Story and photo by Emily Dick
“You can score 80 or 90 points without making a three,” head
coach Jim Boeheim said after Syracuse defeated Holy Cross
without making a single 3-pointer.
But the Orange (5-1) didn’t exactly put up 80 or 90 over the
Crusaders (3-1).
In fact, Syracuse went 0-for-14 from beyond the arc and
still found a way to win 72-48 against Holy Cross in front of an announced crowd of more than 19,000
in the Dome on Black Friday.
On top of that, Syracuse only scored 10 points from
mid-range.
So how were the Orange men able to find a way to win by 24 with
such a lousy shooting night?
A combination of first half defense, stand-out
performances, and a high free throw percentage made the difference.
Starting strong, ending strong
The Orange took control midway
through the first half, going on a 10-0 run to lead Holy Cross 20-9. The
defense caused seven Holy Cross turnovers and produced eight fast-break points
in the half.
At the break, Syracuse led by more points than Holy Cross
had, 39-17, the highest first half score by the Orange all season.
But the Crusaders found new energy coming out of halftime. Holy Cross outscored the Orange 14-7 in the first five minutes of the
second half. At one point, the Syracuse lead was cut to only 11.
Senior center Rakeem Christmas and freshman power forward
Chris McCullough changed the pace of the second half for the Orange when
McCullough nabbed a defensive rebound, one of his 13 for the night, and quickly
found Christmas for a fast-break opportunity and dunk on the other end.
Syracuse went up 54-37 and never looked back.
After the game, Boeheim said fast-break opportunities
helped his offense bounce back.
“When you’re not shooting well, we’re not going to run a lot
plays for jump shots right now, so we’re going to try and get it down there and
get some shots,"Boeheim said. "That’s what we have to do.”
Team leaders
The Christmas/McCullough duo led the team with
a combined 39 points and 21 rebounds. Christmas had a career-high 25 points;
his previous career-high was 21 against Kennesaw St. earlier this season.
McCullough (14) put up double-digits for the sixth game in a row and had
his second double-double of the season.
“Rakeem is playing great," Boeheim said. "He’s doing a great job
inside. We didn’t even do a really good job of getting him the ball tonight and
he had a very strong game. Chris is doing a good
job.”
Freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph added 14 points and seven rebounds.
By the numbers
The Orange grabbed 50 rebounds, blocked six shots, and stole
the ball from Holy Cross nine times.
Syracuse shot 46 percent from the field, but considering the
team missed 14 3-point attempts and actually made 26 of its 42 2-point
attempts, the field goal percentage without 3-pointers is nearly 62 percent. Holy Cross
only shot 27 percent for the game.
The Orange relied on its inside scoring game with 42 points
in the paint.
An 80 percent free throw rate also helped the
struggling Syracuse offense, which outscored Holy Cross 20-15 from the line.
That’s compared to the team’s combined 59 percent free throw percentage during
the previous three games.
Can the Orange find its offense?
Joseph said the struggling offense is made worse by an
inconsistent defense.
“In the first half, our defense was as good as it was in any
game,"Joseph said after the game. "We stopped penetrations in the weak spots. In the second half we kind of
got a little lackadaisical, so that’s why we struggled a little bit to get out
running. When our defense is good, our offense
will be better.”
Redshirt junior Trevor Cooney (5 points) had a tough night going
1-for-7 from the field and missing all four of his 3-point attempts.
“We have some really tough games coming up and, yeah, it’s
going to be different opponents doing different things but we have to come
ready to play every single night and then get ready for the ACC,” Cooney said.
Syracuse's next game is Tuesday at No. 19 Michigan as part
of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
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