3 takeaways from Syracuse 85-76 loss to Miami

Syracuse’s back was to the wall before it hosted Miami Saturday, needing a win after two straight losses including one Wednesday, and it couldn’t deliver yet again.

The Orange’s rough afternoon started in the opening minutes as the Hurricanes jumped out to a 9-0 lead. SU climbed back into the game, propelled by a 17-7 first half run, but its momentum drifted away in the second half.

There were chances to pull within two points, but Syracuse committed costly mistakes. Donnie Freeman quietly led the Orange with 14 points on a bounce-back shooting performance, but it wasn’t enough to be a difference on the court.

The Hurricanes slowed down others on the Orange too. SU’s top 3-point shooters, Tyler Betsey and Nate Kingz, were held to the tune of just two combined 3s.

Here are three takeaways from Syracuse’s third straight loss.

Paint scoring shows up big early, rebounding doesn’t

With Syracuse trailing 20-10 in the middle of the first half, it showed some signs of a turnaround.

This momentum swing came via prioritizing paint scoring, which helped SU cut into Miami’s lead. Prior to this point in the game, the Orange faced a 12-2 paint deficit early on.

Kiyan Anthony contributed to SU’s 17-7 first half fun with a layup and soon after, William Kyle III was in the right place for a follow-up basket. Anthony added a fastbreak dunk with about four minutes left in the half to tie the game at 27-27.

However, the Orange had a hard time with rebounding in the paint all game. SU was outrebounded 20-12 in the first half and then 17-9 in the second half. Kyle said Syracuse’s rebounding has been a problem during conference play and Kingz added that Miami capitalized on the offensive boards.

“The whole game we struggled with rebounding and [Miami] had a lot of second chance opportunities,” Kingz said.

Despite chances, SU lets game slip in second half

The Orange were in position to keep the game close several times in the second half but failed to step up. These moments let Miami maintain a lead to keep SU out of reach.

With 13 minutes left, Kyle had just pulled the Orange within five, and Syracuse needed to force a stop to keep its momentum. Instead, Kyle got caught losing his footing beneath the basket which led to an easy Miami deuce.

Still, Anthony pulled the Orange within four points by nailing a 3. The momentum was back with Syracuse and Starling snatched a steal which led to a fast break. No defender was between Starling and the basket, and he cocked the ball back for a slam but missed off the iron.

Miami’s head coach Jai Lucas said “that moment is big” in what comes down to a game of runs.

The Hurricanes responded with a 3-pointer on the other end, swinging what could’ve been a two-point deficit to a seven-point gap. Miami then went on a 7-1 run to open up a 69-56 lead.

SU head coach Adrian Autry noticed that the Orange were consistently letting momentum slip.

“Every time where we had a chance to catch some momentum, we came up short offensively and they came up and made us pay on the other end,” Autry said.

Orange lack 3s from top shooters

Entering the game, 66 of Syracuse’s 134 made 3s on the season belonged to Kingz and Betsey. However, the duo was held to just two total triples in the loss.

Each of them hit a 3 with under seven minutes left and the Hurricanes had already built a lead that hovered around 10 points.

Autry said its very important to SU’s success that Kingz and Betsey get going, but they couldn’t for much of the game. The Miami coaching staff told their players to switch when SU tried to screen its shooters open.

“Miami's defenders did a really good job of getting through those screens, blowing them up, making those guys on a catch put the ball on the floor,” Autry said. “They didn't give our guys much room.”

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