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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Syracuse suffered its first defeat of the season Thursday, falling to Texas 70-66. For much of the night, the Orange looked lifeless, trailing by as much as 16 points four minutes into the second half. However, SU furiously came back, sparked by a personal 7-0 run from Eddie Lampkin Jr.

The Orange took the lead with 4:07 remaining but couldn’t come up with enough plays down the stretch. Turnovers, missed free throws and ill-advised shots came back to bite Syracuse as it dropped its first game of the season.

Unlike some of its previous games, Syracuse was competitive in the first half. Behind 14 first-half points from J.J. Starling, the Orange went into the break tied 31-31. Despite encouraging signs in the first half, Texas Tech dominated the second frame, while the Orange shot 7-for-23 from the field.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (3-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 79-74 defeat against Texas Tech (5-1, 0-0 Big 12):

Slowing down JT Toppin

JT Toppin entered Friday as one of the most prolific post scorers in the country. Against Saint Joseph’s, the forward dropped 22 points and 18 rebounds — 12 of which came on the offensive end. Toppin came into the matchup with Syracuse as Texas Tech’s leading scorer with 20.8 points per game.

He remained active with TTU’s offense early, setting ball screens at the top of the key. Though Syracuse held him in check early. A miscommunication led to an easy layup on the Red Raiders’ first possession, but Toppin missed his next two looks. He airballed a floater from the paint and was short on his next attempt, which was heavily contested by Syracuse.

Toppin tried to back down Jyáre Davis later in the first half, but his bank shot was off the mark. Syracuse’s forwards did a good job of bodying up to Toppin and making him take tough shots. On Texas Tech’s last possession of the first half, he threw up a floater which missed. But after pulling in the offensive rebound, he couldn’t connect on the putback. Toppin was just 2-for-8 at the break.

The forward ended up with his worst scoring total of the year, finishing with just 15 points on a horrid 5-for-16 shooting. Even though Syracuse did enough to slow him down, it couldn’t stop Texas Tech’s other options.

3-point inconsistencies

The Orange’s struggles from deep couldn’t be more clear. On the season, they’ve shot 25% from long range and it has hindered their offense. Chris Bell knocked down SU’s first attempt from beyond the arc to give Syracuse a 5-2 lead early.

Its success still varied throughout the contest. When the Orange got dribble penetration in the lane and kicked it out to open shooters, the looks were more clean. Starling drove baseline and even though his wraparound pass was deflected, it still made its way to Bell in the corner. The junior hit his second of the first half. Two minutes later, Starling hit from the same corner to level the score at 19.

Elijah Moore got in on the act, hitting a wide open 3-pointer to bring the Orange up to four triples in the first half. It was the first time Syracuse has reached that mark in a half all season. The Orange finished the first half with 5 3s on 12 attempts.

Syracuse was more hesitant to fire from long range in the second half. It didn’t attempt a 3-pointer until over six minutes into the second frame. Meanwhile Texas Tech’s Chance McMillian hit two straight 3s to put the Red Raiders up 44-38.

Syracuse’s first made 3-pointer happened when Bell drilled one from the wing over 12 minutes in. That would be SU’s only make from beyond the arc in the second half, going 1-for-9.

Starling running point

Jaquan Carlos has struggled at the point guard spot for Syracuse this season. The Hofstra transfer hasn’t scored more than four points or hit more than one field goal in a game this season. At times, Adrian Autry has turned to Starling at point to give the Orange a boost.

He did it against Youngstown State in the second half and Starling exploded for a career-high 38 points, 31 of which came after the break. With 6:09 left in the first half, Autry deployed the junior there, subbing Carlos out for the first time. At that point, SU trailed 24-22 and Starling had seven points. SU soon fell down by seven, but Starling scored on back-to-back drives. With 49 seconds remaining in the half, Starling confidently pulled up from 3-point range and tied the game at 31.

Carlos returned to the point at the start of the second half, while Starling couldn’t carry his momentum to the second half. He missed the first two shots and didn’t record his first points until more than halfway through and his first field goal until 13 minutes in.

Despite the success of playing Starling at point guard in the first half, Autry didn’t elect to use the lineup until the 7:30 mark, but it wasn’t nearly as effective. Starling did score 13 points in the second half, but most of it came with SU chasing a lead in the final minutes.

Improved free throw shooting

Syracuse was horrible from the free throw line against Texas, continuing a trend which has been present all season. The Orange went 9-for-18 from the charity stripe, and it cost them. Texas went 12-for-14 from the line, including six straight makes from the line in the final minute to help the Longhorns win.

The poor performance brought SU’s season average down to 61.1%, which ranked 333rd in the country.

Friday, the Orange were more efficient at the charity stripe. Bell knocked down SU’s only attempts of the first half, but it got to the line more frequently in the second half. The Orange were in the bonus by the 10:12 mark and knocked down their first nine shots from the charity stripe. Starling was the first to misfire, clanking one off the iron with 9:42 remaining.

Bell got clipped on a look from 3, giving him another trip to the line. The junior made all three of his shots, bringing Syracuse to within seven. Syracuse had a stretch where it went five minutes without a field goal. During that dry spell, Texas Tech’s lead ballooned from two to nine. Without five free throws during that stretch, Syracuse’s deficit could’ve been larger.

Syracuse finished 24-for-28 from the line, for its best performance of the year.

Published on November 22, 2024 at 9:24 pm

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