Joseph Girard III made two free throws with 0.8 seconds left Tuesday, lifting Syracuse to a 112-110 double-overtime win over visiting Indiana as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
After Indiana forward Miller Kopp was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three free throws to tie the score at 110, Syracuse worked the ball downcourt and found Girard, who was fouled near the basket by Indiana’s Khristian Lander. Girard calmly made both free throws, and the Hoosiers didn’t get a shot off on their final possession.
Buddy Boeheim scored 27 points, including a pair of big baskets in the second overtime, to lead the Orange. Jimmy Boeheim added 26 points with Girard scoring 22 points. Syracuse (4-3) bounced back from losing two of three games at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament by making big baskets in both overtimes after blowing an 18-point lead.
Trayce Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers (6-1) with 31 points, with Kopp adding 28 points and Parker Stewart scoring 20 points. Indiana had a chance to win the game at the end of the first overtime session but was unable to get a shot off with 10.3 seconds left and the score tied at 97.
With Syracuse up 88-85 and 2.8 seconds remaining in regulation, the Orange chose to foul Lander on purpose. Lander made the first and then missed the second, but Jackson-Davis was able to grab the offensive rebound off the miss and was fouled with 0.9 seconds left, forcing overtime.
Indiana rallied back from all the way down 18 points early in the second half, taking a 63-60 lead on a Kopp 3-pointer. From there, Syracuse and Indiana traded baskets over the next 10 minutes.
After another Kopp 3-pointer cut Syracuse’s lead to 71-70 with 6:11 left, Syracuse went on a 10-2 run, going up 81-72 on a Jimmy Boeheim runner with 4:09 remaining.
Syracuse shot 60 percent from the field and 53.3 percent (8 of 15) from 3-point range in the first half to jump to a 49-33 halftime lead. The Orange were also active defensively, scoring 16 points off 13 first-half Indiana turnovers.
–Field Level Media
