4 Double-Digit Scorers Not Enough vs. Buffalo

Tuesday, December 18

Syracuse, NY

8 PM

Syracuse University

(7-4)

Buffalo

(11-0)

BUFFALO

Syracuse

12/18/2018 10:08:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Despite four players scoring in double-digits, Syracuse (7-4) fell to #14/15 Buffalo (11-0), 72-63, Tuesday evening at the Carrier Dome.

Elijah Hughes had a team-high 16 points followed by a season-best 13 from Frank Howard. The Orange got 11 from Tyus Battle. Oshae Brissett racked up 12 rebounds and 10 points for his third double-double of the season.

Buffalo also had four players in double digits scoring. CJ Massinburg had a game-high 25 points and eight rebounds, Jeremy Harris added 18 points and Davonta Jordan contributed 10 points. Nick Perkins contributed 10 points and 12 rebounds off the bench.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Syracuse led for the first 30 minutes of play and had as much as a nine-point advantage. With the Orange ahead, 48-47, Buffalo's Harris gave his club its first lead with a 3-pointer. Syracuse's Jalen Carey answered in the lane but the Bulls responded with a 3-pointer from Massinburg, to move ahead, 53-50.

Battle drained a 3-pointer for the Orange to knot the contest at 53-53 but the Bulls took over from there, going on a 14-4 run. Massinburg had eight points in the successful stretch and Buffalo never trailed again.

FIRST HALF RECAP
Syracuse took its largest lead of the game, 20-11, on an 11-2 run that featured six points from Brissett. After holding the Bulls to a 0-of-6 performance from three-point range, the Syracuse defense couldn't stifle them for long as Buffalo finally connected, narrowly erasing Syracuse's lead with three treys.

Carey had his first basket of the night, pushing the Orange ahead, 29-24. Buffalo took advantage of a Syracuse turnover to knock down back-to-back baskets cutting their deficit to just one, 29-28. Syracuse was able to pull ahead for a four-point lead at halftime, following a last second three from Howard.

COACH BOEHEIM'S THOUGHTS
"I thought that this game was similar to the last game. We were competing in the first half. Buffalo is a very good team. I thought we competed hard and then at about the thirty-minute mark, we had four or five opportunities going to the basket and we just didn't convert any of them and you have to score points. They're a good team and we are not going to win too many games scoring 23 points in the second half. It just goes back to offense. We have to find a way to get some offense."

OF NOTE

Buffalo outrebounded Syraucse, 48-35, which included an 18-10 edge on the offensive glass.
The Orange were outscored at the foul line by 10 points, 15-5.
Syracuse shot 16-of-28 (57.1 percent) in the first half, its highest first half field goal percentage of the season.
Brissett shot a perfect 4-of-4 in the first half for eight points and added five rebounds.
Seven of Battles' 11 points came in the final eight minutes of the second half.
Tuesday marked the Orange's first lost to Buffalo since 1963.
The Orange have lost back-to-back, non-conference home games for the first time since Syracuse started conference play as members of the BIG EAST Conference in 1979-80.

UP NEXT
Syracuse plays its final game before a week off on Saturday, Dec. 22 against Arkansas State at 2 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.

Tickets can be purchased online at Cuse.com, by phone at 1-888-DOMETX and in person at Gate B at the Carrier Dome.