, 2015 against Virginia, when the Orange fell, 59-47.

“I think we just need to get in the flow of the game a little better”, Coleman said following the game. “Open up the passing lanes, just playing team basketball. I think we had a slow start then we picked it up in the second half, but we just didn’t come out with the win.”

Syracuse will return to action on Tuesday when the team travels to take on No. 16 Wisconsin as part of the ACC/BIG 10 Challenge. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

Notes

White and guard Frank Howard joined Lydon in double-figures as each finished with 10 points. No other Orange player tallied more than 4 points.

The Syracuse football team lost to host Pittsburgh, 76-61, while the basketball game was taking place at the Barclays Center. Though that was the most points surrendered by the Orange in football program history, the team scored 11 more points than the basketball squad in the offensive shootout.