The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team came up short against the Indiana Hoosiers, losing 83-80 on Monday night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in a matchup filled with changing leads and momentum-swinging plays.
Syracuse entered the second half holding a 38-34 lead, but the Hoosiers rallied behind their scoring backcourt.
The defeat drops Syracuse to 2-1 on the season, while Indiana improves to 3-0. Despite strong contributions from the Orange bench, where Ryan Moesch led the team with 19 points and six assists, Syracuse could not hold on down the stretch.
Syracuse drew first blood when Mark Morano connected on a jumper from the foul line, followed by a drive inside from Sadiq White Jr. After holding an early 8-2 lead, the Orange used solid defense and three-point shooting to stay ahead.
Abdramane Siby slammed home a dunk off a pass from Moesch to extend the lead to 18-11. However, Indiana responded with a 9-0 run featuring baskets from Jaeden Mustaf and Markus Burton to take its first lead before Syracuse fought back to claim a four-point advantage at halftime, led by White’s nine points.
The second half began poorly for Syracuse as Luke Wilson picked up his third foul within seconds, and the team committed three fouls in 63 seconds. Indiana’s Darren Harris sparked an 8-0 personal run to put the Hoosiers ahead 42-38.
Moesch and Kiyan Anthony kept the Orange competitive with tough shot-making and crucial three-pointers, and Moesch later hit a triple to put Syracuse back ahead 61-59. Ultimately, back-to-back threes from the top of the key by Burton and Mustaf erased the Orange lead as the Hoosiers secured the 83-80 victory.
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