Syracuse Basketball: Defense improves, rotation shortens in Carleton win

The Syracuse basketball squad possessed some positive attributes in its final exhibition tune-up against Carleton University.

The Syracuse basketball team wrapped up its exhibition schedule at 2-0 after cruising past Canadian powerhouse Carleton University, 77-58, on Tuesday evening inside the Carrier Dome.

This proved a fairly solid performance for the Orange, as the Ravens are an extremely talented crew, having claimed 14 national titles, including one in 2019.

The defending NCAA champions, Virginia, are up next for the ‘Cuse, a daunting task to commence the 2019-20 regular term. The Cavaliers ranked No. 11 in the preseason Associated Press top-25 poll, lost multiple guys to the NBA after the last campaign, but Virginia always puts forth a stingy defense.

It’s encouraging that Syracuse, in its battle versus Carleton, fared a bit fitter on defense – at least after intermission – and in the turnover department, since the Orange didn’t look stellar in either category when it defeated Daemen College this past Saturday night in the inaugural exhibition match-up for the ‘Cuse.

The Ravens, for example, connected on just 9-of-27 from the field and 0-of-8 from beyond the arc in the second half, according to a box score of this affair provided by Syracuse.com. The Orange also significantly slashed its number of turnovers, and that’s imperative because the Cavaliers will make the ‘Cuse pay dearly for these kinds of miscues in their encounter on Nov. 6 in Central New York.

Head coach Jim Boeheim had this to say following Syracuse’s conquest of Carleton:

"“I think the advantage of this game is that you’re playing a really smart, physical, tough team that knows how to win and, in the beginning, we weren’t active and they got some easy shots and easy baskets. And that’s what happens when your defense isn’t active. Then, you get it active and the rest of the game was a different story from that point on from the defensive end. Our turnovers were better. We made some shots early when we had to, but we didn’t rebound in the first half. In the second half, we got on the boards a little bit better and got some second chances. But, they’re a very good team and this was a really good game for us.”"

Whereas the Orange continues to light it up from downtown, hitting on nearly 44 percent against the Ravens, the ‘Cuse absolutely must get to work on its free-throw shooting, which stood at a paltry 58 percent. That won’t get it done once the regular stanza kicks off.

Finally, despite Boeheim having at his disposal a deep bench, we should all anticipate that his rotation will shrink, as it did versus Carleton.

"“We’re going to play the guys I think it’ll take (to win),” Boeheim told Syracuse.com. “I think it’s going to [be] 8 or 9. It possibly could get to 10. We played nine guys tonight and Robert Braswell played (10) minutes.”"

College basketball is here, folks!