Syracuse takes out Aggies in Battle 4 Atlantis title game

MI faces Charlotte in the consolation bracket.

“I have confidence that Muhammad and Zak and these other guys could make good decisions so (LeVert’s) not playing with one arm out there”, Beilein said.

PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas – The Syracuse Orange held off the Texas A&M Aggies 74-67 on Friday in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game. They outscored Syracuse’s bench 19-16.

Michael Gbinije led Syracuse with 20 points and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

THEY WERE prohibited from NCAA post-season play in 2014-15 but Syracuse made the most of their first tournament in over a year, highlighted by two wins over ranked teams.

The unranked Orange claimed the tournament title with a decisive victory over Texas A&M.

“The second half they really just took it to us offensively”, Ollie said.

The Aggies put each of those attributes on display during a highly competitive opening 20 minutes. “That’s what we gotta continue to do”. House and Tyler Davis combined to go 9-of-12 from the line and Alex Caruso and Jalen Jones each made a pair as the Aggies finished with a nine-point advantage at the stripe, where Texas A&M is 70.6 percent as a team.TIP-INS 1. But Syracuse quickly answers, with Lydon and Gbinije hitting threes in transition to help the Orange take a 50-47 lead with 12:42 to go. The lead dissipated down the stretch, but they were able to get some clutch baskets in the final minutes. They got to the free throw line 39 times.

“We had some cheap fouls”, said A&M coach Billy Kennedy.

Cassell, who scored just 16 points in the Huskies first three games this season, knocked down a pair of 3-pointers in the first half (a third was waved off due to a foul away from the ball), then another midway through the latter half that gave UConn a 19-point lead – its biggest of the night.

The Orange was aggressive with its zone, but the Aggies were just as patient working for open shots. He started strongly against Syracuse with 10 points in the first four minutes, but thereafter seemed hesitant to shoot and settled for two free throws the rest of the way.

Caris LeVert led MI with 21 points. Syracuse went ahead 65-55 and then it was the 3-point shooting of the Orange that UConn couldn’t control.

Syracuse senior Trevor Cooney celebrates right after SU’s résumé-building W over UConn. Syracuse is averaging 72.8 points and they are shooting 43.7 percent from the floor while defensively they are allowing 62.8 points and their opponents are shooting 35.9 percent. He essentially played the entire game, keeping the Huskies focused. “It should be a really good game”. “So that says a lot about their character and their toughness”. We’ve just got to be mentally strong. We gotta play some zone.

Asked if he would entertain scheduling UConn in a non-conference bout, Boeheim replied: “I think there’s a reasonable likelihood that we will play CT again someplace”. We just had contributions from every area. “And we will. It’s a great experience for our team to be in that atmosphere three nights in a row”. Of course, UConn has some great tournament history with Gonzaga, so maybe there will be another opportunity for reminiscing tomorrow.