If it felt like deja vu watching Syracuse start strong then fade down the stretch, that’s because it was the same story as last game (and like watching Jim Boeheim’s final season). The Orange failed to take advantage of a struggling opponent and collapsed down the stretch for a second-straight loss.
Let’s get to the takeaways
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Tale of Two Halfs
It was the best of times in the first half when it came to three-point shooting. Syracuse started hot going 4-6 from deep and finished the half 7-12 from beyond the arc in the 1st half. The ball was moving to open shooters and the Orange had clean looks.
It was the worst of times in the second half as Syracuse shot 3-11 from 3. There were some good looks in the half that didn’t fall, but also some forced shots as the offense completely stalled out. The Hokies increased their on-ball pressure in the second half and outside of some nice lobs to the rim, the Orange struggled to take good shots.
Hokies live on the foul line
This was my what to watch for:
Kevin: Don’t give the Hokies freebies
In ACC play, Virginia Tech is shooting 28 free throws per game, making over 21. The Hokies are averaging 80 points per game in their first six ACC games, so they are getting 25% of their points from the foul line. For Syracuse, you want to make a team that’s shooting 32% from 3 earn their points so avoiding silly fouls could be important here.
So what did the Orange do? Committed a bunch of lazy fouls. Virginia Tech shot 26-36 from the foul line, out-scoring the Orange by 14 points from the foul line. Credit to Ben Hammond for attacking into the bodies of Syracuse defenders especially in transition. The most frustrating part of this game was watching a team climb back in and take control while shooting 4-17 from 3. You have to wonder if Syracuse should have played a bit more zone.
Slop ‘em up
28 fouls.
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14 turnovers.
25 fast break points allowed.
It was a game that could have helped the Orange bounce back from the BC loss. It was a game that could have started them back on a path to the bubble. Yet, the team and staff just made baffling decisions all night. George and Starling didn’t have good nights, but sitting 10+ minutes with 2 fouls allowed the Hokies to stick around.
I saw a lot of comments about the bench, but in the final 11 minutes of the 1st half, Syracuse scored 14 points. Virginia Tech only cut the deficit by 3 points, but this was a stretch where any sort of offensive success could have pushed the lead to 15+ while the Hokies were stumbling through foul trouble and poor offense.
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The press was too little too late as multiple scoring slumps plagued the Orange. For all the talk of playing fast and pushing the tempo, the staff continues to wait to deploy pressure until it’s late-game desperation. What makes that decision more frustrating is that when Syracuse did press, Virginia Tech folded and allowed the Orange a chance to tie the game.
Syracuse fittingly missed an open look then Donnie Freeman failed to box out on a missed free throw and that was the end of the comeback attempts and likely the end of this season for many fans who still held out hope for a NCAA bid.
