Syracuse basketball just couldn’t find consistent offense and that did them in vs Iowa on Tuesday night. Here are all the details.
The Syracuse basketball team could be in store for one of its worst seasons in recent memory based on their recent play. The good news is there are plenty of chapters left for the Orange to re-write their 2019-20 story.
First half
Scouts from four NBA teams made the trek up to snowy Syracuse for the Iowa vs Orange matchup, per Mike Waters of Syracuse.com.
Also as noted prior to the game, the hottest name in the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) Jorge Masvidal attended as a special guest through local philanthropist Adam Weitsman.
The Orange got a huge break right before the game started CJ Fredrick (who shot 13-of-23 from deep this season) was ruled out for the game with a quad injury. Additionally, Cordell Pemsl was also ruled out with a back injury).
That left the Hawkeyes with eight scholarship players for the game vs Syracuse.
Immediately it seemed that the presence of one of the most dangerous fighters on the planet courtside gave Syracuse life.
The Orange started the game with a nasty block on Luke Garza, slammed a fastbreak home with Marek Dolezaj, and really showed some physicality.
That sparked a Quincy Guerrier run with intense rebounds and some good work inside. While he hasn’t been the starter that he was projected to be in the offseason, he has the ability to have a huge role on this team.
Syracuse got a lot of different contributors to keep the Iowa offense cold (they had a stretch where they missed seven straight buckets and were 4-of-14 overall from the field, 2-of-9 from deep).
Syracuse led 16-12 and had a rebounding advantage which is an area they struggled with over the last handful of games at the Barclays Center.
Although after the positive momentum, Syracuse was introduced to the turnover monster. Through the first 16 plus minutes of play, the Orange had coughed up the ball seven times which helped to stunt the offense.
1-point game at the half.#B1GACC pic.twitter.com/FdJhyEAobJ
— Syracuse Men’s Basketball (@Cuse_MBB) December 4, 2019
First-half takeaways:
- Syracuse’s backcourt isn’t getting it done offensively: Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard combined to score five points on 2-of-10 shooting from the floor and 1-for-6 from downtown.
- Marek Dolezaj foul trouble (three fouls).
- Overall the offense continues to struggle:
- 10-of-27 from the floor (37 percent).
- Although at least Syracuse held their own on the glass with a 21-to-20 rebounding different in favor of the Orange.
- The leading scorer in the first half for the Orange?
- Marek Dolezaj with 10 points.
- An efficient 3-of-4 from the field, 1-for-1 from deep, and two boards, an assist, and a steal. He also converted 75 percent of his free throw attempts.
Second half
Bourama Sidibe was a pencil pusher in the Barclays Center, but he showed a lot of toughness vs Iowa on Tuesday night. It did get him in foul trouble early in the second half with him picking up his third with just under 16 minutes remaining.
Part of that attributed in a crazy run by Iowa (16-5) eight minutes into the second half and the Hawkeyes extended their biggest lead of the game to 11 (49-38).
Syracuse was lucky to not be down by more, the only reason for that is Iowa couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat from deep. With 11:45 on the clock, the Hawkeyes were 8-of-25 from deep.
Although eventually, any team will increase their lead if you struggle to score in any metric, whether that be free throws or field goals. So with the Orange continuing their offensive ineptitude Iowa eventually capitalized and ran away with the game.
Iowa ended up winning this one 68-54 in a dominant performance in the dome on Tuesday night in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
Here’s a stat to think about, Syracuse at 4-4 is now off to its worst start EVER under head coach Jim Boeheim. He’s in the midst of his 44th year at the head of the Orange basketball program for context.
Up next for the Orange is their second conference game of the season on the road vs Georgia Tech on Saturday. The ACC expanded the conference schedule to 20 games this season, the rest of the 18 game slate will be played in earnest in January for the Orange.
- Marek Dolezaj with 10 points.