Syracuse Basketball: Buddy Boeheim made it rain 3s during Orange win

Syracuse basketball delivered its 2nd straight win over Italy thanks to Buddy Boeheim. Here are all the highlights and details from the Orange victory.

The Syracuse basketball team faced minimal resistance in their 49-point victory over Oxygen Bassano in Vincenza, 103-54.

Second-year guard Buddy Boeheim led all scorers with 22 points and looked exceptional throughout scoring baskets in a variety of ways.

Just call him Buddy ‘Buckets’.

Boeheim went an efficient 6-of-12 from the floor and drilled five triples. At one point during the second half, Buddy hit four straight three-point baskets. For his efforts, he earned MVP honors per the Syracuse Basketball Twitter account.

The Orange ended up shooting pretty well as a team from beyond the arc combining for 16-of-43 which is a 37 percent conversion rate.

Last season Syracuse shot a measly 33 percent as a team from deep.

But considering the Orange went 0-for-10 in the first quarter from three, it makes the 16-of-33 (48 percent conversion rate) look even better.

Although Buddy wasn’t the only player who stood out in this one:

• Jalen Carey
  • 5-of-7 from the field and finished with 11 points. He also recorded five rebounds and an assist.
  • Early in the game, Jalen got his jump shot going, something he wasn’t able to display during his freshman season on the hill.
  • The one problem with Jalen that haunted him last year is stupid turnovers. Sometimes Jalen gets so excited that he does too much with his dribble and loses focus. When he started getting going in this one he had a few turnovers (two) and also chucked up an ill-advised three-pointer.
• Quincy Guerrier
  • 4-of-6 from the field and scored 10 points. Quincy also came down with eight boards.
  • There’s no other way to put this, Quincy looked like a man’s man out there on the floor. While you have to consider the level of competition, Guerrier showed a lot of things in this one that should excite Syracuse fans everywhere:
    • An ability to get out in transition and finish. Syracuse ended up scoring 28 points off of turnovers in this contest.
    • The canny instincts to use the right move around the basket.
• Joseph Girard III
  • 3-of-8 from the field, all three of his makes came from beyond the arc. Ended up with 10 points and one rebound.
  • The connection between JG3 and Gerry McNamara is undeniable. Just the way he plays, the hustle, the shot-making, it’s uncanny. If he can end up being half the player G-Mac was, I think Syracuse fans will be very satisfied.

Some other interesting observations from the game:

• The 24-second shot clock changed the pace of play for the Orange. It forced Syracuse to play more up-tempo offensively. Over the years Syracuse can sometimes get stagnant on offense, this forced them to dial-up plays quicker and make things happen. With so many playmakers on the 2019-20 version, stagnant and offense should rarely be placed in the same sentence.
• Despite the fact Jim Boeheim said that he’d experiment with lineup changes during the foreign trip, that wasn’t the case in the second game. The Orange sent out the same starting five that they did in the first Italian game:
  • Jalen Carey (14:41 minutes played).
  • Buddy Boeheim (18:06 minutes played).
  • Elijah Hughes (16:09 minutes played).
  • Quincy Guerrier (22:30 minutes played).
  • Bourama Sidibe (25:54 minutes played).
    • Jim did play 13 players in this game, but three players played four minutes or less.

Honorable mentions:

• Brycen Goodine (19:42 minutes played)
  • Recorded nine points, secured five rebounds, five assists, and shot 3-of-9 from the field.
• Howard Washington (16 minutes played)
  • 2-of-6 from the field and dropped six points. Both of his attempts came from deep. Howard also grabbed two rebounds and an assist.
• Jesse Edwards (14:06 minutes played)
  • Only shot 2-of-3 from the field and scored four points. He did secure three rebounds and showed some energy inside as a rim protector.
• Robert Braswell (26:47 minutes played)
  • Shot 40 percent from the field (4-of-10) and even chucked up a successful long-range attempt. Braswell scored nine points, grabbed eight boards, and got two assists.

The Orange faces its next Italian opponent on Saturday when it plays the Siena Summer Team. That game will be at 6 a.m. local time in Syracuse, but noon Italy time.