A last ditch effort falls short.
And the losing streak continues. The Syracuse Orange couldn’t pull off the marquee win against the number three Virginia Cavaliers which would have given their resume quite the boost. Their lack of scoring, a common theme this year, hurt them when Virginia started to go on a run.
There wasn’t much scoring in this one as two defensive minded teams showcased their strengths. Despite a poor shooting night from the Cavaliers, the Orange hurt themselves with some questionable shots late in the second half. The schedule continues to pose challenges for the Orange as their lack of scoring remains their kryptonite.
The three ball hurt on both ends
The Orange’s struggles from the perimeter stretched to both sides of the floor in their loss to the Cavaliers. Frank Howard had it going from deep by hitting four of his nine threes, but the Orange as a team shot 6-of-21 from deep with Tyus Battle missing all seven of his tries.
With their lack of execution on offense from three, the Orange needed to find a way to keep the Virginia shooters under control, but Kyle Guy couldn’t be contained. Guy made five of Virginia’s nine threes on the night to help them stretch their lead throughout the game. It will be a challenge all year long for the Orange to match their opponent’s production from deep—and that doesn’t bode well for the future.
An impressive Paschal Chukwu outing
Despite the loss, the Orange got some impressive play from their center who put up nine points to go along with his 16 rebounds and two blocks. Syracuse knows they aren’t getting dominant offensive numbers from Chukwu, but rebounding nights like this one should, and need to, be a more recurring theme. At 7’2”, Syracuse needs Chukwu to play his size, and he sure did against the Cavaliers.
Maybe pressing more could help the offense
The Orange need to generate easy looks around the rim with their lack of shooting, and they were able do so by generating steals off their press in their last effort to make a comeback. Their length and size rushed Virginia into poor decisions which led to looks around the rim for the Orange. It’s about creating easy shots for the Orange as they look to find any offense in a year where they lack a lot of offensive personal.
