It was certainly a valiant effort, but the same demons from games past came out once again, and Syracuse fell to Texas 70-66 in the semifinal game of the Legends Classic for its first loss of the season. It was a tale of two halves with so much to dive into, so let’s get right into the report card.
Free Throws – F–
Holy cow, this has to be the most frustrating way to lose a game, especially one that would’ve been huge for the Orange. 9-for-18 from the line is simply unacceptable, period. There’s no worse feeling than when free throws are the deciding factor in a game. I’m not trying to point the finger at anyone, but guys like Eddie Lampkin, Jaquan Carlos, and Jyare Davis really couldn’t get free throws to fall tonight. You have to take advantage of the charity stripe, and Coach Autry was HEATED about it postgame. Texas did it, and they won because of it. If you want any chance of competing in the ACC this year, it’s time to clean up the act.
Defense – C
This one is tough to grade, especially when you play two different types of defense in one game. To the pleasure of some of my colleagues, Coach Autry decided to switch between man-to-man defense and the 2-3 zone against the Longhorns. Early in the contest, Syracuse’s defense was getting picked apart once again. Texas is one of the best shooting teams in the nation, and we saw why immediately, sitting at over 60% from the field at halftime. In the second half, SU really tightened up and it allowed them to stay in the contest. For the sake of fairness, we’ll put the grade right in the middle, but I would love to see Syracuse play a complete game of zone on defense tomorrow night against a lower-level opponent.
Adrian Autry – C-
A LOT of questions for you after a game like this, Mr. Autry. Syracuse started its first five possessions of the game by shooting nothing but three-pointers and to no shock, they missed all five. With the strong performance from Eddie Lampkin in the second half, it was clear the key to SU’s success was driving to the paint. But then, with five or so minutes to play, the Orange went back to shooting jump shots? Not sure what Autry said to the team at halftime, but it was like night and day between the two halves. But this has been the issue all season, Red needs to get his guys playing 40 minutes. If this trend continues, it’s going to be a LONGGGG season down the stretch of conference play.
So is this game frustrating? Yes. Are there positives to take away from it? Also yes. Syracuse has the opportunity to leave Brooklyn even with the consolation game of the Legends Classic tomorrow night against Texas Tech. Also, a major shoutout to the fans for packing out the Barclays Center. Making the place feel like JMA Wireless Dome South can only help the boys, and it seems like they need it as of late, despite the 3-1 record.
