Syracuse, N.Y. – Syracuse’s season debut in Wednesday night’s exhibition against Pace came with big contributions from a pair of transfers, some positive signs, some pleasant surprises, one disappointing absence and one scary ankle injury.
Syracuse easily downed Pace 79-60 in front of fans at the Dome for the first time in more than a year. The last time Syracuse fans were able to cheer on the Orange at the Dome was the final regular-season game of the 2019-20 season against North Carolina.
Cole Swider led the Orange with 21 points. The 6-foot-9 transfer from Villanova connected on five of his seven attempts from 3-point range.
>> Box score
In his first game for Syracuse, Jimmy Boeheim, who spent his first three years at Cornell, started, scored 19 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Orange.
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim has said this should be a good 3-point shooting team, and the Orange lived up to those expectations on Wednesday.
Syracuse went 8-for-18 on 3-pointers in the first half and finished the game 11-for-26 outside the line.
That was a positive sign. The pleasant surprises came inside where young centers Jesse Edwards and Frank Anselem both played well.
Edwards, a 6-11 junior, moved well on offense. He provided a nice target for Syracuse’s guards and converted on alley-oop passes from Joe Girard. Edwards finished with 12 points and five rebounds. He also blocked four shots.
The 6-10 Anselem played in just four games as a freshman last season, but he showed remarkable improvement. He scored two points and grabbed five rebounds to go along with two steals and an assist.
Edwards and Anselem got more playing time due to the unfortunate absence of veteran center Bourama Sidibe.
Sidibe, who missed all but two games last year due to a knee injury, did not play on Wednesday and is expected to be out for another month after sustaining another injury.
The scare came early in the second half when senior guard Buddy Boeheim appeared to turn his left ankle. Boeheim left the game and headed into the locker room along with SU trainer Brad Pike.
Boeheim returned to the bench with a smile on his face, but Pike soon cut the tape off Boeheim’s left foot and applied a bag of ice, indicating that Boeheim would not return to the court for the rest of the night.
Boeheim scored all nine of his points in the first half. He made three out of seven shots from the 3-point line.
For the most part on Wednesday, Syracuse had little trouble with Pace. The Setters struggled from 3-point range against SU’s 2-3 zone, going 3-for-14 in the first half to fall behind 43-26 at the break. Pace hit a few 3-pointers in the game’s final minutes to finish 10 out of 31 from long range.
Syracuse will get in one more exhibition game next Monday when the Orange hosts Le Moyne. Syracuse will then open the regular season on Nov. 9 with a home game against Lafayette.
MORE ORANGE BASKETBALL
You grade the Orange after win over Pace
Center Bourama Sidibe to miss at least a month due to knee injury (report)
Syracuse 2021-22 roster, bios: Get to know the Orange
Here’s how to stream Syracuse basketball’s full 2021-22 season | Schedule, TV channels, live stream