One game after struggling offensively against Florida, the Orange had trouble putting the ball in the basket again in its 62-56 win over Marshall.
In SU’s 72-68 win over the Gators, Syracuse shot 40.6 percent from the field and 3-for-17 from downtown. The numbers were strikingly similar against the Thundering Herd, as SU was 41.5 percent from the field and 3-for-11 from beyond the arc.
“Offensively we probably had ten fast break opportunities, but we did not convert and you just have to convert those,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said to reporters following the game. “We made some bad decisions and that’s disappointing.”
The Orange turned the ball over 12 times and had some of its stars from the Florida game have sub-par outings against Marshall.
Brandon Triche, who led Syracuse with 20 points against Florida, was just 3-for-9 from the field, and finished with six points.
“He missed some shots tonight that he is normally going to make,” Boeheim said.
CJ Fair (nine points, 11 rebounds against the Gators) had his worst game of the season, missing all four of his shots while going scoreless with just one rebound.
“This is probably the first bad game C.J. Fair had since he’s been with us,” Boeheim said. “He just couldn’t get it going tonight.”
Fortunately for Syracuse, it had another stellar defensive night. SU forced Marshall into making 19 turnovers as the Orange had 12 steals and 10 blocks.
Seven of those steals came during a 20-6 run when SU took control of the game. SU turned a 11-8 game with 12:39 left in the first half to 28-12 game seven minutes later.
“The offense will come, we are not worried about that,” guard Dion Waiters said. “As long as the defensive tempo is there, everything else will pick up itself.”
Fab Melo (nine points, four blocks) and Scoop Jardine (10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, three steals) led the defensive effort.
“We will have some games like that,” Jardine said. “But the most important thing is that we are going to continue to keep playing defense.”
