Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Syracuse Snags Important ACC Win Over Clemson Before Hitting the Road Again

The Orange’s bench gets hyped up for an exciting win over Clemson in the Dome.
Cuse.com
The Orange’s bench gets hyped up for an exciting win over Clemson in the Dome.

Last night, SU Men’s Basketball defeated Clemson 91-78 in the Dome. This victory pushed the Orange’s conference record to 3-4 as well as gaining a .500 overall winning percentage. It was also a big night for four SU starters and WAER’s Annie Klaff recaps it all, in case you missed it.

Syracuse’s match-up against Clemson late last night was nothing shy of a scoring game. With a final score of 91-78, yesterday was SU’s highest scoring ACC game since last year in a 101-63 crush over Boston College. And, in all seven of its conference games this season, both last night’s win and the victory over Pittsburgh were the only two competitions with a point differential over five.

So what helped the Orange rack up the points? Well…there were four main contributors. Starters Jimmy Boeheim, Buddy Boeheim, Joe Girard III, and Jesse Edwards all scored in the double digits.

Buddy and Girard III recorded 25 and 23 points, respectively. Jimmy and Edwards didn’t reach the 20’s, but they both secured double-doubles. Jimmy served 13 points and ten rebounds, while Edwards hit 15 points and 11 rebounds.

This was Edwards’ first double-double this season. He looked strong on the court, despite fouling out in the last minute of the game (his sixth time out of seven games).

Junior Jesse Edwards creates some difficulty for Clemson’s shooters, recording four blocks.
Cuse.com
Junior Jesse Edwards creates some difficulty for Clemson’s shooters, recording four blocks.

With a battle of the centers, Edwards wasn’t the only one on the court that put on a big showing. Clemson’s 6’10” PJ Hall also made a double-double out of the night with 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Tigers’ David Collins was their only other player to add more than 15 points.

Clemson’s two high scorers weren’t enough for SU’s squad. Eight out of the team's entire nine players made at least two points. The Orange’s team scoring also defied the Tigers’ past statistics.

Going into this meeting, on average, Clemson held all opponents’ field scoring to just 40.9%. The Orange got 53.4% past the Tigers’ defense. With that, SU maintained about 53% shooting from the field throughout the whole night - a rare sighting of entire game consistency for the Orange this season.

Clemson also allowed more three point shooting than usual. Prior to last night, it typically stopped opponents’ scoring from beyond the arc at 32.2%. SU recorded a .409 three point shooting percentage. Junior Joe Girard III was a big help here.

The New York native connected four three point opportunities, accounting for almost half of the team’s clean shots outside the three.

Guard Joe Girard III’s 23 total points also consisted of a free throw performance of 7-7.
Cuse.com
Guard Joe Girard III’s 23 total points also consisted of a free throw performance of 7-7.

While ‘Cuse was hot on the court last night, it still stands at just an even overall record of 9-9. Was last night a step in the right direction for Syracuse or just one good game? SU’s season struggle of either blowing a lead at halftime or trailing close behind all game might catch back up with the Orange again.

Syracuse’s next shot at a strong, consistent game is this Saturday against ACC rivals Duke. The Blue Devils will host the Orange at 12 P.M. for the two squads’ first match-up this year.

WAER’s coverage of this heated competition begins this Saturday with GZA Countdown to Tipoff at 11:30 A.M.