Madison Square Garden is supposed to be Syracuse’s home away from home.
Despite all the Orange-clad supporters, it turned out to be a house of horrors yesterday — particularly at the free-throw line.
Fifteen missed free throws and sensational sophomore Michael Carter-Williams’ worst game of the year cost the third-ranked Orange dearly in the Gotham Classic at the Garden.
Temple, led by senior Khalif Wyatt, made Syracuse pay with its first loss of the season in a stunning 83-79 upset. The dynamic 6-foot-4 guard poured in a career-high 33 points in his first trip to the World’s Most Famous Arena.
“It’s a place you want to play if you’re a basketball player,” he said. “You want to live in that moment.”
Wyatt certainly made the most of his afternoon at the Garden, following the Owls’ surprising loss at home to Canisius.
“I was motivated to play against Syracuse,” he said. “I wanted to show the world that Temple is a good program. I wanted to broadcast that for the world.”
In the lead-up to yesterday’s showdown, Wyatt was considered the “other” guard. Carter-Williams, the Orange’s precocious do-it-all sophomore guard, was the one scouts have raved about. He entered the game averaging double figures in points and assists and is considered a possible lottery pick in the NBA Draft.
Wyatt unquestionably was the best guard on the Garden floor yesterday, however.
Carter-Williams (13 points) missed five straight free throws at one point during the second half — with Temple fans chanting “Lord and Taylor,” mocking his alleged recent shoplifting incident — and made just 3 of 14 shots from the field, many of them off-balanced and ill-advised.
“They didn’t try to come off to help and he’s got to finish those,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “He missed some good looks and got some good opportunities. The biggest problem I have is I think we should get more offensive rebounds in those opportunities.”
Boeheim was more bothered by the Orange’s struggles at the free throw line, where they made just 19 of 34 attempts.
“There are things you can always point to,” Boeheim said, “but the bottom line is you can’t miss 15 free throws.”
C.J. Fair led Syracuse (10-1) with 25 points and Brandon Triche added 17.
Wyatt shot Temple (9-2) out of an early, 10-point hole, scoring from beyond the 3-point arc and by getting inside the paint. And in the final minute, he confidently stepped to the free throw line and sunk all six of his attempts. He was a perfect 15-for-15 from the charity stripe.
“He made some good plays when we were struggling to score and the only way we were going to stay in the game was with Khalif making plays,” Temple coach Fran Dunphy said.
In support of Wyatt, sophomore forward Anthony Lee had 21 points and nine rebounds, as he had his way in the paint against Syracuse’s bigger bodies. Jake O’Brien scored eight points off the bench and Scootie Randall sank two clutch 3-pointers in an11-3 second half run that turned a tie game into an eight-point Temple lead with 7:40 left.
Syracuse got within a point, 74-73, with 1:20 to play, but Wyatt never let the Orange get closer, as he coolly swished those six free throws in the final fifty-nine seconds.
“This could be a start to getting on the right path and playing our best basketball,” he said.