#14/19 Orange Fall to Badgers, 66-58

Wednesday, December 2

Syracuse, N.Y.

7:15 p.m.

Syracuse University

(6-1)

Wisconsin

(5-3)

OT 1

Wisconsin

Syracuse

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

12/2/2015 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The #14/19 Syracuse men's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday night at the Carrier Dome, falling to Wisconsin 66-58 in overtime, in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

Hot shooting by the Orange and a 14-3 run in the second half startled the Badgers, but it wasn't enough, as the momentum shifted in Wisconsin's favor post-regulation. The Badgers outscored the Orange 13-5 in the overtime minutes to seal a comfortable margin for Wisconsin as the clock expired.

Wisconsin used a large board advantage, 51-25, in securing the victory.

Grad students Michael Gbinije and Trevor Cooney powered the Orange, racking up 19 and 14 points, respectively, including four 3-pointers from the hands of Gbinije. Freshman Malachi Richardson led Syracuse under the bucket, pulling down seven rebounds. He added eight points.

Back-to-back three's by each team at the shot clock buzzer started off the Big Ten/ACC contest, with Syracuse taking over on a 7-0 run to jump out to a 10-5 lead five minutes in.

The Badgers came back soon enough, evening it out at the 10-point mark and outscoring the Orange 15-9 to take a 25-19 lead heading into the final minutes of the opening half. A jumper by sophomore Kaleb Joseph and a Gbinije layup off of a steal by freshman Tyler Lydon with seconds left in the half cut the Wisconsin lead down to three heading into the locker rooms, 27-24.

A jumper by Richardson marked the start of a momentum changer in the Orange's favor at the 15:51 mark of the second half, with a bucket by Lydon knotting the game up 32 all with just over 14 minutes left to play.

The Orange took control soon thereafter, going on a 3-point rampage off of buckets beyond the arc by Cooney, Gbinije, and Lydon to put Syracuse at its largest lead of the game, 41-35,and forcing a Wisconsin timeout at the 11:01 mark.

A layup on Wisconsin's end evened the score at 45, but Gbinije answered right after with a bucket just shy of the 3-point line under six minutes left, 47-45. The hot shooting from Gbinije didn't stop, as the guard registered his third 3-pointer of the night at the 3:12 mark to put the Orange up 52-48.

A three by Wisconsin's Bronson Koenig knotted the score once more at the 53 mark with 1:25 left. With 18 seconds left to play and the Orange with possession of the ball, a would-be layup by Syracuse resulted in a turnover and a Badger possession with 12 seconds left. Wisconsin's Vitto Brown attempted a shot with three seconds left but fell short, forcing overtime with the two teams still knotted at 53.

The Badgers stole the momentum in overtime, going on a 7-0 run to put Wisconsin up 60-55 with 1:33 left. With 21 seconds left to play, Gbinije sunk his fourth three of the game, bringing the Orange within four, 62-58. It wasn't enough, however, as a Koenig went 4-of-4 from the charity stripe in the final moments of the game to seal a 66-58 victory over the Orange.

Syracuse renews its rivalry with former BIG EAST Conference foe Georgetown on Saturday, Dec. 5, at 1 p.m. at the Verizon Center, in Washington D.C.