NEW YORK – In its first true test of the season, No. 18 Syracuse (4-1) couldn’t climb out of a double-digit second-half hole and fell to South Carolina (6-0), 64-50 on Saturday afternoon at the Barclays Center.

Here are three quick takeaways from the Orange’s first loss of the season.

Tyler the Creator

One game after six different players scored in double figures for the Orange, Tyler Lydon led a skewed Orange offense with 18 points. Only two others finished with more than 10. Andrew White was the second player to enter double digits but didn’t do so until the 6:37 mark of the second half.

With Syracuse trailing 40-28 at the beginning of the second half, Lydon reeled off six straight points – a free throw, 3-pointer and turnaround floater – to bring SU within six. The Barclays Center erupted and SU all of a sudden showed signs of life.

But Lydon didn’t score after that stretch, and a struggling Syracuse offense sputtered to the finish.

Not the point

John Gillon’s five first-half turnovers stunted any Syracuse rhythm and Jim Boeheim didn’t have the freedom of going to Frank Howard off the bench. The sophomore picked up three fouls by the 6:19 mark of the first half and stayed on the sideline for the rest of the opening stanza.

The two point guards, who combined for 20.8 points per game through four contests on over 56 percent shooting from the field, had as many turnovers as combined points in the first 20 minutes Saturday.

In the second half, SU’s floor generals took care of the ball better but couldn’t manufacture much of anything on the offensive end. Gillon and Howard finished with a combined 13 points while only taking a combined eight shots.

Pretty foul

With 10:50 left in the game, South Carolina committed its 10th team foul and Syracuse entered the double bonus.

After White made two free throws, Howard missed the Orange’s next four attempts from the charity stripe unable to slice the Gamecocks’ lead below five.

Syracuse finished the game 16-for-26 from the foul line and was unable to capitalize on the Gamecocks second-half foul trouble.

Published on November 26, 2016 at 4:49 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman