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Syracuse’s last regular season game against Miami unfolded the same way their first meeting did two months prior, when the Hurricanes erased a 14-point deficit. They faced another double-digit deficit, this time 18 points. There were the turnovers late in the game, just like when the Orange committed a season-high 19 back on Jan. 5

And when Jordan Miller tipped in a missed offensive rebound and then added two more free throws after securing Joe Girard III’s miss, Miami escaped with a 75-72 win in the Carrier Dome to secure the Orange’s first regular season below .500 under Jim Boeheim. Buddy Boeheim scored 30 points on Senior Day and Girard added 17, but Syracuse couldn’t finish possessions late when it needed to and will enter the ACC tournament next week in Brooklyn off four consecutive losses.

Here are some observations from the Orange’s loss:

Another hot start, but cold finish

Syracuse made its first six shots against North Carolina on Monday, scoring 15 points before the first media timeout, and the Orange nearly replicated the performance five days later — connecting on four of their first eight attempts and leading 11-7 at the Under-16. It helped the Orange take another double-digit lead into halftime against Miami, as they led by 14 on Jan. 5 before the Hurricanes erased the deficit by exploding for 58 points in the second half. 

But in the second half, Miami started to slowly mount its comeback. The Hurricanes shot 63% from the field, connecting on 19-of-30 shots. Miller blocked Jimmy Boeheim’s shot to key a transition opportunity that ended with Charlie Moore’s layup to cap a 9-0 run, and that spurt eventually became 18-4. 

Effects of the injuries

After Bourama Sidibe picked up his second foul with 12 minutes left in the first half, John Bol Ajak and Frank Anselem jogged toward the scorer’s table to check in as Syracuse’s first substitutions of the game. But less than a minute later — with a pair of free throws and the Under-12 timeout in between — Ajak strolled back over to the bench with two fouls. He’d been called for a blocking foul in transition before committing a charge on SU’s next offensive possession when he tried to spin around a Miami defender after a passing lane to the corner closed.

That forced Cole Swider back into the game alongside Anselem, with the Orange’s forward depth thinned even more due to foul trouble. Jesse Edwards was already out for the season before Benny Williams joined him earlier in the week due to a lower-body injury, and Sidibe’s history of knee injuries that he’s still recovering from keeps him somewhat limited, too.

Anselem and Sidibe combined for seven fouls, and they only combined for five points. Sidibe picked up his third foul at the 14:43 after McGusty missed an alley-oop dunk and Isaiah Wong collected a long rebound in the corner, driving into the lane and drawing the foul. Sidibe stayed in the game, as did Anselem when he picked up two fouls in one second later in the frame. Ajak briefly made another appearance down the stretch, but the impact of the Orange’s centers without Edwards was, for the most part, limited again.

Limiting Miami’s 3s, but point-in-paint domination

For the first points of the game, Wong connected on a 3-pointer in front of Syracuse’s bench to give Miami a three-point lead. But that was the last shot the Hurricanes made from beyond the arc in the first half, as the Hurricanes finished 3-for-18 on the game. It was a stark difference from how the Hurricanes pierced SU’s 2-3 zone back in January, as they connected on 11-of-30 3s and Moore connected on a handful from around the mid-court logo.

But the Hurricanes scored 42 points in the paint compared to Syracuse’s 16, and they took advantage of the Orange’s forward depth. Over the last 70 seconds, as Miami made its final 10-0 run to flip the game for good, the Hurricanes relied on two jumpers and the final pair of free throws from Miller to sink Syracuse.

The Boeheim brothers on Senior Day

Buddy stood on the block “S” logo when he caught the ball, but after he took one step, he started to elevate into his jump shot anyway. The Orange led Miami by seven with seven minutes left in the second half, and Kameron McGusty had just responded to a Swider 3 with a basket of his own, keeping Miami’s comeback alive.

Instead, Buddy’s shot sank through the net and put Syracuse up 10. He finished with 30 points and scored Syracuse’s first eight of the game en route to 8-of-17 shooting. It marked a fitting encore to the Senior Day ceremony before the game, where Buddy and Jimmy — a senior and graduate student, respectively — were honored along with Swider and Sidibe. The pair of brothers went last, and when they walked toward mid-court with their mother Juli and sister Jamie, Boeheim walked away from his spot near the center and joined them in a group hug.

Published on March 5, 2022 at 3:31 pm

Contact Andrew: [email protected] | @CraneAndrew