INDIANAPOLIS - Syracuse got its first real test under Gerry McNamara on Monday, and for long stretches the Orange looked ready for it.
They shot the ball well enough, defended with purpose early and got big moments from Ryan Moesch and Kiyan Anthony. But Indiana kept answering, and the Hoosiers did just enough down the stretch to hand Syracuse an 83-80 loss in the first-year coach’s early run.
Moesch finished with 19 points and Anthony added 16, but Syracuse couldn’t turn those performances into a marquee road win. The Orange fell to 2-1, while Indiana moved to 3-0.
The opening half gave Syracuse plenty to like. The Orange built a 38-34 lead by combining efficient 3-point shooting with tight defense, and that defensive edge showed up immediately.
Markus Burton threw the ball away, Samet Yigitoglu was bothered inside and Sadiq White Jr. swatted a shot less than two minutes in. Gavin Doty picked off another Burton pass, Garwey Dual forced a turnover on an inbounds play and Syracuse kept making Indiana work for every clean look.
That effort extended into the paint, where the Orange repeatedly disrupted Indiana’s size. Yigitoglu had the ball knocked away, Trevor Manhertz couldn’t secure a rebound, and Moesch even battled inside with the kind of edge Syracuse needed against a bigger front line.
The shooting was the other half of the equation. Syracuse entered the game still searching for consistency from deep after starting 34.7% from 3 in its first two regular-season games and 26.5% in three exhibition games.
Monday looked different. Mark Morano opened the night with a 3, Amarri Monroe hit from the corner and Anthony added one as well.
Moesch, who had gone 1-for-11 overall and 0-for-6 from 3 in the first two games, found his rhythm and helped keep the Orange ahead.
White buried Syracuse’s fifth 3 of the half in the final 30 seconds to make it 38-34.
Indiana pushed back right away after halftime and grabbed a five-point lead a little more than three minutes into the second half. Syracuse answered with its own burst. Anthony drilled a 3 when the shot clock was nearly gone, Moesch rescued another possession with a tough bucket from the corner, and then he flexed after knocking down a 3 to put Syracuse back in front by two.
Moesch kept going from there. He scored in a variety of ways, including a pull-up, an alley-oop finish and another triple during a stretch that gave Syracuse life and, for a moment, control. His fearless attack against Yigitoglu also paid off when he converted a layup and drew the foul to tie the game at 54.
Syracuse’s work around the rim held up better as the game wore on. Indiana had the size advantage with Yigitoglu, Sherell, Trevor Manhertz and Sam Alexis, but the Orange used speed and movement to offset it.
Anthony drove into traffic and floated one in after a clean pick-and-roll sequence with Moesch and Abdramane Siby. White spun for a layup late in the game, and Syracuse finished with a 32-28 edge in points in the paint after trailing 16-14 there at halftime.
Doty continued to do the dirty work on the glass, finishing with seven rebounds, while Wilson had four before foul trouble limited him after picking up his third foul early in the second half.
The final minutes turned into a trade of punches. Burton and Jaeden Mustaf hit back-to-back 3s, Dual answered with an offensive rebound and dunk, and Wilson scored on a back-down floater to give Syracuse a 70-69 lead with under four minutes left. Dual then came through with a chasedown block on the other end.
But Indiana had the last big swings. Burton hit an open 3 to put the Hoosiers back up by two, Wilson answered with a dunk off a Moesch feed, and the teams traded layups before Harris sank three free throws to restore Indiana’s lead. Syracuse then came up empty on a messy possession, and Yigitoglu made both free throws to push the Hoosiers ahead by five with 42 seconds left.
For Syracuse, the night was proof of what can travel and what still needs work. The Orange can defend with energy, they can survive inside against a bigger team, and when Moesch is rolling, the offense has a different gear. But against Indiana, that wasn’t quite enough.
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