The Syracuse basketball squad had a slightly thinner roster on Thursday night, but it still managed to come away with a big win.
No point guards? No problem.
Despite senior Frank Howard, sophomore Howard Washington and freshman Jalen Carey all sitting out due to injuries, the College of Saint Rose proved no match for the Syracuse basketball team, as the Orange cruised to an 80-49 exhibition triumph on Thursday evening from the Carrier Dome.
The debuts of junior forward Elijah Hughes and freshman guard Buddy Boeheim, the son of Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim, certainly did not disappoint. Both Hughes and the younger Boeheim both finished with 19 points and each player also connected on three of their attempts from downtown.
Sophomore forward Oshae Brissett had a monster performance, leading the ‘Cuse with 22 points and 14 rebounds.
With Howard unavailable, Jim Boeheim moved junior wing Tyus Battle to the point to begin the contest. The Orange’s other starters were Buddy Boeheim, Brissett, Hughes and senior center Paschal Chukwu, who contributed 11 boards and three blocks.
Saint Rose, which is located in Albany, NY, simply could not keep up with the much taller Orange lineup. Syracuse dominated the glass and shot at a higher clip from the field in general, as well as the 3-point line and the charity stripe.
Jim Boeheim had this to say after the affair concluded.
"“I thought overall we did a lot of good things. I think they were a very good team for us to play. They handled the ball really well. They passed it well. They moved it really well on offense. They made us play defense. I think it was a very good game for us.”"
Boeheim also discussed the health status of his three injured point guards after the game.
"“We’re very hopeful Jalen will be able to practice by Monday (October 29). Howard Washington will (also) probably be able to practice right around Monday.”"
As far as his starting point guard, Boeheim provided an update on Howard as well on Thursday.
"“Frank has been cleared for movement stuff, shooting and limited things. So he will not play in the exhibition game next week, but he will be progressing toward playing. We will not know when. There’s no time-frame for him right now.”"
The ‘Cuse has its second, and final, exhibition encounter next Wednesday, October 31, when they host Le Moyne. Syracuse opens their 2018-19 regular season campaign at home versus Eastern Washington on Tuesday, November 6.
Several other interesting nuggets about the Orange also came out over the past few days. In the recently released preseason USA Today Coaches Poll, the ‘Cuse checks in at No. 14.
In the Atlantic Coast Conference preseason media poll, the Orange received one first-place vote and is predicted to finish fourth in the conference. Battle is on the preseason All-ACC First Team and he ended up with the fourth-highest amount of votes in the preseason Player of the Year tally.
Battle also collected the eighth-most votes for the AP preseason All-America unit, which is pretty darn awesome. This basically means that national journalists view him as one of the top 10 players in the entire country.
Finally, in ESPN.com’s ACC preseason power rankings, Syracuse is slotted at No. 4.’
A lot to digest here, but the bottom line is that the Orange have an opportunity to make some real noise throughout the 2018-19 term and, most importantly, in March.
Hopefully, in early April, too!