NEW YORK – One game after Syracuse boasted five players with at least 12 points, the Orange’s shallow scoring depth that occasionally surfaced a season ago reared its ugly head again.

After Tyler Lydon and his 18 points, nobody had more than 10, and only two cracked double digits. Lydon was the only player in double figures until Andrew White’s corner 3 cut South Carolina’s lead to five late in the second half.

“Tyler Lydon was clearly our most aggressive player, our best player,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He really was on the verge of having a great, great game against a really, really good defensive team.”

In No. 18 Syracuse’s (4-1) 64-50 loss to South Carolina (6-0) at the Barclays Center on Saturday, the Orange’s diverse offensive attack of the first four games reverted to a mainly one-man show. It was Lydon who singlehandedly cut the Gamecocks’ deficit in half at the beginning of the second frame, but the sophomore didn’t score in the final 16:19 and nobody else stepped up enough for Syracuse to avoid its first loss.

“I’m not really too sure,” said Lydon, when asked why Syracuse couldn’t get over the hump after slicing into USC’s lead. “It just was a matter of us not being able to get into our stuff. We missed a couple shots that we needed.”

Ally Moreo | Asst. Photo Editor

Trailing 40-28 just over a minute into the second half, Lydon hit a free throw, sunk a 3-pointer from the wing and buried a turnaround floater to make it 40-34. But after securing a defensive rebound after a PJ Dozier miss, Lydon turned the ball over to briefly stunt the Orange’s momentum.

Aside from Dajuan Coleman and Taurean Thompson’s combined three points the rest of the way, Andrew White and Frank Howard were the only ones to score for Syracuse, and not nearly as much as SU needed. Lydon had already done his part with 18 points in the first 23:41, but Howard missed four foul shots while Syracuse was in the double bonus and White hit only one long ball while missing a pair from behind the arc.

“That’s what our coaching staff and team prides itself on, defense,” Dozier said. “We make our offense out of our defense. We came into the game with a defensive mind.”

During his scoring spurt, Lydon let out a rare scream, urging the pro-Syracuse Barclays Center crowd to get on its feet. They obliged, but were soon brought back down to their seats when South Carolina swiftly countered. For the remainder of the game, Lydon had little to cheer about, often hanging his hands on his head or staring at a Gamecocks’ bucket in despair as Syracuse’s chance at a comeback slipped further out of its grasp.

It seems Lydon’s early season scoring struggles are in the past, even if he was unable to carry over his brief hot stretch to when SU needed it late in the game. Syracuse has proven it can generate scoring elsewhere against teams far inferior, but Lydon will need a supporting cast as the Orange’s schedule heats up.

“He played extremely well today,” Boeheim said. “But he didn’t get a lot of help.”

Published on November 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman