CLEMSON, S.C. — Jim Boeheim didn’t let the question about Syracuse’s lost halftime leads finish before he jumped in.

“That’s so irrelevant,” the SU head coach said. “Absolutely irrelevant.”

While there are further reasons than just some out of the break luck for Syracuse’s opponents, for the fourth time in six games, the Orange surrendered a halftime advantage. They never found the bucket to stop a surging Clemson.

After Syracuse’s (19-12, 10-8 Atlantic Coast) defense was the story of Saturday’s first half, its lack of offense allowed Clemson (19-12, 9-9) to come back and win, 67-55. In a game that meant much more to the Tigers’ bubble hopes than the Orange’s, it showed in the second half. Clemson shut down SU to become the sixth team to recover from a halftime deficit and knock off Syracuse, and the fourth in the last two weeks.

“When you’re on the road, you get a little lead, the better team’s gonna win in the long run and that’s what happened here,” Boeheim said immediately after his “irrelevant” comment.

The game’s tone appeared to be set on the first 13 shots taken by Clemson. Two were blocked by Syracuse center Paschal Chukwu. And all 13 failed to find twine.

The Tigers located Elijah Thomas frequently near the foul line against SU’s 2-3 zone. But when he caught the ball, there was nothing for him to do. Thomas repeatedly stood for multiple seconds, waiting for a flasher that wasn’t coming. When somebody did make a move, it often ended in a turnover due to quick SU hands or just a brutal pass.

“We’ve had a lot of great moments,” freshman Buddy Boeheim said. “These first halves, we can build off.”

Syracuse found some early offense via Tyus Battle’s ball-handling and Oshae Brissett’s strength inside. It received a bench contribution from Bourama Sidibe, whose eight points was more than he had in any game since Nov. 21. But the Clemson defense prevented open looks. They almost all were contested or required individual efforts to create space. 

And even with the Tigers shooting just 25 percent in the first half, they only trailed by seven at the break. Syracuse hadn’t put the game away when it had the chance.

“We kind of let up,” Brissett said. “These games are gonna be hard, especially every game coming up now. So we just gotta take pride in ourselves to keep going for all 40 minutes.”

Clemson ball moved quickly in the second half and open Tigers made shots. The loudest cheers of the day prior to the second half had been for Marcquise Reed and Thomas’ Senior Day ovations. They one-upped themselves, Reed via a 3 and Thomas on a two-handed slam, early in the decisive frame. Littlejohn Coliseum rocked any momentum Syracuse had away.

Battle found an open 3-point to seize an answer, but he missed with about 12 minutes to play. At the other end, Sidibe ran over Clemson senior David Skara during a baseline jumper. As Skara laid on the ground, screaming and pumping his fists, the Tigers’ crowd showered another senior with cheers. There were 11 and a half minutes to play, but the and-1 was the dagger.

“On the road, it’s tough,” Brissett said. “Their crowd gets into it, they start hitting shots, they start getting confident. It’s definitely tough to weather the storm.”

The offense couldn’t respond. Battle forced shots that almost always missed. Buddy couldn’t find his 3-point stroke. The Sidibe spark was gone, and Elijah Hughes didn’t score.

“Their defense was better than our offense,” Boeheim said. “Period. That’s just the bottom line.”

Last season, Syracuse’s defense was the calling card that led a run to the Sweet 16. But offense was what limited the Orange’s overall potential. In the regular season finale, the first-half defense looked like it might be rounding into postseason form. But the second-half offense looked just like what has kept Syracuse from becoming any more than a mid-tier ACC team.

When Buddy curled off a screen with a minute and a half to play, Hughes threw the ball out of bounds. He untucked his shirt and was subbed out by Boeheim. Oshae Brissett placed both hands on the top of his head. Syracuse’s offense had let it down once more.

“We have to match their intensity,” Chukwu said. “A lot of people playing for their life the rest of the season. So we just have to match their intensity and try to play the way we can play.”

Published on March 9, 2019 at 2:12 pm

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