Syracuse Basketball: Top takeaways as 'Cuse loses at Clemson, ends regular season on sour note

Syracuse basketball finished its 2023-24 regular season on a bummer note, but this was still a tremendous run for the Orange under first-year head coach Adrian Autry.

On Tuesday night, as Clemson celebrated its seniors, including former SU guard Joe Girard III, the Tigers shot well from deep in the second half and out-muscled the 'Cuse in the paint, as the Tigers defeated Syracuse basketball, 90-75.

Despite this outcome, the Orange (20-11, 11-9 in the ACC) exceeded expectations in the 2023-24 regular season, going 9-2 in non-conference competition and finishing above .500 in league affairs despite having a young roster and facing some tough injuries as well as a key player being dismissed from the program.

The ACC Tournament awaits Syracuse basketball next week in Washington, D.C. Other conference foes still have regular-season games left throughout this week and into the weekend, so we'll have to see what seed the Orange ends up getting in the ACC Tournament.

In losing to Clemson, the 'Cuse missed out on an opportunity to pick up a third quadrant-one victory for its post-season resume. The Orange must go on a deep run in the ACC Tournament - and perhaps win the whole thing - to hear its name called on Selection Sunday for the 2024 Big Dance.

However, Syracuse basketball coaches and players should hold their heads high. The 'Cuse has been playing well of late. Entering Tuesday evening's meeting, Syracuse basketball had won four straight and six of eight. Clemson (21-9, 11-8 in the ACC) was, quite simply, too much for the Orange at Littlejohn Coliseum.

My top observations as Syracuse basketball suffers a road setback to Clemson.

•Sophomore point guard Judah Mintz led the way with 20 points. Sophomore wing Quadir Copeland tallied 17 points. Sophomore big man Maliq Brown added 12 points and 11 rebounds, sophomore guard J.J. Starling collected 10 points, and redshirt sophomore guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. made three shots from 3-point land to finish with nine points.

•The Orange defense didn't have any answers to senior center PJ Hall, who was a beast, producing 25 points. Girard knocked down four shots from beyond the arc and had 21 points. Congrats to Joe!

•As a unit, the 'Cuse connected on 47 percent from the field, 36 percent from 3-point range and 69 percent from the free-throw line. Clemson hit on 56 percent from the field, 42 percent from beyond the arc and 94 percent from the charity stripe.

•In other statistical categories, the Tigers led 33-26 in rebounds, 12-10 in second-chance points, 38-26 in paint points, 4-1 in fast-break points, 3-0 in blocks, 5-4 in steals and 17-9 in assists.

•On the flip side, Syracuse basketball led 10-7 in turnovers forced, 11-6 in points off turnovers and 26-4 in bench points.

•All in all, the 'Cuse was pretty good on offense versus the Clemson, although the Orange's free-throw shooting wasn't great. In recent games, Syracuse basketball has scored at a solid clip. On Tuesday night, the 'Cuse defense just couldn't stop the Tigers. Every time that Syracuse basketball would cut into its deficit, Clemson would respond, whether it was scoring in the paint or from deep.

•In 2023-24, the Tigers prevailed in both of their regular-season encounters with the Orange, and Clemson now holds a 10-6 edge in its all-time series with Syracuse basketball.

•To reiterate, though, the Orange, under Autry's guidance, put forth a nice regular season. The 'Cuse can finish no worse than No. 7 in the ACC's regular-season standings. Let's regroup and grab some wins next week in our nation's capital.