Syracuse made the defensive stand it hadn’t last week.

On Saturday afternoon, the Orange (19-12, 8-10 Atlantic Coast) upset No. 18 Clemson (22-8, 11-7), 55-52, in front of a similar record and raucous crowd than it had played in front of two Wednesdays ago against then-No. 10 North Carolina. This time, though, Syracuse finished the job as freshman forward Oshae Brissett made a block to put SU in position to win. Clemson senior guard Gabe DeVoe rimmed out a half-court heave as time expired and the band started to play the alma mater as Syracuse closed out ACC play with a victory.

Even with the win, odds are Syracuse will take its first two consecutive trips to the National Invitation Tournament for the first time since the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons. The Orange will have one final shot to impress the Selection Committee next week at the ACC tournament in Brooklyn, New York.

Before jumping the gun, here are three fast reactions from the game.

Brissett secures bag

Clemson guard Marcquise Reed weaseled his way into the middle of the zone, reaching the low right block when he went up.

Reed had, all throughout the second half, stung Syracuse from all over the floor. He was smart enough to play inside even though he was 6-foot-3 and 189 pounds. He had enough range to step out and hit several of his five 3-pointers. He knew Syracuse center Paschal Chukwu remained conscious of his four fouls and up-faked. Then, Reed went up again to try and tie the game.

Brissett, who was Syracuse’s most reliable option scoring in the second half, came in and swatted Reed away. The two teams played the free-throw game as the clock ran down, but DeVoe’s heave rimmed out and Syracuse had secured at least one win it needed to maybe make a case for the Tournament.

Big men key

Midway through the second half, Syracuse center Bourama Sidibe was whistled for a foul on a layup and put the Orange in a precarious position. Sidibe and the Orange’s other center, Paschal Chukwu, both had four fouls and the Tigers were attacking relentlessly inside because of that.

As many teams do against Syracuse’s signature 2-3 zone, Clemson attacked with a high-low approach keyed by penetration into the middle with a player in the high post. But the Tigers quickly found success playing bully-ball down low. Sidibe has been hobbled all season by left-knee tendinitis and Chukwu seemed to be limping on every possession. Though the Orange won the rebounding battle and wrested enough away on the glass to limit second-chance opportunities, the two Tiger bigs, Elijah Thomas and Aamir Simms, rough-housed their way to nearly half of Clemson’s points, forcing Syracuse’s bigs to play more timid than usual.

But, at the end, Chukwu played smart enough defense to stick around in the game and he went to the line for the two game-sealing attempts.

“No way!” shrieked a fan in the student section when Chukwu swished the first.

Seconds later, the student repeated himself and Chukwu nailed the second free throw.

Moten’s jersey retired

At halftime, a blue banner fell from the ceiling to reveal a white “Moten” jersey with his No. 21 in orange up in the rafters.

Lawrence Moten, the former forward who leads Syracuse, and the Big East, all-time in scoring with 2,334 points, dressed in a black suit with a red tie told the crowd, “You have to understand…” how the Dome felt like a second home, how he enjoyed his time here and how he loved Syracuse and all of its suburbs — which he then named.

The most special thing to Moten, he said, was his number being unveiled alongside Sherman Douglas’ No. 20 and Dave Bing’s No. 22. All three are from the Washington D.C. area, and they “opened a pipeline,” Moten said.

“That’s special,” Moten said about the jerseys 20 through 22 of three players from the same place being retired. “I don’t know that’s ever been done before.” He laughed. “It’s a freak-of-numbers thing.”

Moten’s return symbolized everything Syracuse’s season has not been. He had made the NCAA Tournament every year Syracuse was eligible — SU was banned in 1993 because of NCAA violations — and Moten spoke to a crowd watching this game under the cloud of a very real possibility that the Orange will wind up taking a second consecutive trip to the NIT. A reporter asked Moten if he believed the Orange could make a miracle run to the NCAA Tournament, and he sighed.

After a long pause, he said, “You know I’m biased,” and predicted Syracuse needed a run in “the Big East tournament.”

“Ah, ACC,” a Syracuse spokesperson gently corrected him.

“Right,” he said, chuckling and shaking his head. “Guys, remember change is good.”

Right now, SU fans aren’t so sure.

Published on March 3, 2018 at 4:28 pm

Contact Sam: sjfortie@syr.edu | @Sam4TR