At Madison Square Garden, First Loss Of Season For Orange

Story by Lizzy Gomez, Photos

by Lizzy Gomez and Michael Castellano

The Golden Bears led by 16 points with just over 16 minutes left to play in The Garden. A  Cal fan shown on the scoreboard video screen egged Syracuse Orange fans on as they booed him loudly.

But no amount of boos or chants of “Let’s Go Orange” was enough to give Syracuse the edge to ultimately avoid its first loss of the season, 73-59, to the Golden Bears on Thursday night in New York City in the semi-finals of the 2K Classic.

Offensive Troubles for the Orange

The Orange offense did not help out its own cause, as Syracuse made just 23 of 64 shots from the field.

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said the offense put the Orange defense in a less than desirable position.

“The game isn’t about defense tonight,” Boeheim said. “We scored 20 points in the first half.”

Shooting from the three-point line was just as unreliable for the Orange.

While Syracuse as a team made only 4 of 17 three-point attempts, Cal Sophomore forward Jabari Bird made four of his own for the Golden Bears.

Golden Bears Thrive at the Three-Point Line

Cal head coach Cuonzo Martin said he was happy with the way his players reacted to competing against the Orange in front of a Syracuse-friendly crowd at The Garden.

“They’re making progress,” Martin said. “Two or three weeks ago, I didn’t think we’d last in this environment.”

Much of Cal’s success on Thursday night came from the three-point line, as the Golden Bears made 8 of 19 attempts.

In the first half, both teams kept the game close until Cal put four straight threes through the hoop before halftime.

Work in Progress

While the Orange gave some life to the Syracuse-leaning crowd at MSG mid-way through the second half after a brief scoring run, the Golden Bears stole the momentum, making shot after shot.

On the other end of the court, the points weren’t coming so easily.

Orange center Rakeem Christmas made just three of 10 shots against Cal for eight points on the night.

Christmas fouled out with just over six minutes left to play, as the Orange fell behind by 14 points.

Kaleb Joseph and Michael Gbinije both scored 13 points, while shooting guard Trevor Cooney only made 3 of his 10 attempts.

Boeheim said only time and practice will put the Orange in a better offensive position through the rest of the season, citing the loss of players such as C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis and the inexperience of current point guard Kaleb Joseph as a reason for the team’s slow start.

“None of this is going to happen, not only by tomorrow, it’s not going to happen by next week, or two weeks after that,” Boeheim said. “Kaleb is a good player and he’s going to get better, but none of this is going to happen right away.”

Next at MSG

The victory advances Cal (3-0) to the 2K Classic championship game against No. 10 Texas (3-0) on Friday night at MSG.

Syracuse (2-1) plays in the consolation game against the Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1) at 5 p.m.