In a game that was close the entire way, Syracuse (6-0) came out with a victory, 72-70, to Maryland (6-2) on Monday night in the Carrier Dome. SU took a 36-35 lead into halftime. The game as a whole featured 20 lead changes, but the Orange eventually came out on top.

Here are superlatives from the game.

The Big Moment: Tyus Battle’s 3-pointer from the corner

Syracuse’s best player was clearly hobbled throughout much of the game. He left Wednesday’s game against Toledo midway through the second half with a lower back injury. On Monday night, Battle grimaced and held his hip and lower back several times. At one point, head coach Jim Boeheim spoke with a referee, saying “No. 25 is hurt.”

That didn’t prevent Battle from making the biggest play of SU’s season. UMD took a one-point lead after a Kevin Huerter 3-pointer in transition with 1:42 to go.

SU tried to run a play after the timeout, but the ball went out of bounds, right in front of the Orange bench. Out of that set, Frank Howard caught the ball and ran toward the middle of the court. He then swung the ball to Battle in the corner, who rose up and drilled a 3-pointer. Battle turned and let out a scream in front of SU fans, giving the Orange a lead it wouldn’t let go.

Stud: Frank Howard

The most veteran member of this SU squad led the Orange to victory last Wednesday when he scored a career-high 25 points. He picked up right where he left off on Monday.

Howard played suffocating defense. On the first play of the game, UMD tried to get the ball into the high post. Howard stole it and pushed transition, getting fouled and knocking down two free throws.

Howard struggled shooting in the first half, going just 2-of-9 and 1-of-5 from deep. But several of his missed 3s were halfway down before rimming out. He also had six assists and a career-high five steals in the frame.

Without Battle’s scoring, Howard came through. He hit tough floaters in the lane, and led SU’s offense for much of the first 30 minutes, before Battle took over late. Howard ended with 15 points, 10 assists and seven steals.

Dud: Geno Thorpe

The graduate transfer from South Florida didn’t do anything with the limited minutes he was given in Monday night’s game.

Howard played the whole game, but twice Thorpe came in to replace the banged-up Battle. In the first half, Thorpe played for one minute and ended up with two turnovers.

In the second half, Thorpe came in halfway through the frame. On his first play in, Howard picked off a pass and started a fast break, but Thorpe couldn’t hit a layup over a UMD defender. Battle came back in two minutes later, signaling the end of Thorpe’s night.

Highlight: Frank Howard to Paschal Chukwu alley-oop

Both Howard and Battle have displayed a knack at knocking down floaters in the lane over bigger players who rotate over for help defense. Howard took advantage of that in the first half.

The point guard came off a screen and ran forward, taking two quick steps forward. A UMD center rotated over and Howard lofted the ball up as he normally does when he gets ready to release a floater.

This one was a few feet to the right, though. It was in the perfect spot for Chukwu, who was roaming the baseline. In one motion, Chukwu ran forward, jumped and slammed it down.

Lowlight: Oshae Brissett loses his shoe

Syracuse struggled with transition defense throughout most of the night. One particular mishap came with seven minutes left in a close game.

Brissett went in for a layup and missed it. As Maryland got the rebound, Brisset fumbled with readjusting his shoe which had slipped partially off on the shot. Boeheim tried to wave him down the court, but Maryland converted on the easy layup. It prompted a timeout from Boeheim and gave UMD a three-point lead.

Published on November 27, 2017 at 9:17 pm

Contact Tomer: tdlanger@syr.edu | @tomer_langer