On a night that was supposed to be all about the Boeheim’s, Cornell guard Matt Morgan stole the show. Morgan’s 26 points kept the Big Red in the game the entire way until Syracuse pulled away at the end to pick up a 65-55 win inside the Carrier Dome.
Morgan was the best player on the floor, making nine of his 14 shots, including six of 10 from downtown. The North Carolina native nearly turned the Boeheim family reunion into SU’s first loss to Cornell since 1968.
Best player on the court so far tonight: Cornell's Matt Morgan. Not only can he score, he runs the offense very well.
Morgan has a game-high 21 points, including 4-6 from downtown. Syracuse lead cut to just TWO!
— Orange Fizz (@OrangeFizz) December 2, 2018
Syracuse has struggled to find consistency this year and that trend continued tonight. Tyus Battle scored the games first basket just seconds after the ball was tossed into the air to start the game, making you think the Orange might get off to a hot start offensively. That didn’t happen. Even after Cornell shot clock violations on back to back possessions, the Big Red led 17-13 halfway through the opening 20 minutes.
When the second half started, most fans expected a run from the home team that was a 20-point favorite in the game. That also never happened. A nine-point halftime lead never grew to double digits in the first ten minutes of the second half.
The funny part about this game is that Battle (26 pts) and Oshae Brissett (19 pts) both did their jobs offensively while basically no one else did. Battle and Brissett scored 45 of the Orange’s 63 points in the game. Up until the last few minutes, no other Syracuse player had more than three points in the game.
Cornell had a chance to win the game late, but faded away as the clock got closer to zero. Syracuse hung on for its third consecutive win.
So much for finding something in the Ohio State game, right? The Orange seemed unorganized at times throughout the game and never truly found a rhythm against the Big Red.
