On paper, Syracuse’s offense should be much better this year than it was a season ago. With talented freshman like Buddy Boeheim and Jalen Carey, scoring should be less of a problem for the Orange. That wasn’t the case in the first half of Syracuse’s 66-34 win over Eastern Washington on Tuesday night.
The fewest amount of points Syracuse allowed last season was 45 against Cornell.
Syracuse scored 28 points in the first half, but struggled to find its offensive rhythm. Marek Dolezaj netted the team’s first triple after his teammates had combined to miss their first six attempts. Luckily for SU, its lack of offensive production didn’t really matter: the Eagles mustered only ten points before the halftime break.
Even though Jalen Carey and Howard Washington were both dressed and ready to go, Jim Boeheim elected to keep junior Tyus Battle as the team’s starting point guard. Fans didn’t get their first look at Carey until halfway through the quarter. The 6-foot-3 freshman brought the crowd to its feet with a coast to coast lay in that drew a foul, his first points of his Syracuse career. That move also meant Battle could move to his natural position: shooting guard.
Oshae Brissett was the Orange’s most consistent scorer in the game, much like he was for most of last season. The Canadian forward led the team in scoring with 20 points and made eight of his 14 shots in the game. What a surprise, right? Oshae Brissett delivers when his teammates need him. We saw that plenty last year and not much changed in game one.
They Said It
“I thought we got a little better rebounding to start the second half… Our defense was good the whole game. We just didn’t shoot the ball well, that’s going to happen.” – Jim Boeheim
“Coach is really trying to switch up different lineups. We’ve got to congratulate Jalen and Howard for getting back out there.” – Oshae Brissett
“I think that’s what we want to do just year is get out and run off of rebounds.” – Jalen Carey
Up Next
Syracuse has the rest of the week off before it hosts Morehead State on Saturday.
