Syracuse basketball collapses under Oklahoma State pressure at Barclays

Syracuse basketball had its moments but ultimately collapsed under the Oklahoma State pressure. Here are all the details and how it played out.

Syracuse basketball made a few runs, but it wasn’t enough vs the Oklahoma State Cowboys at the Barclays Center. Here’s how the game played out.

First half

Syracuse basketball had done a really nice job of getting off to quick offensive starts, but that wasn’t the case in the Barclays Center.

Oklahoma State quickly got up 11-0 in the first two and a half minutes of the game. The Cowboys pressure man-on-man defense frustrated freshman guard Joe Girard and the rest of this Syracuse team forcing them into silly turnovers.

Syracuse finally got on the board with a Marek Dolezaj free throw with 16:57 on the clock.

With the game possibly getting away from the Orange, Jim Boeheim called a timeout and Syracuse found a way to deal with the pressure and make a rally.

Buddy Boeheim hit a triple in transition and the Orange scored 10 straight to get right back in the thick of the game.

Joe Girard was a little befuddled early by the pressure defense, but he quickly adjusted and got comfortable. JG3 is a unique freshman who doesn’t seem to get rattled by the moment.

One of the big straws that stir the drink for the Orange is Elijah Hughes, but sadly he got in foul trouble picking up his third with just under five minutes to play in the first half on some pretty questionable calls.

Same thing with Bourama Sidibe who collected three fouls himself on some more puzzling officiating putting the Orange in an awkward position at the end of the first half.

Although the Orange offense ran out of steam without Hughes in the game. In fact, they missed nine straight buckets which tipped the scale back over to the Cowboys during a six-plus minute offensive lull.

Who was the hero who finally snapped the offensive drought? Robert Braswell scored his first points of the season on a long-distance connection.

Although that wasn’t enough as the Cowboys got the last laugh in the first half.

First half takeaways:

• Overall Syracuse transition defense was straight trash.
• Although speaking of defense, the Orange held Oklahoma State’s leading scorer Lindy Waters to a fat donut in the first half: 0-for-3 from the field and coughed up four turnovers.
  • When one player struggles another steps up. Oklahoma State’s Chris Harris hit three triple tries in the last 2:27 of the half, he entered this game 1-of-8 on the year. That’s basketball folks.
• Although the turning point in the first half is when Elijah Hughes was forced to the bench. OSU outscored Syracuse 17-to-5 after he went to the bench.
• Oklahoma State dominated Syracuse inside: 20-to-4 in the paint.

Second half

The foul trouble persisted for the Orange with Sidibe, Dolezaj, and Hughes all collecting their fourth fouls early in the second half.

With that Syracuse had to play a bit timider and on top of the aggressive Oklahoma State team, it opened up a 17 point lead, 58-41 with under 13 minutes remaining in the game.

Suddenly though Syracuse got a spark that came from trapping out of the zone which led to turnovers that sped up the game for the Orange. A quick nine-point burst made it a 10 point game, 58-48.

Unfortunately, that was the last gasp effort of energy the Orange had left. Oklahoma State delivered a gut punch run that the Orange couldn’t bounce back from.

The Cowboys ended up winning this one 86 to 72 over the Orange in the NIT Season Tipoff opening round.

With the loss, Syracuse will play in the consolation bracket vs Penn State on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at the Barclays Center.