COLUMBUS, Ohio — On Syracuse’s first possession of the second half, Frank Howard drove and Oshae Brissett slid along the baseline. Howard picked out Brissett with a bounce pass, and Syracuse’s sophomore forward finished at the rim.

After the referees’ whistles held Brissett to the bench for the majority of the first half, he didn’t sit during Wednesday’s second half. After his foul trouble kept him to one first-half shot, he was one of three Syracuse players in double digits in the second.

“He just got going right away in the second half,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “Made a couple good plays, couple good drives. Got to the basket.”

On a night when three SU players fouled out, Brissett’s bounce back from three first-half fouls helped Syracuse (4-2) upset No. 16 Ohio State (6-1) at Value City Arena, 72-62. He played five minutes in the first half but all 20 in the second half. That allowed him to raise his three first-half points with 11 in the second, and it allowed SU to pull away from the Buckeyes and get a much-needed, early season statement win.

“Coach said in halftime, he said, ‘Oshae you have the most energy out here, you haven’t played much, now go out there and show it,’” Brissett said. “That really stuck with me starting the second half. I knew I was a guy that could spark the energy for the guys. And I did just that.”

Less than five minutes into the game, Brissett had tallied two fouls: first on a contested rebound and then pushing in the post. Boeheim pulled him for about five minutes, but SU’s head coach put his sophomore back in midway through the first half.

Less than two minutes later, Brissett chased a loose ball alongside OSU’s Kyle Young and dove. While a replay appeared to show Young yanking Brissett’s arm down, the SU player was called for the foul. He sat out the remaining 9:59 of the first half.

“Once I got those three fouls, being out there and still staying in the game, keeping myself mentally focused because I knew I was gonna go back in,” Brissett said.

After about 40 minutes of real time had passed, Brissett returned to the floor to open the second half with the layup from Howard. On Syracuse’s next trip down the floor, he assisted right back on a Howard 3. Brissett scored SU’s next two points as well, after being fouled and making both of his free throws.

At the other end, as multiple Syracuse players battled foul trouble, OSU’s big man, Kaleb Wesson, got caught in the paint. Brissett could’ve held back to avoid a fourth foul, but instead he swung his right arm. He got all ball.

“He put it out there, and he exposed it,” Brissett said. “I just felt like I made a great basketball play right there.”

The Orange came right down after Brissett’s block, and Howard found him at the top of the key. Brissett rose and drained his second 3 of the game to put the Orange up six and silence a raucous Ohio State crowd that had been fired up coming out with a halftime lead and a banner-raising ceremony for former Buckeyes coach Thad Matta.

“Obviously he hasn’t made the 3s, but he made a couple big ones tonight, for sure,” Boeheim said.

There was 17:40 left when Brissett made that 3. He drained two more free throws and scored once more at the rim before the game was finished. He added four second-half rebounds and three second-half assists.

When Brissett picked up his third foul in the first half, Boeheim was incensed. He tore at his sport coat, as if to half-rip it off, and had a long conversation with one of the officials. From there, all Brissett could do was sit on the bench until halftime.

But Brissett didn’t commit a foul in the second half and was on the court for OSU’s final shot, an air-balled 3 from the right corner. It fell right into his arms. He handed the ball off and watched the clock run out as he jogged toward half court.

In the first half, he had no choice but to save his energy. As the buzzer sounded on the game, Brissett could save his energy. He’d already made the difference.

Published on November 28, 2018 at 10:59 pm

Contact Billy: wmheyen@syr.edu | @Wheyen3