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Syracuse suffered a major setback on Tuesday, getting blown out by Tennessee 96-70 in Knoxville. The Orange were forced to play without leading scorer J.J. Starling, who was ruled out before the game with a broken hand.

Without him, SU’s guards struggled — other than Elijah Moore scoring a career-high 24 points — and the Orange were blown out in the second half. Saturday provided a chance for Syracuse to bounce back as it took on Notre Dame in its Atlantic Coast Conference opener. The Fighting Irish entered losers of five straight but battled with the Orange all afternoon.

Syracuse never led in the first half but trailed by four points at the break, despite shooting just 39% from the field. The Orange eventually took the lead in the second half, but couldn’t come up with enough plays down the stretch as they dropped their second straight game.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (4-4, 0-1 ACC) 69-64 loss to Notre Dame (5-5, 1-0 ACC):

Shrewsberry’s explosion

Without leading scorer Markus Burton, Notre Dame has looked to Braeden Shrewsberry as its No. 1 option. In three games without Burton, Shrewsberry has been inefficient, shooting just 37% from the field and averaging 16 points per game.

Shrewsberry opened up the game with no hesitation. He received a switch, drawing Eddie Lampkin Jr., and he took advantage. The shooting guard walked down Lampkin, hitting a 3 plus the foul to make it 6-2 Notre Dame early.

However, Shrewsbury’s early 3 wasn’t a sign of what was to come in the first half. He couldn’t get into a rhythm, missing his next three shots. Whatever Shrewsbury did, he couldn’t get shots to fall. He fired away from the left wing but clanked off the iron. He tried working his way inside, but a couple of his floaters were off the mark.

After three straight misses, Shrewsberry finally connected on another jumper. From the same spot he hit his first shot, Shrewsberry pulled up over Donnie Freeman. His second 3-pointer gave Notre Dame a 26-19 advantage, its largest lead of the first half.

The second half was a different story for Shrewsberry. Syracuse took its first lead early in the second half, but he put Notre Dame right back in front with back-to-back triples. The shooting guard knocked down three triples in the second half and recorded 15 points. His 22 points led all scorers, helping Notre Dame to a win.

Lampkin’s distribution

Lampkin’s passing ability has been no secret this season. He sees the floor well and has a good feel for when to hit cutters for layups or open players for 3-pointers. On Nov. 16 against Youngstown State, Lampkin dished out a career-high seven assists in a near-triple double.

Since then, Lampkin’s assists have run dry. He recorded six against Texas, but in SU’s past three games, he was held without one. That changed early Saturday. Lampkin received the ball in the mid-post, tossing a pocket pass to Jaquan Carlos for an easy layup. Soon after, he connected with Freeman twice. Both times Lampkin posted up on the left side and patiently waited for Freeman to get into the correct spot. Eventually, Lampkin hit Freeman on the money for his second and third assists.

Following Lampkin’s third assist in just five minutes, he was held without one for the rest of the game. The center didn’t receive as many post touches, preventing him from spreading the ball around and saw limited action in the second half.

Shuffling the guards

Without Starling, Syracuse has lacked continuity in its backcourt. Head coach Adrian Autry elected to start Lucas Taylor for the second-straight game, despite him going scoreless against Tennessee. Throughout the first half, as Syracuse’s offense struggled, Autry tinkered to try to find a spark.

With Taylor and Moore off the bench not providing much, the second-year head coach inserted Chance Westry and Kyle Cuffe Jr. Westry struggled with an injury this offseason and was out with an illness a few weeks before SU’s opening game. His first minutes of the season came in garbage time against Tennessee with the game well out of reach for SU. Saturday, Autry substituted him in at the 12:39 mark to play alongside Moore in the backcourt. Westry’s stint lasted just two minutes before getting subbed out for Carlos.

Autry also put in Cuffe, who’s only appeared in four games this year. Autry constantly shuffled his guards. At one point, he had a three-guard lineup of Carlos, Moore and Cuffe. It was the first time Autry used that combination of guards all season.

Ultimately, SU didn’t get much production from its backcourt. Taylor managed two points, Carlos notched eight and Cuffe scored one, while Westry and Moore finished with zero.

3-point drought

The last time Syracuse went an entire game without a 3-pointer was over a decade ago. The Orange went 0-for-14 in their 74-48 win over Holy Cross on Nov. 28, 2014. That changed Saturday, with the Orange going 0-for-9 from 3-point range.

According to KenPom, the Orange entered the day ranked 331st in the country in 3-point shooting, connecting on just 27.7% of their looks from beyond the arc. Saturday’s performance didn’t help those numbers. It wasn’t that Syracuse didn’t hit many of its shots from deep, it just didn’t attempt that many. The Orange had four attempts from beyond the arc in the first half and two in the first couple minutes of the second. But over the final 18 minutes, Syracuse put up three 3-point attempts.

Its best threats from the outside, Chris Bell and Moore, only had five total shots from 3. Syracuse elected not to attack from the perimeter, instead opting to play through Freeman and Jyáre Davis, especially in the second half. The duo combined for 40 points, 26 of which came across the final 20 minutes.

Syracuse’s inability to hit shots from the outside came back to bite it in clutch time. The Orange trailed 67-64 with under a minute to play. The Orange looked throughout the entire possession for an open 3-pointer, but nobody seemed to want to take the shot. Taylor ended up throwing a contested floater in the lane, which was off the mark, ending Syracuse’s chances of a win.

Published on December 7, 2024 at 2:24 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22