Saturday afternoon, Syracuse’s seven-game win streak ended with a thud. Or, to be more correct about it, a series of thuds, specifically ones made from a basketball hitting the backboard or rim before falling harmlessly away.
Syracuse was held without a field goal from the 11:45 mark until just over four minutes left in the first half. In that time, Clemson turned a slim 13-8 lead into a 27-11 rout margin.
A 13-4 record with this squad isn’t too bad. There are fewer NBA prospects than previous teams. Just a bunch of guys who have a chance for a solid college career. It’ll be up to them to uphold that standard.
Under Jim Boeheim’s tenure, his Syracuse program has a long history of developing four-year players from sparingly used freshmen to well-rounded, all-conference first team type seniors.
A Michael Gbinije 3-pointer with 2:06 to go in overtime gave the Orange a four point lead, and Syracuse was just good enough from the free throw line down the stretch to hang on against a feisty Wake Forest team.
Syracuse forward Chris McCullough will miss the remainder of the season after being diagnosed with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his right knee.
Florida State ran into a one-man wrecking crew in Trevor Cooney. Syracuse’s junior guard scored a season-high 28 points on a season-best 7 3-pointers to lead the Orange (12-4, 3-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) to a 70-57 win over the Seminoles (9-7, 1-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) in the Carrier Dome.
Sunday night at the Carrier Dome, Syracuse used a 14-4 first half run to blow open their conference home opener against Florida State and never let the margin get closer than nine points after that, cruising home with a 70-57 victory.