Woof. I mean, that was almost catastrophic for Syracuse basketball in last night’s 86-82 win over Le Moyne. This was a Dolphins team that just went D1 last year and had nothing to play for, (not allowed to play in NCAA Tournament) yet they gave it their everything. SU was TRAILING Le Moyne at halftime and was on the verge of a major upset, but found a way. Let’s dive into what ‘Cuse fans should be excited about, and what they should be worried about.
The Bad
Okay, let’s talk Donnie Freeman. There was so much buzz heading into his debut. He was labeled a top-20 pick according to mock drafts and was dubbed as the highest-touted recruit for SU since Carmelo Anthony. His debut was… not great. 10 points and 11 rebounds aren’t terrible, but 3-for-12 from the field isn’t ideal. If Syracuse wants to break their tournament drought, Freeman NEEDS to be a superstar this season, and hopefully, this is not a sign of things to come.
Speaking of players who needed to step up, where was Eddie Lampkin? Only 19 minutes in a tight game, I thought this was supposed to be a key add? The Colorado transfer had just 10 points and three rebounds, he definitely has to be better down the stretch.
Finally, the number of cold runs this team went on throughout the contest. Syracuse is LUCKY that Le Moyne didn’t pull away from this one with how poorly SU shot the basketball. Multiple stretches of more than three minutes without a basket for the ‘Cuse. The only reason Syracuse won this game is because Le Moyne turned the ball over 15 times, including a game-winning steal from Chris Bell as time winded down. A scary sight against Le Moyne, that’s for sure.
The Good
There wasn’t a whole lot of good, but we got to talk about it because there’s no way Red left still employed if they lost. One of the biggest positives for Syracuse in this one was Delaware transfer Jyáre Davis. The senior brings a 6-foot-7, 220-pound frame to the program and he looked dominant last night. 22 points, 12 boards, and an efficient 7-for-9 from the field is a major win in my book. SU desperately needed someone to step up last night, which we’ll get into, and Davis started backing people down and dominating physically. If this continues, SU could be a force to be reckoned with with a variety of scoring options.
The biggest good to come from this: THEY WON. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter how it gets done sometimes as long as it happens. Yes, SU may have moved down nearly 30 spots in the KenPom ratings, but a win is a win. You get one or two of these a season, Coach Autry can’t let this happen again, end of story.
