The Orange fought off every charge the Mustangs had until the final one, dropping a 77-75 heartbreaker on the road, as they were outscored by a 13-3 margin in the final five minutes. Unfortunately, Syracuse will not be making any NCAAB news with their fifth loss in six games, four of them coming by seven points or less.

Here’s what we noted in another frustrating loss.

The game was more like a tennis match than a basketball contest, as SU fought back almost every time SMU threatened them. The Mustangs pulled within four points on three different occasions in the second half and Syracuse pushed the margin back out until the final five minutes when their offense failed them. The Orange have been resilient much of the season, but have fallen short on a couple handfuls of occasions.

There is no sugar-coating it, as J.J. Starling had a terrible night shooting the ball, registering a line score of 3-for-17 from the floor and 1-of-10 at the foul line. His 1-of-9 mark in the second half included missing four straight shots as the only player to attempt a field goal over a pair of possessions that each had an offensive rebound grabbed by a teammate, as well as missing his final three shots.

His shooting hurts particularly because he reached a season high of six assists with 17:24 left in the game and did not tally another dime the rest of the night.

Lucas Taylor connected from long range three times in the game’s opening seven minutes, powering SU to an early double-digit lead. While he has not been counted on for offense most of the season, Taylor leads the team by making 38.7 percent of his 3-point shots.

Chris Bell’s season has done a 180 from behind the arc, re-establishing him as one of the best 3-point shooters in college basketball. Over his last 17 games, Bell has shot 35-of-73 from long distance, good for a 47.9 percent mark. He leads the Orange with 46 3-pointers on the campaign.

For the second straight game, both Bell and Kyle Cuffe Jr. reached double figures in scoring. Bell had 11 points in both contests, lifting his season average to 9.9 points per game. Cuffe followed his 13-point effort against Virginia tech with ten against the Mustangs.

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