Syracuse basketball built up a huge lead against Florida State in the 2022 ACC Tournament’s second round on Wednesday afternoon from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Unlike other recent games for the Orange in the 2021-22 campaign, the ‘Cuse didn’t cough up a big advantage down the stretch. Syracuse basketball players didn’t make bonehead turnovers or fail to hit the boards hard in the waning minutes.
Rather, the Orange continued to hit the gas pedal throughout its ACC Tournament affair with the Seminoles, and the ‘Cuse put forth its finest performance of this stanza in throttling FSU, 96-57.
What encouraged me the most about this result is that the No. 9 seed Syracuse basketball was excellent on both ends of the floor in pounding the No. 8 seed Seminoles.
Additionally, the Orange (16-16, 9-11) dominated Florida State (17-14, 10-10) in both the first and second halves of this encounter, something that the ‘Cuse has unfortunately failed to do on some occasions throughout 2021-22.
Syracuse basketball was simply spectacular in manhandling Florida State.
Entering this ACC Tournament battle with the Seminoles, the Orange had lost four in a row, including several bouts that it probably should have won, whereas FSU had captured three-straight triumphs.
The ‘Cuse also has a thinner bench these days, with both junior center Jesse Edwards and freshman forward Benny Williams injured and unavailable.
I feared that a deep Florida State squad would have its way in the rebounding department, but that certainly wasn’t the case on Wednesday afternoon.
Per ESPN statistics, Syracuse basketball held a 52-35 edge on the glass. Also vital to the Orange’s cause was taking care of the ball with precision, as the ‘Cuse collectively committed just seven turnovers.
Senior forward Cole Swider was sensational, tallying a team-high 28 points. The Boeheim brothers, senior shooting guard Buddy and graduate student forward Jimmy, as well as junior point guard Joe Girard III were solid.
Besides Swider, though, the two MVPs for the Orange in this victory were junior guard Symir Torrence, who himself had recently been injured, and sophomore center Frank Anselem.
Torrence and Anselem each played about 30 minutes. Anselem collected nine points, 15 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. Torrence was perfect from the field, producing nine points, nine assists, three boards, two steals and only one turnover.
As a unit, Syracuse basketball connected on 51.4 percent from the field, 39.3 percent from beyond the arc, and 75.0 percent from the charity stripe. In the zone, the Orange held Florida State to 32.4 percent from the field and a paltry 8.0 percent from 3-point land.
Simply put, this was a beautiful all-around showing from Syracuse basketball, and this is the ‘Cuse team we had all hoped to see in 2021-22. Up next for the Orange is a quarterfinal date in the ACC Tournament on Thursday with No. 1 seed Duke.