SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Before tip-off Thursday night, Syracuse guard Johnny Flynn walked over and shook Terrapin men’s basketball coach Gary Williams’ hand.
By the end of the evening, Williams and every other Terp knew Flynn a little too well.
The freshman point guard was all over the place, driving, dishing and shooting right in the faces of Terp defenders. He finished with 23 points and seven assists to lead the Orange to an 88-72 victory in the NIT second round. The Orange were too strong and too aggressive for the Terps last night, even as seniors Bambale Osby and James Gist fought to keep their college careers alive.
The duo combined for 44 points, including a career-high 21 from Osby. But, as has been the story of the season, the Terps let a strong first half slip away.
“I thought we did a good job early, but Syracuse did a better job with more energy with getting loose balls, second shots,” Williams said. “They gradually wore us down and got us in the second half.”
Going into the locker room down just two, 40-38, with Gist having already tallied 18 points, the Terps were still in strong position to pull off the road win.
But the offense nearly completely stalled in the second half. Gist scored only five points in the period. His teammates struggled as well, shooting just 38.7 percent from the field in the second half, down from 59.3 percent in the first.
Guard Greivis Vasquez had an unusually silent night, scoring just eight points, his second-lowest total of the year.
“Other guys have got to do things to pick it up,” Williams said. “We certainly could have used some more offense from other people beside Boom [Osby] and James.”
Defensively, the Terps struggled to stop the aggressive Orange, one of the few teams the Terps have faced all season that could match their quickness in the open court.
And a large part of that was because of Flynn, who zoomed around the court despite a lingering back injury from Tuesday night’s first-round game.
On one play, he streaked down the middle of the court, lept, and bounced a pass between his legs to teammate Donte Green for a dunk. On another, he used a crossover and reverse layup to scoop past Vasquez in transition. Throughout the night, he appeared tireless and nearly flawless, making eight of 11 shot attempts and only turning the ball over twice.
“He was tremendous,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said of his freshman star. “He looked as good as he’s played all year. He broke the game open, hit a couple big shots and then made a couple big, big pass plays when he got in the lane.”
Williams had a different perspective on the point guard.
“I wish we played him Tuesday night,” he joked.
But it may not have made any difference. All season, the Terps struggled to execute down the stretch. And it seems fitting that the season would end with what seemed like a repeat performance.
“That was a microcosm of our season,” Williams said. “We played some great halves, but we couldn’t finish games.”
ajosephdbk@gmail.com
