For the 6th straight game, the Orange fell behind double-digits. And for the 6th straight game, the Orange came back, for a little while. The first three times, Syracuse finished off the job and got big come from behind wins. The last three times, the Orange fell short and couldn’t pull out the win. A play here, a play there, a call here, a call there, and the Orange is on an eight game winning streak.
But it’s not.
And Sunday night’s game felt like one the Orange needed. Syracuse and Georgia Tech are fighting for a spot in the Tournament. I for one, believe they are fighting for the same spot, whether that is one of the last “byes” or one of the last spots overall. That means that wins over one another could set their resumes apart and put one a step up from the other.
A missed opportunity. 6 days after a missed opportunity to get yet another top 10 win on their home court.
Sunday night was frustrating. Syracuse played horribly for the majority of the second half. Only to have a frantic comeback fall short. If the Orange played anything even slightly above horrible for the first 15 minutes of the 2nd half, the Orange would have won and won rather easily. But they played awful basketball for a large portion of the second half.
John Gillon was fumbling the ball and throwing passes away, while Frank Howard— who has actually played well as of late— sat on the bench.
Tyler Lydon continued looking lost on offense with shot after shot clanking off the rim.
Andrew White couldn’t reach 20 points for the 8th straight game.
Spacing looked off, with SU players consistently running into each other or to the same point on the court. Most notably (to me), Tyler Lydon throwing a pass to Taurean Thompson in the post, then running down to the same block Thompson was standing on.
And the Orange couldn’t get anything going offensively throughout the majority of the second half. Then all of a sudden, a switched flipped. Tyler Lydon hit a few shots. John Gillon hit a few shots. Taurean Thompson continued his career best game. And the Orange made a furious comeback behind a barrage of points.
Until an offensive possession the Orange had down just 2 points with 17 seconds to go. Gillon had been playing better, as had Lydon to go along with White and Thompson’s solid games. When Tyler Roberson committed an offensive foul on a moving screen.
Whether it was a foul or not, it was called. And while it came at a crucial point in the game, when the Orange had a chance to tie up the game. Roberson may not have been set. Gillon may have tried to get around the screen too soon. The ref may have made a bad call. It may have been all three.
Whatever happened on that possession, it caused the Orange comeback to come up short. A comeback that shouldn’t have been necessary, but a comeback that was needed nonetheless.