Syracuse Ends 2014 with Defensive Win Over Big Red, 61-44

Story and photo by Emily Dick.

Syracuse, N.Y. - The Syracuse Orange (9-4) closed out 2014 with a 61-44 win over the Cornell Big Red (6-7) in front of an announced crowd of 19,288 at the Carrier Dome on New Year's Eve.
 

The low-scoring game was the Orange’s last non-conference game of the season, and it was a slow start for both teams.

It took Syracuse three and a half minutes to score its first basket, a Rakeem Christmas jumper. Seven minutes into the game, Cornell scored. At halftime, the Orange led 23-12.

Defense Continues to Improve

Although the Syracuse offense took some time to heat up, head coach Jim Boeheim was happy with his team’s defensive performance.

“We had some really good looks early and the ball didn’t go in,” Boeheim said after the game. “But our defense held us up, and the second half we made some shots.”

The Syracuse defense held Cornell to a low shooting percentage (34.5 percent) without fouling. The Big Red only went to the line three times, and made two of its five attempts.

Another key for the Orange was scoring points off of turnovers. While Syracuse gave up the ball 14 times compared to Cornell’s 18 times, the Orange’s point production off of turnovers was far greater, 22 points to the Big Red’s five.

Syracuse also contained Cornell’s best player, Shonn Miller, who scored 12 points and went 0-4 from deep.

“We were aware of where he was for the most part,” Boeheim said. “We did a much, much better job of contesting the ball in the high post and I think that was really the key for us defensively today.”

Second Half Offense

After a quiet first half, the Orange offense woke up in the second half. In fact, it only took Chris McCullough 12 seconds to slam a posterizing dunk that seemed to spark Syracuse’s 38-point second half.

Red shirt junior Trevor Cooney kept the energy going with two fast-break dunks of his own and two three-pointers. He ended the game with 14 points.

Christmas led the team with 19 points and 9 rebounds.

The Orange shot 60 percent from the field in the second half; compared to the 37 percent it shot in the first half.

“Everyone was aggressive tonight,” Christmas said after the game. “Everyone was playing good and we’re going to have to carry that into the next game.”

On to the ACC

The Orange will open up conference play at Virginia Tech (8-5) this Saturday, Jan. 3.

Currently in the ACC, Syracuse is ranked in the middle of the pack in three major offensive categories: field goal percentage (8^th), 3-pointers (11^th), and points per game (8^th).

Christmas ranks third in points per game (17.3) and blocks per game (2.2).

“We finished the year playing very well the past few games and now we will get ready for conference play Saturday,” Boeheim said. “ We have come through this about as well as we could have expected at this stage of the year we are playing much better.”