Five Takeaways: Virginia 73 Syracuse 66
Syracuse basketball fell behind by 23, rallied to trim the lead to seven but ultimately lost at #11 Virginia on Saturday. Here are five takeaways from the loss.
1. Nice Rally, But Needed More Early
Syracuse did a nice job rallying and making it a game late. The Orange was tremendous on both ends during that stretch. Ball movement was superb on offense, players were moving without the ball and Syracuse was finding open shots. Defensively, the full court press got Virginia out of rhythm, Syracuse forced some turnovers and rebounded well to limit possessions to one shot. That said, it took far too long to get to that level of play. You cannot come out against a top 10-ish caliber team on the road that flat to start. Syracuse left shooters open, turned the ball over a lot and looked all out of sorts offensively. That led to the large deficit. Better play early means that late rally may have given Syracuse a victory instead of just making it close.
2. Maliq Brown
Without Benny Williams, John Bol Ajak got the start. However, he played only four minutes and Brown took the other 36 at forward. Brown was very good, scoring 10 points, grabbing eight rebounds, blocking one shot and getting two steals. It was easily his best overall performance of his very young career. Very encouraging from him and I think he has earned more minutes moving forward. Especially in games where Benny struggles.
3. Jesse/Mounir
I'm not sure what is going on with Jesse Edwards, but he has struggled the last few games. Has not looked like himself. In the last three games, Edwards is shooting just 39% from the floor and averaging just 8.5 points per game. Both far below his season averages. It will be very tough for Syracuse to win games with him playing at that level. The Orange needs early season Edwards to come back. That said, Mounir Hima made a real difference in this game. He was part of the run at the end of the first half and the portion that got Syracuse back into it in the second. In 14 minutes, Hima had six rebounds and blocked four shots. He was a real difference maker on the defensive end. A strong performance from him.
4. Turnovers
Once again, turnovers were very costly for Syracuse. It is strange because Syracuse had been pretty good at taking care of the basketball for most of the season. The last four games, however, the Orange has turned it over 16 times per game. The previous 12 games Syracuse averaged just 10.5. Turnovers against Virginia led to 23 Cavs points and were a reason why they built such a big lead. Syracuse actually out-rebounded Virginia, shot a higher percentage from the field and from three point range. Turnovers were the major issue. Syracuse has to take better care of the basketball moving forward.
5. Critical Stretch Coming Up
The Virginia game behind Syracuse, there is a very important stretch of games coming up. Syracuse faces Virginia Tech and Notre Dame in the Dome in the next two. I think the Orange must win those games to keep the season heading in the right direction. An opportunity for a huge win then comes at Miami, followed by a road contest at Georgia Tech. While Syracuse has been better than the Yellow Jackets this season, you never know with road games. That sets up a show down with North Carolina in the Dome before rematches with Virginia Tech and Virginia. These next five to seven games will tell the tale of Syracuse's season.
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