It looked like the Tigers men’s basketball team was going to be competitive in the early goings on the road against Syracuse in the ACC/SEC Challenge, but the Orange ultimately pulled away to an 80-57 win with a big second half, ending LSU’s three-game winning streak.
The Tigers led for much of the first half, and they trailed by just five at the break. But Syracuse shot 50% in the second half, and an 18-3 run down the stretch helped put away the game for good.
It wasn’t the best game offensively for Matt McMahon’s team. It shot just 39.3%, though it was sharper in the second half. Leading scorer [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] got into early foul trouble, and he scored just three points while playing 16 minutes.
[autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] led the way offensively with 15 and 14 points, respectively, but no one else scored in double figures. The Tigers also turned it over 19 times.
While the Orange had a bad first half shooting, LSU had no answer for star Judah Mintz, who scored a game-high 33 points, 13 of which came at the free-throw line.
After missing an opportunity for a statement road win, LSU will host Southeastern on Friday before a home matchup against Kansas State on Dec. 9.
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