A missed shot on one end quickly turned into Clemson running the floor. As Syracuse’s defense scrambled, the Tigers drove into the lane. Joe Girard III couldn’t fully stop the drive. Jesse Edwards was too far up. 

The ball went to Clyde Trapp, who sank a layup in Edwards’ face in the eventual 71-70 Clemson win on Tuesday night at Littlejohn Coliseum. 

Edwards, who had slowly fallen out of the rotation and not played over the last three games, shouldn’t have been in the game. But the big men in front of him couldn’t stay in the game. As Syracuse approached a 10-point second-half lead, center Bourama Sidibe reached behind a Clemson defender’s back and picked up his fourth foul with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game. At the time, both he and forward Marek Dolezaj had four fouls. 

With freshmen Edwards and Quincy Guerrier in for the two upperclassmen, Clemson scored three consecutive points and Dolezaj returned. About four minutes later, Dolezaj fouled out. 

“A couple fouls you can’t commit,” said head coach Jim Boeheim. “We need him in the game.”

Then a little more than two minutes after Sidibe was forced back in, he too fouled out. Down the stretch, the fouls led to a 3-point play allowed by Edwards and a turnover with under a minute to play. 

Then came the final play, a scrambled mess that ended with a layup in Edwards’s face and halted Syracuse’s winning streak at five. 

Shooters? 

Clemson entered the game shooting 32% from beyond the arc but relied on three-pointers for 38% of the total scoring. The Tigers started the game with the strong shooting performance they’d need to defeat Syracuse, hitting three of their first four 3-point shots. 

Syracuse rotated well on defense for much of the half and forced Clemson into often contested outside shots. Still, the Tigers hit 7-of-17 3-pointers in the first half, converting at a clip about 10% higher than their usual number. 

The Tigers eventually cooled off and hit just two 3-pointers in the second half. 

Same story, different night 

Syracuse’s top scorers did just that on Tuesday night. Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes combined for 44 points on a combined 15-of-35 shooting.

With the Orange struggling to score early, they turned to the ACC’s top scorer. Hughes hit two 3-pointers before later sinking all three free throws on a fouled 3-point attempt, and then converted a layup on the subsequent possession. He finished the first half with 15 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. 

To start the second half, Buddy came alive. After nearly turning the ball over, Buddy snagged the loose ball and finished a layup, furthering his recent surge of scoring inside. Then he went back out to where he often hits, beyond the 3-point line and sank a triple. A few possessions later, he hit once more from well beyond the arc with a hand in his face. 

“Elijah and Buddy kept us in there,” Boeheim said. “Marek is key for us, and him being in foul trouble hurt. That happens sometimes. Unbelievable effort and they made the last play.”

Girard had hit the shot that few can so many times before. He started far out, near the halfcourt line and crouched. After a step or two, still standing several feet from beyond the 3-point line, Girard pulled up when his defender didn’t expect it. 

In the end, Hughes missed a final heave and the duo’s scoring wasn’t enough for the Orange to steal a victory on the road.

Published on January 28, 2020 at 9:16 pm

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