COLLEGE BASKETBALL : No. 13 Syracuse Beats No. 8 Indiana 77-74 in a ‘Game of the Season’

This one was good enough to have been played in March.

We haven’t even ripped November off the calendar yet and we’ve had one of those college basketball games of the season: No. 13 Syracuse 77, No. 8 Indiana 74.

It was played Sunday night for the championship of the Maui Invitational although it looked like it could have been for the right to advance in the tournament that really matters in about four months.

“It was a hard one,” Syracuse’s Jim Boeheim said with a sigh.

And he was the winning coach.

“This was a good tournament for us,” he said. “We played three good teams and they gave us all we wanted. We have a chance to be pretty good.”

The Orangemen (3-0) had that label already just because of the presence of Billy Owens.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward lived up to his preseason All-America billing and finished with 28 points, 13 rebounds and an MVP trophy against Indiana.

“Billy struggled the first two games but tonight he showed what he is made of,” Boeheim said.

It was more than Owens that looked good from the start against the Hoosiers (2-1).

Syracuse was already ahead 24-17 when it went on a 10-0 run for a 17-point lead with 8:13 left in the first half.

“We did a great job of rebounding early and getting out on the break,” Boeheim said.

The Orangemen were 21-for-31 from the field in the first half because they were getting layups and short jumpers on the break and led 50-41 at halftime.

Indiana managed to draw even at 62-62 with 8:35 left on a jumper by Calbert Cheaney that capped a 12-2 run as Indiana’s defense and motion offense with constant screens wore down the six players who accounted for all but two minutes of those logged for Syracuse.

“I didn’t play enough guys but our seventh through ninth men aren’t ready for this kind of game,” Boeheim said. “It looked like we ran out of gas.”

Enter Michael Edwards, the 5-11 point guard, who had 13 points at halftime on 5-for-6 shooting.

He made a tough 3-pointer with 8:10 left and the Orangemen kept the lead for good.

Edwards finished with 18 points and seven assists and David Johnson added 15 points and some solid defense on Cheaney, who finished with 12 points.

Greg Graham led Indiana with 15 points and Eric Anderson had 11 points and seven rebounds.