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Syracuse welcomed back Joe Girard III to the JMA Wireless Dome. This time Girard wore purple with his new team, the Clemson Tigers.

At first, SU seemed lost against Clemson, shooting 29.41% in the first half and making just four 3-pointers on 14 attempts. But once the second half started, the Orange turned the game around, taking advantage of steals and free throws, and tying the contest with less than four minutes left. But the Tigers’ shooting never wavered and they limited the mistakes enough to hand SU another conference defeat.

Here are observations from Syracuse’s (15-9, 6-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) 77-68 loss to Clemson (16-7, 6-6 ACC).

Second half comeback comes up short

Heading into halftime, SU seemed dead in the water. At one point in the first half, it couldn’t hit a shot and were down by 15 at one point. But the offense started to click in the second half, outscoring Clemson 44-39 and shooting 50% from the field. While the Tigers shot 66.67%, they also recorded 10 turnovers.

Off turnovers, the Orange drew multiple fouls to get to the line. On one possession, Godfrey lost the ball and Starling bull rushed his way back down the other end before drawing a foul. He made one free throw to make the score 46-41. Later, Quadir Copeland nabbed a steal and then drew contact on a transition layup. Once again, he only made one, but the Orange were now only down one.

But Clemson’s star center PJ Hall kept Clemson in front. When SU made it a two-point game, Hall used the rotations to find an opening and throw down a one-handed jam. After Starling’s jumper tied the game at 60, Hall went back down and scored on the layup to maintain Clemson’s lead. After a missed shot from Judah Mintz, the Tigers slowed it down before Chase Hunter drove down the left side and scored the layup to make the score 64-60.

And with Hall’s effort, the floor opened up for his teammates when Ian Schieffelin buried a backbreaking 3-pointer to make the score 67-60 with 1:54 left to go. Not even 30 seconds later, Schieffelin scored a layup which was the final dagger.

A mixed welcome for JGIII

When Girard’s name was announced during the starting lineups, there was a pretty mixed reaction from the Dome crowd. While the regular fans in attendance seemed to applaud the guard, the student section had other ideas. The students booed Girard anytime he touched the ball.

As for Girard’s play on the floor, he didn’t take many shots, instead serving as a rebounder on multiple occasions. But when Girard did, he was quite efficient. Girard finished the afternoon shooting 5-of-6 with a team-high 18 points and four 3-pointers.

Girard was particularly deadly from 3 early on. Jack Clark pulled in a Dillon Hunter miss and found Girard with 11 minutes to go in the first half. As the fans booed, Girard hit his first 3-pointer of the game. Over three minutes later, the former SU guard pulled up from near the logo and buried his second 3 of the game, as the Tigers embarked on a 14-0 run.

In the second half, Girard hit a fadeaway jumper to make the score 39-32. After Copeland made two free throws to cut the Clemson lead down to five points midway through the half, Girard hit another 3-pointer to quiet the Syracuse crowd again. He finally missed a 3 from the top of the key after facing tight pressure on a shot with 11 minutes to go in the half. When the Orange cut the lead to three points, Girard hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game to answer SU’s run.

With 1:12 left in the game, Girard hit two free throws to make the score 71-63, leaving the game out of reach for SU. He would hit two more 10 seconds later with the icing on the cake.

Bullying the boards

Minutes before tipoff, SU Athletics announced that Peter Carey — one of the seven players to see time against Louisville — would be out for the contest against Clemson. The Orange already had a size disadvantage without big men like Naheem McLeod. But the Tigers were bullies down low, outrebounding SU 41-24.

The Orange relied on backup big Mounir Hima to make stops. But not even a minute into him being on the floor, he already tallied two fouls, leading to his benching.

With Hall having a three inch size advantage over Brown, Syracuse’s de facto center, he had no trouble gobbling up boards. But Hall wasn’t the only big man from Clemson to have a day on the boards.

Clark also ended up with 10 rebounds, while teammates like Chauncey Wiggins made a difference. Midway through the first half, Hima tightly guarded RJ Godfrey, who threw up an errant shot. But Wiggins had the offensive rebound and drew a goaltending call against Copeland.

The rebounding wasn’t just an issue scoring-wise, but it also created foul trouble for the Orange and Brown in particular. Throughout the second half, Hall drew multiple fouls against Brown. While he didn’t foul out, the Orange were dealt an insult to injury as Girard tallied one of Clemson’s last rebounds in the game as fans stopped booing and instead went for the exits.

Chris Bell with up-and-down performance

Bell was not afraid to show off his emotions throughout the whole game against the Tigers. After Mintz threw a backwards pass to Bell, the forward didn’t shoot. Mintz motioned at him to shoot, but Bell didn’t seem happy. Even as Mintz gave Bell the ball back and scored from 3, Bell seemed to voice some frustration on the way back down on defense.

There were points that Bell seemed angry when he played, but it didn’t stop him from having another valuable performance, finishing with a team-high 16 points and four 3-pointers. In the first half, he was one of the only sources of optimism, hitting deep shots. Copeland fired a long pass to Bell and the forward then drained the fadeaway 3-pointer to make the score 31-19.

In the second half, he was part of SU’s comeback, distributing and shooting efficiently. He kicked out to Starling for a 3-pointer to cut the lead to eight. While he forced up many 3-point attempts that wouldn’t go, Bell also got to the charity stripe, making free throws to make the score 57-55. Bell also made a defensive impact, tallying two blocks in the first half. But Bell’s up-and-down second half hurt SU in the final moments.

Published on February 10, 2024 at 2:35 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com