Syracuse Orange at UConn Huskies

Brissett's double-double lifts Syracuse past UConn 72-63

The former Big East rivals failed to play a familiar classic at the Garden that had defined their series as one of the best in basketball. But fans of both teams enjoyed the give-and-take chants that filled a mostly full MSG on the night.

The Orange, coming off a 16-point loss to No. 2 Kansas, controlled from tipoff in a sloppy outing where they made only four 3-pointers and had nine assists.

Matthew Moyer scored 18 points and the Orange scored some easy buckets late in the second half to never let this win get away from them.

Jalen Adams led the Huskies (6-3) with 22 points and Christian Vital had 17.

Vital gave UConn a brief sign of life with a pair of 3s in the second half that sliced the deficit to 11. Vital fed Adams on the fastbreak for an easy bucket to make it a nine-point game and MSG was filled with "Let's Go Huskies!" chants.

Brissett, one of the top freshmen in the ACC, capitalized with a dunk that stretched the lead back to double digits.

Brissett and Battle each scored 12 points in the first half to help the Orange lead 40-29.

UConn and Syracuse had regular matchups at Madison Square Garden when they both were in the Big East. The greatest of all their matchups was the 2009 Big East Tournament quarterfinal that Syracuse won 127-117 in six overtimes. MSG played clips from the classic on the big screen. Syracuse leads the all-time series 56-38.

BIG PICTURE

Syracuse: Guard Frank Howard, who had averaged 15.5 points, scored only five with Battle leading the way. Howard's five assists were also down from his 6.1 average. ... Keep an eye on Moyer. Moyer suffered a hard fall in the second half and came up limping. He gave coach Jim Boeheim a thumbs up from the free-throw line and made 1 of 2 shots. ... The Orange are down to eight scholarship players.

UConn: The Huskies had won two straight games in overtime. ... UConn hopes to slow down following a stretch of seven games over 6,000 miles in 19 days. ... The Huskies played their 116th game at MSG (62-54) and won NIT and Big East championships in the building.

UP NEXT

Syracuse: The Orange play Colgate on Saturday before resuming another former Big East rivalry Dec. 16 against Georgetown.

UConn: The Huskies return home Saturday to play Coppin State.

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