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There was no last-second win this time. Down the stretch against Florida State, Syracuse was outclassed.

The Seminoles went on an extended run of 34-15 over the last 12 minutes. They finished making nearly half of their shots, while the Orange only shot 44.2%.

The first half wasn’t the prettiest for either team as they combined for 23 fouls. Meanwhile, SU floundered from the foul line and the 3-point line. But as both teams were proficient at making its way to the paint, SU’s star power pulled through. Judah Mintz scored 28 points even as he struggled slightly from the charity stripe (10-of-15). Mintz had no trouble getting inside. The help was needed as Maliq Brown, Quadir Copeland and J.J. Starling combined for just 23 points.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (13-6, 4-4 Atlantic Coast Conference) 85-69 loss to Florida State (12-7, 6-2 ACC):

Sloppy first half

Over nearly a three-minute span in the first half, SU’s five possessions were made up by turnovers and missed 3-pointers. Starling missed a 3-pointer from the left wing, while Chris Bell couldn’t connect. On the other possessions, both Starling and Benny Williams lost control of the ball on drives to the hoop and gave Florida State fast break opportunities.

All around, the first half for the Orange was defined by sloppiness.

Even on free throws, there were issues as SU finished 66.7% from the foul line. With just over seven minutes to play in the half, Mintz had the opportunity to cut the deficit to five, but missed both free throws. As the half wore along, the errors continued. Florida State played the press, forcing Mintz into a 10-second violation. On the ensuing Florida State possession, Brown was called for goaltending to give FSU the lead.

Still, the Orange were out in front at the break.

Playing from the paint

In the victory against Miami, Syracuse scored just 22 points from the paint. By halftime versus the Seminoles, it scored 20.

Even as Florida State had six players on its roster that were 6-foot-9 or taller, the Orange had no trouble driving inside. Mintz, Starling and Kyle Cuffe Jr. all drifted past their respective defenders on numerous drives. Mintz drew contact on multiple drives to get to the free throw line as well. On back-to-back possessions midway through the second half, Mintz and Starling bullied their way through the paint and scored to give SU a 54-51 advantage. Later in the half, Mintz threw down a one-handed dunk.

On a later possession, Williams attempted a corner 3-pointer, but his shot airballed perfectly into the hands of Brown, who tied the game on the ensuing layup with over three and a half minutes remaining before half. Minutes later, Mintz drove down the right side of the lane and drew a goaltending call of his own to tie the game. Then on the next possession, Mintz drew contact and scored two free throws off a foul to tie the game at 30.

In the waning moments from the half, Bell missed the layup, but Brown kept the ball from going out of bounds and right into the waiting arms of Williams. The forward quickly dunked the ball. At the start of the second half, Brown had a slam dunk of his own to increase the lead for the Orange.

Defensive struggles

Just as Syracuse was efficient near the basket, Florida State almost always had a counter punch. As the second half winded down, the Seminoles struck.

At around the halfway point of the half, FSU scored six consecutive points and took a narrow lead, with Jamir Watkins throwing down multiple dunks. Watkins was just as proficient at drawing fouls, giving the Seminoles a three-point lead with 8:34 to go in the game.

Even on inbounds passes, Florida State rushed down the floor, seemingly catching the Orange off guard. Watkins became the driver of the offense, scoring 13 points over the final 12 minutes as he had no trouble breezing past SU defenders. Cam Corhen played ferociously near the basket, drawing fouls and scoring layups with the two Orange defenders in his face. He capitalized on the Seminoles’ long scoring run by converting another alley-oop dunk.

The hero comes back to earth

When Copeland came into the game midway through the first half, he received applause from the Dome crowd for his heroics from the buzzer beater shot against Miami. But Copeland didn’t do much from the bench in the first half. He spent just over a minute in playing time and immediately drew two fouls, forcing SU head coach Adrian Autry to keep him on the sidelines for the remainder of the half.

Five and a half minutes into the second half, Copeland replaced Brown. He generated a turnover before he finally got his first points of the night on free throws. The forward would finish with just five points. Later, he grabbed a pass but had limited time to shoot the ball with the shot clock winding down. With the crowd imploring him to shoot, Copeland shot an ugly 3-point attempt and the ball barely hit the rim.

Published on January 23, 2024 at 9:39 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com