96 - 57 The Orange defeated the Seminoles 96-57 in the second round of the ACC Tournament
Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
The Syracuse Orange live to play another day after a dominant performance against the lengthy and scrappy Florida State Seminoles.
Both teams were off to a slow start but at about the halfway point of the first half the Orange saw a few shots fall for them, they never looked back. They went on an 11-0 run, which turned out to be their largest of the entire game
In just the first half alone, the Orange shot 53 percent from the field while the Seminoles only shot 32 percent. It seemed as if the Seminoles couldn’t buy a basket, while the Orange seemed to make everything they looked at.
Overall, the Orange ended the game shooting 51 percent while the Seminoles stayed at 32 percent.
The key component behind the Orange’s performance was their ability to make threes. As a team, the Orange shot 39 percent from three while the Seminoles shot just 8 percent. Although they don’t have many knockdown shooters, the Seminoles are capable of a much more respectable performance than they showed. To say they had a rough day is an understatement.
Cole Swider played a huge part in the Orange’s early first half run and ultimately, their victory. The streaky forward scored 22 points in the first half and ended with 28. Along with Swider, Buddy Boeheim, Jimmy Boeheim, and Joe Girard all scored in double figures. For the Seminoles, their only double figure scorer was their highly-touted freshman and ACC Sixth Man of the Year Matthew Cleveland who scored 13 points.
Another key contributor to the Orange’s success was their traditional point guard Symir Torrence. His stat line (9 points and 9 assists) may not look pretty on paper his contributions are more than what meets the eye. “I can’t tell you how important Sy (Symir Torrence) is,” Jim Boeheim said. “ We didn’t have him in North Carolina and Miami, the pressure hurt us in both games and he relieves that pressure, gives us another ball handler.”
As great as the Orange were offensively, the same can be said about their defense. Their ability to score seemed to give the Orange energy on defense in this game. They were able to force eight turnovers and score 12 points off of them.
The Orange also managed to outrebound the Seminoles 52-35 despite the Seminoles having the height and length advantage.
On Thursday Orange will face the Duke Blue Devils in the Quarterfinals at 12 PM. The Orange lost both regular season meetings in convincing fashion to the Blue Devils and hope the third time’s the charm.
“It’s do or die for us at this point,” Girard said.
