Syracuse Basketball: Stagnant offense silences Orange in opener vs Virginia

Syracuse basketball just couldn’t get its offense going in the opener vs Virginia. Here are all the details and the top nuggets from the debacle.

Syracuse basketball didn’t start the 2019-20 season the way they wanted to by losing to the Virginia Cavaliers. Here’s how it all went down and the top takeaways from this one.

First half

To absolutely no one’s surprise, five NBA teams were represented at Wednesday night’s season opener between the Orange and the Cavaliers.

Although how’s this for a surprise Hall of Fame coach Jim Boeheim mixed up the starting lineup that he had used all offseason long:

• Jalen Carey
• Buddy Boeheim
• Elijah Hughes
• Marek Dolezaj
• Bourama Sidibe

The new wrinkle was freshman sensation Quincy Guerrier to the bench, Dolezaj to the starting lineup.

Before we even get to the game, let’s get to the attendance. Some of the biggest names in Syracuse history graced the dome with their presence from Carmelo Anthony to Dave Bing. Also, a slew of celebrities also drove up to Central New York to get in on the action. Ah, it’s finally Syracuse basketball season.

Despite Syracuse having an explosive offense with a bunch of capable shooters, it was very slow out of the gate. In the first four and a half minutes, only four points total was scored between the two teams.

That would continue for both teams, Syracuse didn’t score the second basket of the game for the Orange until there was 9:04 on the clock, Elijah Hughes hit a three-pointer from no man’s land.

Then suddenly Virginia got a little cold and the Orange started heating up with three-pointers from Buddy Boeheim, some mid-range action from Marek Dolezaj, and the crowd got back into the game.

Fortunately for Syracuse Virginia didn’t shoot over 70 percent from deep like they did the last time Virginia was in the dome. If they did perhaps the door wouldn’t have been open for Syracuse to get back into the game.

First half takeaways:

• Despite shooting poorly (26 percent, 7-for-27), Syracuse is still very much in this game only down six.
• Joe Girard III is a spark plug for the Orange. When he enters the game, the crowd goes crazy and that energy is infectious to the rest of his teammates.
• Virginia dominated in the paint and on the boards. Cavaliers 16:8 and they’ve grabbed 19 of SU’s 22 misses.

Second half

Jalen Carey was pulled very early in the second half. He’s a player that continues to struggle with turnovers and poor shot selection. Uber talented, but struggles, the good news vs bad news of that is Syracuse has options at the point and that means Carey can get yanked quickly if he struggles.

JG3 was the guy Jim Boeheim continued to lean on in times of need.

Two things were very clear 25 minutes into this game, Virginia didn’t look like the No. 11 team in the country and Syracuse was right in the thick of this game all they needed was a spark.

8-of-35 shooting with 15:19 to go will often hurt you and that’s what it was doing for the Orange.

Another thing that hasn’t helped is Marek Dolezaj who arguably played the worst game of his career. Which is interesting considering Boeheim surprised everyone by shaking up the starting lineup by placing him in there.

The offensive woes would continue for the Orange and ultimately they would fall to Virginia in the season opener. This was a historically horrible performance by the offense and you start to wonder was the Virginia defense that good? Or were the Orange that inept?

A final look at the numbers:

• Syracuse shoots an atrocious 13-of-55 from the field (23.6 percent).
• Orange was outrebounded 47-28.
• Let this one simmer, Syracuse and Cole Anthony of North Carolina scored the same amount of points (34), yikes.

Up next for the Orange they’ll stay in the lovely confines of the dome to face off against Colgate. That game will tip-off around 7:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 13.