Indiana Tops Syracuse 83-80

Despite a number of head-scratching calls going against the Indiana Hoosiers, Darian DeVries and his team notched a key non-conference victory on Monday evening at Gainbridge Fieldhouse to move to 3-0 on the young season. Darren Harris and Markus Burton both had 20 points to lead Indiana to the 83-80 victory.

The Syracuse Orange roared to a 18-11 lead as IU’s offense struggled to find any rhythm and Aiden Sherrell was forced to the bench with two very early fouls. The Hoosiers got a spark from Markus Burton and stormed back with an 8-0 run to take a 19-18 lead. The two sides traded the lead for much of the first half but Indiana’s offense was stagnant and failed to find any touch from the perimeter, shooting just 3-14 from three in the first 20 minutes as the Orange grabbed the 38-34 halftime lead.

Darren Harris began the second half with a personal run of eight straight points to give Indiana a 42-38 advantage and all of the momentum but a timeout by Gerry McNamara was used to good effect and the two teams settled in for a back-and-forth slugfest. Syracuse freshman guard Ryan Moesch was very effective and combined with Kiyan Anthony to propel the Orange while Markus Burton and Darren Harris answered for Indiana. The game tilted in favor of Syracuse on a phantom foul call that gifted Anthony three free throws despite the protestations of the IU coaches and fans.

The Hoosiers refused to fold as Markus Burton and Jaeden Mustaf both hit triples and gave Indiana a narrow lead. With the score tied at 74, Darren Harris was fouled and hit three free throws and then the Hoosiers got a stop and Samet Yigitoglu was fouled after snagging the rebound. The Turkish Tower hit both free throws and gave IU a five-point advantage. Syracuse scored to trim it to three points but a great inbounds play broke the pressure and led to a dunk for Jaeden Mustaf with 30 seconds remaining.

Ryan Moesch forced the action and drew a foul that trimmed the lead to three. Bryce Lindsay calmly knocked down a pair of free throws while Syracuse cut it back to three. An offensive foul on Lindsay with 4.7 seconds remaining gave the Orange a last-gasp effort but Kiyan Anthony’s three was off and Indiana survived with the 83-80 victory.

The Hoosiers were 9-25 from three but used a great performance from the foul line to give them the edge. IU shot 22-26 from the charity stripe and outrebounded Syracuse by nine. Markus Burton and Darren Harris both had 20 points while Jaeden Mustaf chipped in 18 to lead the Hoosiers. Indiana’s frontcourt failed to do much scoring but they were good on the glass including ten rebounds for Samet Yigitoglu.

This win will count as a neutral court victory for NCAA Tournament selection purposes and it should at least qualify as a Quad Two win for Indiana come March. The Hoosiers improve to 3-0 and will now host Tennessee Tech on Thursday night at Assembly Hall.