3 takeaways from Syracuse's 76-74 loss to Virginia Tech

After a strong first half, Syracuse got outscored 46-37 in the second half losing to Virginia Tech (15-5, 4-3). The Orange (12-7, 3-3) led by seven at halftime but were cold in the second half offensively.

SU nearly came back in the final moments but an offensive rebound on a free throw by Tobi Lawal of the Hokies clinched the win for Virginia Tech 76-74.

Here are my takeaways from the latest disappointing loss for the Orange.

Turnovers tell the story

Heading into Wednesday evening, Virginia Tech ranked third in the ACC for turnover margin in conference play. The Hokies only had 10 while Syracuse had 14. In the second half Syracuse, had nine turnovers and weren’t able to find rhythm offensively until it was too late.

“The story of the game was the second half, nine turnovers,” head coach Adrian Autry said. “I just thought they were careless turnovers… Had nothing to do with a difficult set or anything. We just didn't take care of the ball.”

Virginia Tech was especially good at disrupting the big men.

Donnie Freeman, William Kyle III and Sadiq White Jr combined for 10 turnovers. The Hokies made Syracuse’s forwards uncomfortable poking away at the ball and blocking passes, which allowed them to overcome a deficit and ultimately win on the road.

Zephir with strong minutes

Bryce Zephir had only played in one ACC game before Wednesday's contest. After Nait George picked up his second foul with 11:15 left in the first half, Autry had to rely on Zephir for the rest of the half.

Zephir made the most of the 11 minutes he saw. His only counted stat was one defensive rebounds, and his plus/minus was -3. That said, he kept Virginia Tech’s Ben Hammond quiet and most importantly did not turn the ball over.

“I thought Bryce Zephir, Kiyan [Anthony] really came in and gave us a boost,” Autry said. “I thought they held up, first half all the way down.”

Crickets from the big names

Freeman struggled through his most disappointing outing of the season. The sophomore went 3 of 14 from the field for only 10 points and went 1-8 in the second half. It was a tough night for the ACC’s second leading scorer.

“I missed a lot of bunnies,” Freeman said. “It wasn’t my night…it can’t happen again, I just got to do better.”

JJ Starling was also quiet for most of the game scoring most of his 12 points late. He ended the game as Syracuse’s leading scorer but scored half of his points in the final two minutes when the game had gotten away from the Orange.

Starling only played about six minutes in the first half but quickly picked up two fouls as he had trouble guarding Neoklis Avdalas who is listed at 6-foot-9.

On the other hand, Kyle didn’t take a shot in the second half after a strong first half where he had 10 points on six shots. He was aggressive attacking the rim in the post up situations early on but none of it translated to the second half. With the bench putting up less points than their ACC-average, it was a tough day to have cold starters.

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