When a team with the tradition and stature of the Syracuse Orange come to town, those in attendance typically expect a competitive game.
Nothing could have been further from the truth on Tuesday night for the storied program that was down its best player. “This was unacceptable…this is not Syracuse basketball,” said Syracuse second year head coach Adrian Autry after the game.
Tennessee won the tip and threw it away on the first possession but they sure looked good in the all black uni’s. Syracuse big Eddie Lampkin Jr. softly laid it up to give the Orange the lead 2-0. This would be the only lead the Orange would hold all evening.
Tennessee’s next two possessions were unfruitful as well, but its third saw Ohio State transfer Felix Okpara sky for an offensive rebound and an uncontested dunk. Jahmai Mayshack got a steal just seconds later and got fouled on a successful layup. Free throw good.
Zakai “Zip” Zeigler got a theft of his own and ooped it to North Florida transfer Chaz Lanier, who also got fouled. Again, free throw good. It was 8-2 early for the Vols before Syracuse finally settled down and scored a couple of buckets in a row. At the first media timeout, the Big Orange led 10-7.
Vols forward Cade Phillips made a very strong move as he bodied the much larger (7’4″!) Naheem McLeod for a bucket and on the next possession down, he did it again, only this time he got fouled on top of the made basket. He scored his sixth point in a row just 17 seconds later. This was Phillips’ most productive minute and a half as a Vol to date. He added a dunk with exactly ten minutes remaining in the first half and Autry had seen enough. The timeout came with the Vols holding a 24-18 lead.
It was more of the same out of the break. Phillips skied over an Orange defender with a tap-back that produced his 9th and 10th points and he was ballin in real time.
Zeigler was fouled as he hit a three from the top of the key and after a made free throw, the lead had stretched to 12 with 8:35 left in the first.
Tennessee was cold from deep but grabbed seven offensive rebounds in the first half. It also got into the bonus* with 5:09 remaining. The Vols shot 4 for 4 after getting into the bonus. At the half Tennessee had a 21-12 edge in rebounding, a 5-3 lead in steals, a 7-5 advantage on assists and a 45-35 lead.
Igor Millicic Jr. (Gronk Jr.) hit a three to open the scoring in the second half. Okpara followed with another oop from Zip and the rest of the contest followed a similar script. It was easy pickings for the Vols.
When the game was close, this was Phillips’ night. The 6-9 sophomore finished the game with a career-high 12 points, matching his previous best against Austin Peay. He kept the crowd engaged throughout, making timely plays on both sides of the court.
This was a complete performance outside of poor three point shooting in the first half. In the end, five Vols scored in double figures. Lanier led with way with 26, while Zeigler had 14 and Milicic added 11 to go with 12 from both Phillips and Jordan Gainey.
Items of note:
- The Vols crushed the Orange on the boards with a 40 -26 rebounding advantage.
- *BONUS EXPLAINED – When the word bonus is mentioned in regards to college basketball, it refers to a team being fouled while not in the act of shooting. Once a team gets fouled seven times by its opponent in one half, the shooting team will go to the free throw line for one free throw shot. If it makes the first shot, it gets a second. The double bonus hits after a team has been fouled ten times in a half. At that point, the shooting team gets two free throws no matter what.
- Elijah Moore led the Orange with 24 points off the bench.
