Syracuse basketball raced out to a 15-point lead over New York state neighbor Colgate in their non-conference clash on Saturday evening from the Carrier Dome.
The Raiders couldn’t hit a shot, and they were hoisting up hurried, contested 3-point attempts. But Colgate settled down and began to chip away at the Orange’s double-digit advantage.
Ultimately, this Patriot League squad (3-2), which hadn’t beaten the ‘Cuse in many, many years, proved the far superior team in dispatching of Syracuse basketball (2-1), 100-85, on the Hill.
For the Orange to hold a 17-2 edge in the early part of the first half and then fall by 15 points, a 30-point swing, is pretty remarkable – and surprising – to me.
Syracuse basketball was simply outplayed by Colgate.
First and foremost, I want to give all the credit in the world to Colgate. The Raiders had, prior to Saturday night, lost 54 in a row to the Orange, with the ‘Cuse holding an overall series lead of 127-45 entering this most recent battle.
But the Colgate players, even after falling behind by a bunch in the first half, didn’t get rattled. They weren’t fazed by the Dome, the crowd, Syracuse basketball’s legendary head coach Jim Boeheim, their underdog status from odds-makers, or the long-time success streak that the Orange owned.
After not being able to buy a bucket from the perimeter in the early goings, Colgate displayed excellence in a lot of key areas for the majority of this Empire State collision.
The Raiders shot well from the field, and they hit 18 3-pointers, according to a box score from Syracuse.com, which is a critical recipe to deflate the ‘Cuse 2-3 zone and knock off Syracuse basketball.
What’s more, Colgate outmuscled the Orange on the boards, with the Raiders notching a ton of offensive rebounds. And Raiders players shared the ball with precision, their clean and crisp passes shredding the zone and accounting for a high percentage of assists on the team’s made baskets.
All in all, if I can be frank, Colgate put a huge beat-down on Syracuse basketball. I said all along not to sleep on the Raiders. They were in the NCAA Tournament this past spring, their head coach Matt Langel is excellent, and they recently took N.C. State down to the wire on the road.
Look, I know that Facebook and Twitter are blowing up right now, as legions of Orange fans trash Boeheim and the ‘Cuse players for losing to Colgate in this manner. I get it.
But the 2021-22 campaign is only three games deep for the Orange. The Raiders are a terrific team. Clearly, Syracuse basketball needs to shore up its defense, but the season isn’t already over.
Now, the ‘Cuse players and coaches need to get back to work, as they’ve got a tough slate ahead this week in the 2021 Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis.