Syracuse basketball again falls flat against a quality foe, Clemson wins by 14 points

Syracuse basketball, by and large, simply cannot keep up with higher-quality opponents so far in the 2024-25 season.

Playing at Clemson on Wednesday evening, the Orange shot well from the field but got crushed by the red-hot Tigers in a bevy of statistical categories, losing to Clemson inside Littlejohn Coliseum by a final count of 86-72.

The Orange (9-10, 3-5 in the ACC), which had won three of its past four games, will next face Pittsburgh at the JMA Wireless Dome this Saturday afternoon, with the tip-off scheduled for 12:30 pm and television coverage on ESPN2.

The Tigers (16-4, 8-1 in ACC) have now won four straight and seven of their last eight encounters. What's more, Clemson moves to 10-6 in its all-time series with Syracuse basketball, and the Tigers have prevailed in four consecutive contests against the 'Cuse, which on Wednesday night had an opportunity to notch its first quadrant-one success in 2024-25.

My key takeaways as Syracuse basketball loses big at Clemson.

The Orange's defense continues to struggle this term. The 'Cuse allowed 48 points to the Tigers in the first half and trailed by 19 points heading into the locker room.

With just under nine minutes to go in this Atlantic Coast Conference clash, Clemson took its largest lead at 74-50. Syracuse basketball would end up outscoring the Tigers in the second half, 43-38, to make the Orange's final deficit 14 points.

Granted, Clemson is arguably the second or third-best squad in the ACC these days, so it would always prove a tall task for the 'Cuse to knock off the Tigers on the road. And freshman power forward Donnie Freeman, who is dealing with a lower right leg injury, was unavailable for the fifth game in a row.

However, let's get real. Even if Freeman played, Syracuse basketball wasn't going to beat Clemson. Entering this conference collision, the Tigers had one of the ACC's top turnover margins, with the Orange near the bottom of the league in this category.

That theme continued on Wednesday. Syracuse basketball committed 14 turnovers, as compared to seven miscues for Clemson. By extension, the Tigers held a huge 19-4 edge in points off turnovers.

The Orange made 54 percent from the field, 52 percent from 3-point land and 83 percent from the free-throw line. Clemson, on the other hand, hit 56 percent from the field, 45 percent from beyond the arc and 71 percent from the charity stripe. The Tigers scored 10 more points from the free-throw line.

In other statistical categories, Clemson led 28-24 in rebounds, 13-6 in second-chance points, 40-20 in paint points, 11-0 in fast-break points, 10-4 in steals and 17-8 in assists. Total domination by the Tigers.

At this juncture in 2024-25, it's true that the 'Cuse has lost a handful of games by single digits, and the Orange did miss leading scorer J.J. Starling for seven contests due to an injury and now Freeman for the last five affairs.

It's also true that when Syracuse basketball has played some higher-quality foes, it has gotten badly beaten - Tennessee, Maryland, Wake Forest, Florida State and Louisville, to name a few.

Starling, the junior guard, was terrific against Clemson. He scored a game-high 25 points in 32 minutes, going 10-of-16 from the field and 5-of-10 from long range. Graduate student center Eddie Lampkin Jr. just missed out on his fifth straight double-double, tallying 14 points and nine boards versus the Tigers.

No one else on the Orange roster reached double-figures in scoring. Redshirt junior guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. chipped in nine points, senior guard Jaquan Carlos produced seven points and three dimes, and senior forward Jyare Davis generated six points, five rebounds, one assist, one block and two steals.