Boeheim’s Army cruises past Herkimer Originals 97-71 in TBT opener
Buddy Boeheim splashed home a game-high 24 points to lead Boeheim's Army past Herkimer Originals in the first round of TBT. Courtesy of The Basketball Tournament
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Jacob Gilyard’s deep 3-pointer rattled off the front of the rim and bounced toward the right corner. Elijah Hughes corralled it, took a dribble to his left and fired away from distance.
Of course, it found the bottom of the net. In Boeheim’s Army’s opening game of The Basketball Tournament against Herkimer Originals, it seemed that everything did. Hughes’ fifth triple ended the game for BA, hitting the target score of 97, which was enforced by TBT’s signature Elam Ending.
On a night in which Boeheim’s Army was hitting 3s effortlessly, it was only fitting the game would end on one.
Boeheim’s Army nailed 18 3-pointers on a mind-boggling 62.3% from beyond the arc to propel it to a 97-71 win over Herkimer Originals in its first TBT matchup. In their Boeheim’s Army debuts, Buddy Boeheim and Hughes combined for 45 points and 12 3-pointers to fuel the blowout victory, while six different players hit a triple.
“In tournaments like this, if you play together, you play hard and you play smart, anything can happen,” Boeheim’s Army head coach Allen Griffin said. “We made some shots, and that’s how we’re gonna win. We’ve gotta win by the three.”
Although it was Buddy and Hughes’ deep-range shooting that allowed Boeheim’s Army to smother the Originals, the victory was a complete team effort. BA picked up 28 points from its bench, including 10 from Jimmy Boeheim. Gilyard picked up a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists in his TBT debut, while Chris McCullough chipped in eight points as well.
The offensive onslaught started with familiar sights for Syracuse fans. Hughes nailed a corner 3-pointer 30 seconds in. Buddy then canned two more to cap a 13-5 run in the first five minutes.
Its eight-point advantage nearly doubled midway through the quarter. Boeheim’s Army sprinted out on an 8-0 run backed by a Gilyard 3-pointer, a Noah Starkey layup and a Malachi Richardson corner triple. An 8-2 burst by the Originals helped them close the quarter with just a nine-point deficit, down 27-18.
BA’s quick ball movement was creating open looks all over the floor throughout the opening period. It tallied seven assists on 11 made field goals in the first quarter and finished the night with 27 assists to Herkimer’s 12.
The Originals hung around early in the second quarter, bringing the lead down to seven at multiple points in the frame. But Boeheim’s Army built the lead up to 15 after 3s from Buddy, Hughes and Frank Mason III.
With two minutes left in the half, BA snagged its largest lead yet coming out of a timeout. Gilyard launched a picture-perfect alley-oop to Hughes, who punched it home from 30 feet out, to extend BA’s lead to 18, and it entered halftime up by 17.
“In the first half, we did a really good job of playing together,” Griffin said. “We gave up some offensive rebounds and we missed some free throws. If not, we would’ve had a perfect half.”
The biggest discrepancy was in makes from beyond the arc. Boeheim’s Army entered the break 9-for-16 from distance while Herkimer Originals was just 1-of-9.
Boeheim’s Army carried its red-hot shooting into the first few minutes of the second half. Gilyard, Hughes and Buddy rained down triples in the first two minutes of the quarter to extend the lead to 26. Two paint buckets from Rakeem Christmas and two more 3s from Buddy helped extend BA’s lead to 30, its largest advantage of the game. It was cruise control for Boeheim’s Army from there.
No matter what defense Herkimer threw out late in the game — even experimenting with a full-court press — BA’s ball movement and unconscious shooting broke it down instantly. When the Elam Ending rolled around, BA had a 22-point advantage.
Buddy and Jimmy traded buckets before Hughes nailed the game-sealing 3. It boosted his total to 21 points, complementing Buddy’s 24-point, seven 3-pointer performance.
“The adrenaline, the nerves were there from the start,” Buddy said. “But just playing with Elijah, playing with Jacob Gilyard for the first time, playing with my brother… it was super fun and there’s nothing like it.”
It’s exactly the type of outing that’s become expected from Boeheim’s Army this season. The Syracuse alumni squad has been crafted to operate like a well-oiled machine: star shooters, powerful bigs, elite ball-handlers and bench depth.
Between the reunion of Buddy and Jimmy, the return of stars such as Christmas and McCullough and the addition of non-SU alumni like Mason and Gilyard, expectations were through the roof. But BA is ready to embrace the challenge. It doesn’t mind playing with a target on its back.
“Where our roster is, we think it’s kind of championship or bust,” general manager Shaun Belbey said. “We think we have the team to win it, and that’s what we expect from ourselves.”
On Saturday, Boeheim’s Army proved those expectations are realistic. If Boeheim’s Army can shoot the cover off the basketball like it did on Saturday, it’ll be difficult for any team in the tournament to contend.
