BROOKLYN — Oklahoma State fans sensed it. They rose to their feet with just over eight minutes remaining in the game. A Syracuse player just double-dribbled, and the margin neared 20. The OSU fans rose, clapping in unison. One more highlight bucket — a dagger in front of a national audience — would suffice. 

Yor Anei delivered the crushing blow. As guard Avery Anderson rushed up court, two SU defenders doubled him. Anderson spotted his forward as Anei was noticing that, yet again, there was no white jersey who could stop his 6-foot-10 frame from crashing inside. 

What followed was textbook: Anei skied through the Barclays Center and slammed the ball home with one hand. The crowd erupted. OSU’s bench joined the clapping fans. On the Orange sidelines, head coach Jim Boeheim subbed out the remainder of his starters. 

“Obviously Bourama (Sidibe) and (Elijah) Hughes being in foul trouble made them play some lineups that they’re not accustomed to this early in the year,” OSU head coach Mike Boynton said.

The final buzzer sounded eight in-game minutes later, but Anei’s slam accented Oklahoma State’s (6-0) 86-72 thrashing of Syracuse (4-2, 0-1 Atlantic Coast). Cowboy shooters bested Orange guards from 3 and gave OSU an early lead, and when SU chipped away in the second half, Oklahoma State looked inside. It outscored Syracuse 34-to-16 in the paint, and Anei led both frontcourts with 19 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. 

One of SU’s season-long questions — can its interior defense hold up for an NCAA Tournament berth — reared its head as Sidibe, Hughes and Marek Dolezaj all fell into foul trouble. Different lineup combinations and a Syracuse offense looking for offensive rebounds, therefore allowing more transition buckets, couldn’t find an answer. The result? The Orange missed a chance to pick up a Quadrant 1 win to bolster their resume and will now play in the NIT Season Tip-Off’s third-place game. 

“I just stopped moving,” Dolezaj said of Yor’s paint success, “It’s all my fault. I need to do better of that.”

To start the game, however, SU’s interior defense was serviceable despite an early 11-0 deficit. Syracuse knew OSU looked for backdoor passes after scouting film, Dolezaj said, so the Cowboys’ initial offense sputtered. Dolezaj snagged a few steals and tipped passes inside, baiting a cut before stepping in front of the feed. And Sidibe disrupted shots, too.

Anei, a preseason Big-12 honorable mention, muscled inside to mixed success, initially. He finished offensive possessions with a putback and score, but couldn’t consistently win position under the basket. During the 21-2 run that put SU ahead, the Cowboys registered no points inside and settled for jumpers. 

“We were active. … We were moving (inside),” Sidibe said. “ We weren’t giving fast breaks.” 

In the first half, OSU relied on guard Isaac Likekele to cut through the zone, Boynton said. He sparked offense, and when the Cowboys retook the lead in the first half it came off 10-straight makes in the paint, capped by a Likekele and-1. The run featured Dolezaj and Hughes on the bench with three fouls a piece, the latter directing SU forwards — Quincy Guerrier and Robert Braswell — alongside Boeheim. 

When Syracuse’s 3s started to connect in the second, the Orange shooting their way into a would-be 20-point comeback, a OSU bucket inside would suffocate air from the run. SU coaches told players to look for offensive rebounds, hoping for another chance to chip away. That led to Oklahoma State fast breaks and SU’s interior defense worsened with even less bodies dedicated to stopping Anei and others. 

The lead down to 10 in the second half, Anei scooped a layup after a Likekele miss. Hughes countered with a deep ball and less than a minute later, there was Anei again, tipping in a putback while Brycen Goodine, Joe Girard III and Braswell just watched.

“I just had early foul trouble,” Sidibe said, “and Marek is not the main guy to put in the middle sometimes because people are going to come after him. That foul trouble made him go in.” 

Published on November 27, 2019 at 11:33 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez