Orange get chance to show progress
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim says he doesn’t pay attention to rankings. The way his Orange have started the season, there’s not much for him to look at, anyway.
Syracuse had all five starters returning from last year’s Sweet 16 squad — one of a handful of teams in the nation with that luxury — and was ranked No. 16 in the preseason.
But injuries to all three point guards, poor shooting and a sometimes leaky perimeter defense have led to a slow start as the Orange get set to play their second ranked team of the season.
Syracuse (3-2) is at No. 16 Ohio State (6-0) on Wednesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
The Orange are coming off a 77-56 victory over Colgate, a game they put away in the second half after trailing early. Syracuse hit 14 of 26 from the floor in the second half, including 5 of 10 from long range.
“That just goes to show our ability as a team and our potential,” senior point guard Frank Howard said after his first outing of the season. “We can go on those quick runs like that.”
Howard, who suffered an ankle injury in September and had surgery, made his first field-goal attempt of the season, a 3-pointer from the corner. That was his only basket in 19 minutes, but he had five assists with zero turnovers and three steals.
“It’s going to take some time, but he was very steady,” Boeheim said. “I thought he really got the ball to people and got us into our offense in the second half. Very important.”
UConn great dies: Former University of Connecticut star Tony Hanson, who led the Huskies to the Sweet 16 in 1976, died at 63.
He died Sunday at his home in Windham.
The 6-foot-5 guard from Waterbury starred for UConn from 1973-1977, scoring 1,990 points, which ranks third in program history. He averaged 17.9 points per game and 26 points as a senior.
In 2007 his name and No. 42 were placed on the wall of Gampel Pavilion as part of the inaugural “Huskies of Honor” class.
Injuries: South Carolina forward Justin Minaya will have surgery on his right knee and be out indefinitely. Minaya, the son of former New York Mets general manager Omar Minaya, started 30 games as a freshman for the Gamecocks and averaged nearly eight points . ... Vanderbilt coach Bryce Drew said heralded freshman guard Darius Garland will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his left knee last week. Garland played five games for Vanderbilt and was averaging 16.2 points to lead the Commodores.