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Syracuse Basketball: Elijah Hughes leads Orange to convincing win vs Bucknell

ByPaul A. Esden Jr.|
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange shoots the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Louisville 69-49. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange shoots the ball against the Louisville Cardinals during the second half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Louisville 69-49. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)

Syracuse basketball gets the dominant win vs Bucknell thanks to some outstanding play from Elijah Hughes. Here are all the details.

Prior to the game, Syracuse basketball announced that guard Jalen Carey had undergone successful thumb surgery on Friday. The rehab will take from 8 to 10 weeks, but Jim Boeheim said the team will explore a medical redshirt which would rule Jalen out for the season.

First half

There was no change to the starting lineup for the Orange in this nonconference tilt.

When you look at the analytics, Joe Girard running the show has consistently led to fast offensive starts for the Orange that hasn’t always been the case.

In the first nine minutes of the game, Syracuse got off to a 26-12 lead which featured some big plays from Elijah Hughes, Joe Girard III, and Bourama Sidibe who was incredibly active on both ends.

The 2-3 zone looked arguably the best it has all season with its activity and making things happen. The good defense continued to lead to easy offense and points off of turnovers.

Something else that stood out that perhaps the Orange can build on is team basketball. While Elijah Hughes is the main squeeze for the Orange, they continue to be unselfish with the basketball.

At the end of the half, Buddy Boeheim and JG3 each finished with four assists. Eli had three and Dolezaj contributed two. If Syracuse is going to go deep this season, that’s going to have to continue to be a theme.

First half takeaways:

  • Syracuse defense forced 13 turnovers that led to 19 points in transition.
  • Elijah Hughes led both teams in scoring with 16 (5-of-9 from the field and 4-of-8 from downtown).
  • Overall the Orange offense was 8-of-17 from long range for a ripe 47.1 conversion rate.
  • Syracuse also handled business on the glass: 19:11 differential.

Second half

In the second half, the Orange continued to tee off vs the Bison with no regard for human life. Everyone started getting in on what was the most fun game of the 2019-20 season to date for Syracuse.

When you get blowouts like this it has a lot of benefits.

Syracuse is able to dive into their bench and get some guys some valuable minutes. The star players on the team are able to get some rest that they aren’t normally accustomed to.

For instance, we got a Howard Washington and a Robert Braswell sighting to name a few. These are guys who currently have rode the bench but can be big-time contributors if given the chance.

Syracuse ended up winning this contest 97 to 46 over the Bucknell Bison. That’s the fourth straight victory for the Orange after the season-opening loss to Virginia.

Up next for the Orange is a trip to the Barclays Center for a pair of games in the NIT Season Tipoff. Syracuse will play Oklahoma State next Wednesday night at 7 p.m. and will play one additional game on Friday night vs either Ole Miss or Penn State (pending whether they win or lose vs the Cowboys).

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