Syracuse men's basketball falls short in back-and-forth affair against Indiana

In its first real test of the season, Syracuse men’s basketball (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) lost 83-80 to Indiana (3-0, 0-0 Big Ten) on Monday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The loss was the first for head coach Gerry McNamara at the helm of the Orange.

SU won its first two games of the season, against New Haven and Central Connecticut State, by a combined 69 points. But the Hoosiers brought a different kind of challenge.

McNamara said his team shot itself in the foot during the loss.

“I feel like we’re getting better, but our stretches where we hurt ourselves are the difference right now, and tonight we really hurt ourselves,” McNamara said.

Nine different Syracuse players scored in a back-and-forth first half. SU shot 56% from 3-point range in the first half and led by four points at the break. But the Hoosiers came out of the locker room firing, starting the second half on an 11-2 run — a prime example of a stretch in which the Orange hurt themselves.

After surrendering the lead, Syracuse needed a spark to get back into the game. With 14 minutes to go, SU guard Ryan Moesch took over. The freshman scored 12 points in a little over six minutes to reestablish the Orange’s advantage.

“He just glides, he’s a free mover,” McNamara said of Moesch after the game. “When you get him in the ball screen with space, he can make special things happen. When he makes threes, he’s impossible to defend.”

Moesch led Syracuse with 19 points, 16 of them in the second half. He also dished out a team-high six assists. His 18 assists through three games are tied for third in the ACC.

Appalachian State transfer Luke Wilson was also big down the stretch for the ‘Cuse. The center reached double-digit points for the second game in a row after managing just a single field goal in SU’s season opener. With less than 2½ minutes to play, Wilson stepped up with a two-handed jam to tie the game.

Wilson went 4 of 5 from the field. His one miss, though, came at the wrong time. With the Orange down three and less than a minute left, the junior battled for an offensive rebound and got it. But he missed a wide-open tip-in on the follow-up attempt, right in front of the basket, and the ‘Cuse never regained the lead.

“The margin for error is so small,” Syracuse guard Gavin Doty said. “This one hurts bad. I think we’re the better team, but at the end of the day you have to win the basketball game.”

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Doty had a big offensive rebound and putback to tie the game with about 90 seconds to play. But he made only one other field goal all night. The Siena transfer’s 26-game streak of double-digit points ended when he scored just five Monday night.

“I got to be a lot better, I wasn’t myself tonight,” Doty said. “I’ll take all the blame for this loss.”

Both Doty and SU freshman Mark Morano, two of the Orange’s go-to guys, had lackluster nights. Meanwhile, the Hoosiers’ stars all came to play, specifically Duke transfer Darren Harris. The junior sparked IU with a 3-pointer just 12 seconds into the second half and was a perfect 10 of 10 from the free-throw line, attempting more free throws than anyone else on the court. After a game-high 20 points Monday, Harris has now scored 43 across his last two games.

The first loss of McNamara’s tenure is a tough one to swallow. Syracuse kept it close all night and nearly left Indianapolis with an early-season Quad 1 win.

“We lost a heartbreaker tonight and now we’ve got to learn from it,” McNamara said. “Hopefully as we move forward we continue to get better and win these games.”

Syracuse will get a chance to redeem itself against another top-tier opponent next time out. The Orange travel to Madison Square Garden for the first time in nearly five years to face St. John’s on Sunday. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. WAER’s pregame coverage begins with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff at 6:30 p.m.