‘Cuse Falls In OT To Undefeated ‘Nova, 82-77

Saturday, December 20

Villanova, Pa.

1:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

6-4

Villanova

11-0

Team	1	2	OT 1	F
Syracuse	43	26	8	77
Villanova	31	38	13	82

Photo by: Michael J. Okoniewski

‘Cuse Falls In OT To Undefeated ‘Nova, 82-77

12/20/2014 3:46:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

Michael Gbinije and Rakeem Christmas’ evenly split 36 points in loss to #7 Wildcats

VILLANOVA, Pa. - Unranked Syracuse led #7 Villanova the entire game until a Wildcat basket with four seconds left put the game into overtime where the host Wildcats prevailed, 82-77. Villanova improved to 11-0 on the year while Syracuse saw its record slip to 6-4.

Michael Gbinije finished with a career-best 18 points while Kaleb Joseph earned his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 assists.

Gbinije And Christmas Lead The Way
Gbinije and Rakeem Christmas tied for the team lead with 18 points each. Gbinije's also contributed eight boards, five assists and three steals in 39 minutes of work.

Syracuse finished with five players in double digits in the team's most balanced scoring effort of the season. In addition to Gbinije and Christmas, Trevor Cooney tallied 17 points, Tyler Roberson logged 11 points on a perfect five-of-five performance from the floor and Kaleb Joseph finished with 10 points. Cooney and Joseph each logged the full 45 minutes of play.

Shooting With A Hot Hand
Gbinije had perhaps his best half of the season, recording 11 points on a 5-of-6 effort while tallying six rebounds, five assists and two steals in the opening period. Joseph's ability to find teammates with open looks led to his seven assists in the half.

Ignited by the opening field goal by Gbinije, Syracuse built an early margin. The Orange busted out on a 10-0 run and held the Wildcats scoreless on eight-straight possessions to hand Villanova its largest deficit yet this season with a 27-14 score.

An 8-2 run by Nova cut lead to seven but two threes by Cooney powered a 9-1 burst to take Syracuse's largest lead of the half with a 41-26 score. The Wildcats finished the period by out-scoring Syracuse 5-2, and the Orange led at the intermission, 43-31.

Fending Off The Wildcats
'Nova came out of the break with a 12-4 burst and cut Syracuse's lead to four, 47-43. The Orange countered with consecutive baskets by Roberson and Joseph. Syracuse managed to hold off the charging Wildcats until the final minute of regulation.

A three-point play by Villanova's JayVaughn Pinkston had the hosts down one, 63-62, with 1:14 left. Christmas responded with a three-point play followed up by a Gbinije free throw to extend the lead to five with 24-seconds remaining.

Pinkston scored a layup with 20 ticks left and but Cooney preserved the lead with two free throws that had the Orange ahead, 69-64, with 17 seconds on the clock.

Villanova's Jason Hart hit a three and the Wildcats stole the Syracuse inbounds pass and Pinkston layed the ball in with four seconds in regulation to knot the game at 69-69.

Syracuse's First OT Test
Villanova took its first lead of the game when Darrun Hilliard converted two free throws. A layup from Gbinije tied things up but the Wildcats grabbed the lead for good on a Hart free throw.

Villanova converted 11-of-12 from the line in overtime to secure the triumph.

Game Notes: Syracuse limited Villanova to 4-of-16 on 3-point attempts. . .The Wildcats entered the contest converting 36 percent from beyond the arc. . .Syracuse now leads the all-time series with Villanova, 39-33. . .The Wildcats are the ninth most frequent foe in Syracuse hoop history. . .The Orange returns to action on Monday night when it hosts Colgate at 7:00 p.m. in the Carrier Dome.