Syracuse basketball ended its season on a sour note on Saturday, again having trouble performing in the second half. For the fourth game in its last five, SU was leading at halftime but wound up with the loss.
In the final game of the regular season, the Orange lost to Clemson by a score of 67-55.
Both Syracuse and Clemson started off slow in the first half. Neither team scored in the first 2:09 in the game; meanwhile, there were two turnovers and five missed shots during that time.
But the Tigers seemed to face more offensive woes than SU in the first minutes after tip off. Clemson had trouble navigating the Syracuse zone defense and fell behind by 10 points with just under seven minutes until halftime.
At the half, Syracuse led 31-24.
Shooting just 25.0 percent (7-28) in the first, Clemson returned from the break and shot 42.9 percent the rest of the way.
While the Tigers improved, the Orange went on field goal droughts of more than three minutes, more than five minutes, more than four minutes and more than four minutes again through half two.
Frank Howard fouled out with about three minutes left in the game, forcing Battle to come into the game at the point.
Three Syracuse players scored in double digits. Brissett led the way with 15, Boeheim had 11 and Battle 10.
With the loss, Syracuse remains in seventh place in the ACC standings heading into the conference Tournament this coming week.
Published: David Edelstein
