Syracuse 93, Brown 62: Orange cruise past Bears behind Buddy Boeheim in second half

Syracuse jettisoned Brown in the second half to move to 6-5 on the season.

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team took care of business against the Brown Bears, winning 93-62 with a big second half effort. Buddy Boeheim scored a season-high 28 points while Joe Girard scored 15 points, dished out seven assists and recorded five steals as Syracuse moved to 6-5 on the season.

The Syracuse offense wasn’t rusty to begin the game as the perimeter attack started off with 5-6 shooting from range. Each guard/wing hit at least one three—Jimmy Boeheim had a pair, including the first bucket of the game—to give Syracuse a 16-4 lead as Brown called timeout before the first media break.

Syracuse built its largest lead of the half at 14 and Jim Boeheim went to his bench at the 12-minute mark, inserting Benny Williams, Symir Torrence and Frank Anselem.

Anselem grabbed three rebounds but went 2-4 from the line. Torrence dished out two assists and grabbed a rebound, but the bench didn’t yield much first half production and Brown cut back into Syracuse’s lead.

Buddy Boeheim was the first player to enter double-figures as he went into bully ball mode and scored on back to back buckets inside the paint to make it 32-20 at the 6:35 mark. From there it was tough sledding the rest of the half for Syracuse. A 6-0 run by Brown cut Syracuse lead to just six with 3:59 remaining in the first half.

Jesse Edwards dunked and split a pair of free throws and Cole Swider connected on a three. But back to back 3s from Brown kept the margin at six and Syracuse went into the break holding on to a 38-32 lead.

Syracuse shot 12-26 from the floor and 7-12 from three in the first 20 minutes. The Orange had missed opportunity at the line, shooting just 7-16. Brown won the rebounding battle 20-17.

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Syracuse came out incandescent following the break. On the defensive end, Syracuse went back to the 1-1-3 zone but on the other end, Buddy Boeheim ripped off eight quick points out of the half. Jimmy Boeheim scored inside and Girard hit a three to make it 51-36, breaking the game wide open before the first media timeout. Down 15, Brown called timeout.

The Orange didn’t let up from there. Buddy scored again inside, made a pair of free throws and followed it up with a mid-range jumper. Edwards and Jimmy Boeheim scored inside to make it 61-38 and Syracuse never looked back.

The bench got some extended run in the second half and Torrence made the most of his time, dishing out seven assists and making a triple for good measure.

With four minutes remaining, Bourama Sidibe made his season debut and the Carrier Dome crowd stood and clapped as he entered the game. Joining him was walk-on Paddy Casey, who assisted a Swider three on his first play.

The rest of the walk-ons earned time down the stretch and Chris Lavalle scored inside on a tough lay for his first bucket of his Syracuse career. On the next play, he found Chaz Owens for a reverse on the final offensive play.

Syracuse cruised to a 93-62 win. The Orange have a quick turnaround with its second of three games this week on Wednesday.

Next up

Syracuse stays at home to take on Cornell on Wednesday. That game tips at 7 p.m. and airs on ACCNX.