Syracuse Edge Clemson 82-81 With Buzzer-Beating 3-Pointer

Tyrus Battle had made just one of his first six shots on Tuesday night against Clemson, including missing a wide open layup with Syracuse trailing 76-74 with less than two minutes remaining.

Syracuse beat Clemson 82-81 with Tyrus Battle’s Buzzer-Beating 3

However, he ended up being Syracuse’s saving grace, as he hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift the Orange men’s basketball team to an 82-81 road victory over the Tigers.

Tyler Lydon drove the lane and Clemson fell apart, which allowed Lydon to find his freshman teammate wide open in the right corner to give Syracuse (16-9, 8-4 ACC) its fifth consecutive victory– with the last three coming in games where the Orange were down at least 12.

The Tigers didn’t realize Battle was in the game, a mistake Clemson coach Brad Brownell claimed happened when either the scorer’s table erred or his staff missed that Syracuse star Tyler Roberson was on the bench. Center Sidy Djitte stayed to stop a possible tip-in against Clemson (13-10, 3-8 ACC).

“We’re in trouble because he isn’t used to guarding perimeter players that often,” Brownell said. “He leaves the shooter and we lose on a last-second shot.”

Andrew White led Syracuse with 23 points. Lydon added 17 points and nine rebounds.

Jaron Blossomgame scored 20 points, leading five Tigers in double-digits.

Nevertheless, it was another crushing defeat for Clemson, who have now lost a pair of 1-point games in the ACC, a 3-point game in overtime and a 4-point game, all at home.

Officially, Tuesday’s victory was the 900th of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim’s career. But Boeheim celebrated after Saturday’s win over Virginia Tech because unofficially, that was his 1,000th victory. The NCAA forced Boeheim to vacate 101 wins in 2015 due to rules violations. The Syracuse coach is now just two behind Bob Knight’s 902 wins for second-place all-time in Division 1.

Six of Clemson’s eight ACC losses have come by five points or less, which has led to some soul searching in the Tigers’ locker room.

“We’ve just got to know basic basketball principles. We’re up two points We can give up a layup. We can take the game into overtime. We can’t allow any 3s,” said Donte Grantham, who was nearly the hero after his jumper from the foul line put Clemson up two with 6.2 seconds left. “We’ve got to get tough. We’ve got to find some way to grit out these close games.”

Syracuse next travel to last-place Pittsburgh on Saturday, when Clemson will visit the No. 18 Duke Blue Devils.

SYRACUSE, NY – FEBRUARY 04: Tyler Lydon #20 of the Syracuse Orange shoots a 3-pointer to take the lead 39-36 during the second half against the Virginia Cavaliers on February 4, 2017 at The Carrier Dome in Syracuse, New York. Syracuse defeated Virginia 66-62. (Photo by Brett Carlsen/Getty Images)