Stats can be really boring…. unless, of course, they’re surprising. An honorable mention goes to Elijah Hughes’s 19 points per game, which led the ACC. Another to Joe Girard’s 89% free throw conversion rate, which also led the ACC and ranked 10th nationally. We couldn’t have predicted those before the season, but they don’t have enough shock value to make the list. Here are five stats from the season that were just plain weird.
#5: 19 Threes Allowed
Syracuse beat Boston College on March 3rd, but somehow made the Eagles look like the Golden State Warriors. The Orange gave up a program record number of threes allowed. BC came into the game as a bottom three ACC team in three-point percentage. So that was interesting.
#4: 131 Personal Fouls
Bourama Sidibe jumps at every pump fake. The result was an insane accumulation of personal fouls. He averaged four fouls per game and fouled out in 10 of SU’s 32 games. For reference, Elijah Hughes averaged 10 additional minutes per game and picked up 58 personals.
#3: 29 Drawn Fouls
Another program record here. Syracuse drew 19 fouls against Duke on February 1st. This game took forever as the Orange also accumulated an obscene 25 fouls. Never was the Brent Axe mantra #FreeThrowsMatter more true. The Blue Devils shot 87% from the line and the Orange shot 76%. Duke won.
#2: 34 Points
The most infamous program record of the 2019-20 season was undoubtedly the record-low 34 points scored against Virginia in the opener. 34 points is a difficult number to wrap the head around. Let’s try. The lowest scoring team in the country was the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions. They averaged 53 points per game, still a 19-point blowout against 34. The fewest they scored all season was 39 points. That’s still more than 34.
#1: 29 Opponent Threes Attempted Per Game
The 2-3 zone is known for enticing opponents into three-point heaves. This season was intense in that department. Only one team in the country saw more three point attempts than Syracuse. Arkansas-Pine Blu…. just kidding, Samford.
