Since Syracuse’s upset of then-No. 1 Duke, a once-stagnant offense has broken out. The Orange’s hot shooting continued on Thursday night, as the team shot 49.1 percent from the field and 46.7 percent from beyond the arc. Elijah Hughes’ 22 points and six 3s led the way for Syracuse (14-5, 5-1 Atlantic Coast), which blew out Miami (9-9, 1-5) inside the Carrier Dome, 73-53. The Orange have won three straight and remain tied atop the conference standings.

Here are the superlatives from the dominating victory.

Big Moment: Paschal Chukwu’s block and Jim Larrañaga’s technical

With just under 12 minutes remaining in the game, Ebuka Izundu went up with a layup. The ball was swatted away by Paschal Chukwu. UM players pleaded for a goaltending call but didn’t get one. Seconds later, Hurricanes head coach Jim Larrañaga, made his way to the court, screaming and throwing his arms in the air.

He was quickly charged with a technical foul by the referee, and Tyus Battle made both free throws on the opposite end. The Orange, already on an 8-2 run, used the technical free throws to push the lead to double digits and pull away.

Stud: Elijah Hughes

A Miami player corralled a Marek Dolezaj missed shot and threw a lead pass to Zach Johnson running up the court. He caught the ball and rose up against Elijah Hughes, who met him at the rim and blocked the ball. The following possession, — after Hughes nabbed the defensive rebound — Dolezaj found Hughes on the left wing. He nailed it as the Carrier Dome crowd erupted. Head coach Jim Boeheim gave him a slap on the butt.

Hughes could not miss on Thursday night, dropping 22 points with six 3s on 66.7 percent shooting from deep. Hughes was extremely active on the defensive end, too, adding three blocks and three steals.

Dud: Oshae Brissett

Once again, Oshae Brissett struggled creating offense inside the paint. Drives that gave him open looks came up short. Jumpers rimmed out. Outside of his and-1 finish midway through the first half, Brissett struggled mightily. The sophomore forward finished with just seven points on 25 percent shooting. On a day where Syracuse’s offense had been on fire, Brissett was anything but.

Highlight: Tyus Battle’s passing

Fresh off his third ACC Player of the Week award, Tyus Battle did not score a single point in the first half. While he missed all three shots in that frame, the junior tied a career-high with six assists. He even found Buddy Boeheim for 3 multiple times while manning the point as Frank Howard sat.

While Battle found offensive success in the second half — scoring 10 points — his passing stood out and helped create offense for a hot-shooting Syracuse squad. He finished with nine assists. The highest single-game total by any player this season came in just more than 21 minutes.

Lowlight: Rebounding

It was expected that Syracuse, the nation’s tallest team, would have no trouble out-rebounding Miami on Thursday. The Hurricanes are the 238th tallest team and have notoriously struggled on the boards. Yet, Miami doubled the Orange in first-half rebounds, grabbing eight on the offensive glass in the process. The Hurricanes finished the game with 39 rebounds to the Orange’s 28. Paschal Chukwu registered double-digit rebounds in back-to-back games but ended with just four rebounds on Thursday night.

Early in the first half, Elijah Hughes and Oshae Brissett both blocked a pair of Miami shots into the stands. A long 3 before the shot clock expired came up short, but the Hurricanes grabbed the offensive rebound and scored a 3 seconds later. Second-chance points kept Miami close the entire game, as the Hurricanes outscored the Orange in that department, 19-6.

Published on January 24, 2019 at 9:58 pm

Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco