Syracuse Basketball: Abundance of careless mistakes simply inexcusable

Syracuse basketball blew an 18-point, first-half lead and lost by one point to red-hot Miami on the road Wednesday night, and the Orange missed out on a golden opportunity to pick up a strong success away from the Hill.

Sure, the ‘Cuse defense, which has struggled throughout the 2021-22 campaign, allowed 58 points in the second half to the Hurricanes, which is a big number.

After this outcome, a contingent of Orange fans took to social media to blast the team’s zone defense, which I acknowledge is not good. However, the Syracuse basketball defense didn’t lose this game.

The squad’s ridiculous number of turnovers did, and that was something that head coach Jim Boeheim reiterated on several occasions in his post-game press conference.

Syracuse basketball should have defeated Miami in the Sunshine State.

Basketball, at the collegiate level and elsewhere, is a game of runs. In the first half, the Orange (7-7, 1-2) was tremendous on defense, and junior center Jesse Edwards was simply fabulous on both ends of the floor. The Hurricanes (12-3, 4-0), a group that has now won eight in a row, didn’t have an answer for Edwards.

But shortly before halftime, the ‘Cuse committed a few turnovers, and Miami whittled an 18-point deficit down to 14 at the break, 44-30.

Still, for the Syracuse basketball defense to only give up 30 points in one half of play to a really good offensive team encouraged me, and Boeheim was pleased with that performance.

Yet immediately out of the gates in the second half, the Hurricanes upped the ante with their defensive intensity and defensive pressure. Syracuse basketball, meanwhile, began its collapse.

Per ESPN statistics, Miami finished this Atlantic Coast Conference encounter with 14 steals. The Orange committed a whopping 19 turnovers, and everyone on the roster who played was a part of this.

Boeheim said that the Hurricanes collected 25 points off of the Syracuse basketball miscues. So while the Orange defense did allow a massive amount of points in the second half, it was the live-ball turnovers resulting in easy transition buckets for Miami that ultimately crushed the ‘Cuse.

After the Hurricanes took the lead in the second half, I credit Syracuse basketball players for not withering away. They fought tough, and a couple of 3-pointers near the end by senior forward Cole Swider almost enabled the Orange to squeak out a triumph. The ‘Cuse fell, though, by a final count of 88-87 from the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla.

Syracuse basketball, in this setback, did some nice things on both ends of the court. The ‘Cuse had more rebounds, assists and blocks than Miami. But allowing 25 points off of turnovers, on the road, is hard to overcome, Boeheim said.

I love my boys in Orange. Always have, always will. However, coughing up close to 20 turnovers in a tight game versus a good foe is unacceptable, in my humble opinion.