Syracuse Basketball: Cardiac Cuse comeback falls just short vs UNC

The Syracuse basketballs squad couldn’t come up with enough answers to stop the Tar Heels. ITLH breaks down what it all means.

Tyus Battle is god damn filthy. His handles are nasty and his ability to break ankles could help him transition into the world of mixed martial arts if he wanted.

His two threes helped the Orange start fast, which is important with a game of this magnitude. While this is a neutral court game, there is a strong contingent of Syracuse representation.

The majority of the offense in the first 10 minutes was created with savvy moves to create wide open threes and most importantly the Orange converted.

But for the Tar Heels they’re getting multiple second chances and converting which kept them in it throughout the first stanza.

The Tar Heels went to the press with just over 11 minutes to go and it resulted in two quick Orange turnovers that resulted in three quick points for UNC. UNC in the first 12 minutes got 10 points off of SU’s six turnovers, while the Cuse had a fat zero in that category.

Foul trouble for the Orange throughout the half and while they did work from beyond the arc, they struggled to pound the paint. That was the key to SU’s opening round win over the Demon Deacons.

SU also makes their bones with free throw attempts, they didn’t attempt their first one until 17 minutes and change into the first half. That’s not winning basketball. This team was hitting incredibly difficult shots. Nothing came easy and once they realized it was going to be hard, they seemingly gave up trying to attack inside.

Thanks to the Canadian Sensation (Oshae Brissett), SU was in this game at the end of the half. He canned all four of his three attempts.

Second half

SU made 10 shots in the first half, seven of those are threes. Definitely not sustainable offense, so the Cuse has to attack the paint in the second stanza.

The problem is SU has flirted with foul trouble over the last several games and finally succumbed with Paschal Chukwu fouling out with 16 plus minutes to go. Worst case scenario considering depth and Bourma Sidibe and Dolezaj having to fill the back-end of the 2-3 zone defensively.

Sadly SU continued to settle for jumpers and the lead continued to grow. With under 12 minutes to go the lead was at 18, for any team that’d be tough to bounce back from. That’s 10-fold true for a team like SU who is so offensively challenged.

After a 9-1 run the Orange pulled within 12 with under seven minutes to go. The Cuse had a real chance to cut the deficit down to single digits after a nice turnover, but Battle clanked the three point opportunity.

The good thing about Battle is he’s got a short-term memory. He came right back down with a beautiful and one shot to make it a nine point game with sub five minutes to go in the contest. SU ultimately couldn’t come up with enough answers losing 78-59.

Next: Syracuse Basketball: Top 30 Players in School History

It looks like another year where the Orange are squarely on the bubble. They’ll be sweating it out on Selection Sunday. Although with the new format, SU will learn their fate within the first 15 minutes of the show on Sunday.