Syracuse’s Michael Gbinije (0) was a little too much for Tonny Trocha-Morelos and Texas A&M to handle Friday, scoring 20 points in the Orange’s 74-67 win. Syracuse is an even better 3-point shooting team than I’d expect they would be, and SU knows how to get open shots. However, there is no other player off the bench besides Lydon with any current points.
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Both were undefeated coming in, but only Syracuse came out unscathed, knocking off the Huskies in a wild matchup 79-76. Roberson then cleaned up a pair of misses with a stickback and added a jumper from the foul line.
MI trailed by as many as 19 points in the second half, but the Wolverines did not go down without a fight. Hamilton led all scorers at the intermission with nine points. Texas A&M has gotten it done against tough competition and this could be a special year. The lead dissipated down the stretch, but they were able to get some clutch baskets in the final minutes.
Syracuse Orange guard Malachi Richardson (far right) celebrates the victory with teammates. Gbinije took over in the waning seconds of the half, hitting a deep straightaway three, then stealing the inbounds pass and getting fouled while trying a halfcourt heave to beat the buzzer.
The Huskies made seven consecutive shots during that closing run.
After trailing for most of the half, MI closed to 63-55 on a basket by LeVert with less than four minutes to play.
Trevor Cooney, Michael Gbinije and Jim Boeheim walked down the lobby of the Atlantis Resort to a hero’s welcome. In one early sequence, the Huskies allowed three straight Wolverine offensive rebounds, the last of which led to a Caris LeVert 3-pointer, a 9-3 MI lead and an Ollie timeout.
The reunion comes at a time when both teams are playing fairly well. After another Aggie basket, Gbinije connected from the left wing for three, again tying the score, this time at 46 a side. The junior’s 14.0 points per game is second on the team to Sterling Gibbs’ 14.5. Texas A&M chipped away at the lead with a lay-up, but the Orange ran off eight consecutive points to put the game in the cooler. As a result, MI set up shop on the perimeter, shooting 10 of its first 15 shots from behind the three-point line. The attempt got a favorable bounce and dropped through the net. MI finished the half shooting just 6-of-25 (24 percent) from the field and 3-of-14 (21.4 percent) from behind the arc. Hamilton scored inside and was fouled on the play, and his ensuing free throw cut the Wolverines’ lead to 12-8.
Charlotte will continue play in the Battle 4 Atlantis on the losers side of the bracket with a match-up against the Michigan Wolverines on Thanksgiving. He sent along some high praise after his team edged the Connecticut Huskies on Thursday for a spot in the final, per Ben Sigel of Scout.com.
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Syracuse’s defense sparked an 18-8 run that started with about 13 minutes left. Junior guard Braxton Ogbueze, who began his career at Florida where he played on an Elite Eight team, is the lone returning starter and had 15 points in Wednesday’s 83-70 first-round loss to Syracuse, a game the 49ers trailed 19-3 at the start and 50-27 at halftime before rallying to close to within nine points late in the game.
