There are some positives to take away from the narrow 83-80 loss to Indiana, but there should also be concerns for Syracuse men’s basketball fans.
Let’s get to the positives first and that’s the play from the second unit in Indy. Ryan Moesch and Kiyan Anthony combined to score 35 points. The duo bailed out Syracuse offensive possessions from deep, shooting 5-9 from 3 and then getting to the foul line, where they went 10-11 on the night. Moesch led the team with six assists while Anthony had three
assists to one turnover.
On a night where Mark Morano was injured and Gavin Doty was ineffective, Moesch and Anthony kept the Hoosiers from running away in the second half. After the exhibition games, I don’t think any of us expected to see this duo’s shot-making as a plus for Syracuse, but they almost carried the Orange to a quality non-conference win.
On a night when the Orange starters had just three assists to eight turnovers and shot a combined 3-10 from 3 for the night, it was Moesch and Anthony who kept the Hoosiers from running away. The Syracuse bench out-scored Indiana’s 40-11 for the game, 26-8 in the second half.
Abdramane Siby was able to provide 16 solid minutes off the bench with Luke Wilson in foul trouble, so maybe the Syracuse freshman (Mark Morano had 5 points in his limited 8 minutes) will be better prepared for ACC basketball this winter.
I don’t think that Syracuse is going to be able to beat a lot of good teams with the starters having off nights, but at least we learned last night that this team might have some options off the bench, including a couple of players who can help at the offensive end.
