Clemson completed the sweep as SU falls to 1-7 all-time at Littlejohn Coliseum.
Photo by Eakin Howard/Getty Images
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team scratched, clawed and fought as hard as it could fight. But ultimately Clemson proved too tough on its senior night as a veteran Tiger squad tamed the sophmore-led Orange by a final score of 90-75 from Littejohn Coliseum.
Clemson was led by PJ Hall’s 25 points and 7 rebounds. Ian Schiefflin finished with 16 points and 16 rebounds and Joe Girard scored 21 points on 4-7 outside shooting.
Judah Mintz did all he could to pace the Orange (20-11, 11-9) with 20 points. Quadir Copeland scored 17 and Maliq Brown finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds, but Syracuse couldn’t get the defensive stops or enough production from its supporting cast to compete down the stretch.
Clemson came out firing early behind a pair of threes from Hall and one from Girard. The Tigers went up 16-5 early, forcing Adrian Autry to call timeout before the first media timeout. Brown picked up a foul 90 feet from the basket after a missed layup and Syracuse immediately went 2-3 zone on the next possession. From there, Copeland hit a three followed by Mintz and JJ Starling scores, which kept Clemson’s lead to single-digits. Kyle Cuffe checked in at the 9:51 mark.
The Orange found a bit of rhythm from there as Copeland was able to get to the rim and score — including a nifty spin through traffic and finish — along with Mintz, who was able to bring Syracuse to within two after a baseline rip and three point play.
Two would be the closest the margin would get for Syracuse in either half. After Cuffe’s three with 6:48 to play which cut the margin to two Clemson regained control of the game. The Tigers worked its advantage in the paint and Syracuse struggled to find the resistance necessary down low to get defensive stops. Hall and Schiefflin were problematic, combining for 28 points and 14 rebounds in the first half.
Syracuse trailed by a dozen at the intermission. Clemson held a 24-12 points in the paint edge and a 20-14 rebounding advantage. The Tigers had eight second chance points to Syracuse’s zero.
Mintz scored on back-to-back mid-range jumpshots and a crafty layup along the baseline out of the break, but the Syracuse defense struggled to get stops to string together a run. Girard and Schiefflin hit back-to-back threes and lifted the lead back to a dozen. Clemson went zone and Syracuse elected to have Mintz as the high-post man, but he turned it over on his first possession in there and Brown replaced him. Syracuse mostly struggled against Clemson’s zone.
The Orange would get the game back to within two possessions, however. Chris Bell connected on first three of the game from the top of the key. Then, with Clemson sagging off Copeland, the sophomore guard from Philadelphia hit his second three and trotted back down the court. Then a Brown putback cut the Clemson lead to five. But Girard ripped the chords on his third three of the game to bring the Clemson lead back to eight. The momentum of the game shifted from there.
Down the stretch Clemson was able to execute against the Orange defense and get the looks it needed on offense. Girard and Chase Hunter were able to punish the Orange defense with outside shots when it collapsed. Syracuse never got back to within striking distance in crunch time as Clemson maintained a multiple possession lead the rest of the way. The Tigers led the game for over 37 minutes.
Ultimately the Syracuse defense couldn’t stop Hall or Schiefflin down low and Clemson made its outside shots in the second half when Syracuse tried to emphasize paint defense. The Orange will head to the ACC Tournament in need of multiple wins to avoid missing the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive year.
Next up
Syracuse sets its sights for the ACC Tournament in Washington, D.C. The Orange have secured a single-bye — but can not get a double-bye — with seeding still to be determined. Syracuse is the only ACC team to not play on the Saturday prior to the ACC Tournament.
