The last time Syracuse basketball was on pace for a season this bad was during the 1969-70 campaign when the Orange won only 12 games.
After Syracuse’s 82-88 loss to the North Carolina Tar Heels on Saturday, its second straight loss following a head-scratching 84-91 defeat at the hands of the Miami Hurricanes. The loss drops the Orange to 11-15, and the pressure on head coach Adrian Autry will continue to grow with Syracuse likely to end up as the last seed in the ACC tournament this year.
Lucas Taylor, Lampkin and Starling: A
The Orange shot just under 44% from the field as a team in this one, and it was another game where the offense didn’t show up for Syracuse. Against Miami, the Orange only had three players score in double figures, and it was more of the same against North Carolina. Aside from JJ Starling’s 22 points and Eddie Lampkin’s 26 points, Lucas Taylor was the only Syracuse player in double figures.
Taylor finished with 10 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the field, and his two three-pointers represented half of the team’s four total made three-pointers. He was easily the third-best player for the Orange outside of Starling and Lampkin, who also had 11 rebounds for his second straight game with 20+ points and 10+ boards.
Adrian Autry’s Rotations: D+
Autry will naturally get more blame than he deserves for Syracuse’s disappointing season as the team’s head coach, but it’s becoming harder to envision Autry as the long-term answer for the Orange. For the second straight game, his rotations actively hurt Syracuse, as he opted for his preferred lineup instead of the players who performed the best against North Carolina.
Backup center Naheem McLeod only played five minutes, during which Syracuse outscored UNC by 9 points, as the 7-footer scored 2 points and added 3 rebounds while giving the Tar Heels problems in zone defense. There’s no reason why McLeod should have played that little.
The same goes for Elijah Moore, who started the game but didn’t even see the court in the second half. Instead, Autry gave 33 minutes to Jaquon Carlos, who had 7 assists but shot 1-for-7 from the field while committing two turnovers. Those decisions highlight Autry’s unwillingness to adapt his lineups, and that stubborn approach has hurt the Orange this season more than it’s helped.
Perimeter Defense: F-
An F- doesn’t exist, but Syracuse’s inability to defend the three-point line is unacceptable, so no grade could explain how bad its perimeter defense was against UNC.
Four days ago, the Orange let Miami, a below-average team from beyond the arc, hit 10 three-pointers while shooting 50% from deep. That inability to defend the three-point line cost Syracuse the game, so it would have made sense if it focused on its perimeter defense against North Carolina.
Unfortunately, the Orange didn’t learn their lesson. The Tar Heels came into the game with only seven three-pointers made per game on 32% accuracy, but Syracuse let UNC shoot the lights out from deep. North Carolina shot 46% from deep while hitting 13 three-pointers, while the Orange made just four three-pointers at a 31% clip.
The simple explanation for why Syracuse couldn’t beat North Carolina was its inability to defend the three-point line, as the Tar Heels had a 27-point advantage from deep. This year’s team isn’t built to overcome a deficit like that, and this game was the perfect example. The Orange haven’t made the necessary adjustments to address its biggest weakness all year, and it’s hard to imagine that changing over the last five games of the season.
