Syracuse was defeated by Tennessee, 73-56, in the Maui Invitational on Monday. Here are some key takeaways from the loss.

The first half contained two separate halves. In the opening ten minutes, the Orange shot 6-for-14 from the field in taking a 19-11 lead while Tennessee made a mere four of 19 shots. The script flipped over the second ten minutes, as the Volunteers made 7-of-15 shots the rest of the half while holding SU to a 2-of-14 mark in that span.

Justin Taylor proved his worth on the glass from the opening tip. The forward pulled in five rebounds in the first 6:10 of action before he was subbed out of the game. He finished the game with seven boards to lead the Orange.

Benny Williams hit a jumper just inside the elbow on the second SU possession after entering the game, then added a pair of 3s before he had four minutes of floor time. Just getting an easier shot to drop seems to build Williams’ confidence and should be the focus of his offense when he enters a game.

The Orange offense got off the rails late in the first half. Williams hung himself out to dry by picking up his dribble and ended a possession with a forced fadeaway, then Bell pulled up off-balance in the mid-range on the next SU trip. Both shots missed badly. J.J. Starling added a turnover on a miscommunication and Quadir Copeland also missed an awkward pull-up. The dysfunction helped Tennessee close the opening session on a 9-1 run.

Judah Mintz finished in a flurry to get to 15 points, but did not make his first field goal until after eight misses. The bucket came with 9:19 to play and was part of a three-point play that pulled Syracuse within 46-42. The sophomore scored the next eight points for the Orange, but it was not enough.

The Orange opened the game with a long-range miss, then connected on four straight 3s. They went into the cooler from long range the rest of the way, going 2-of-15 from deep to finish out the game. The literal hit-and-miss 3-point shooting is likely to be an issue throughout the season, especially as the team has games where they struggle on that end.

Another concerning thing about the 3-pointers being taken includes the players taking them. Quadir Copeland took a pair that missed in the first half (although on the first, he was hung out to dry by a teammate passing him the ball with the shot clock running out) and Maliq Brown attempted the first trey of his collegiate career.

The Orange have enough problems creating consistent scoring, they do not need to make things harder with the continued shot selection issues.

Syracuse continues Allstate Maui Invitational action on Tuesday when they will face #11 Gonzaga. The Bulldogs (2-1) led by nine in the first half, but could not hold off #2 Purdue, who roared back for a 73-63 win in the second game of the tournament.

Graham Ike had 14 points to lead the Zags, while Nolan Hickman and Ryan Nembhard each added 11. Gonzaga struggled on offense, particularly from behind the arc, making just 6-of-32 shots from deep.

Tip-off on Tuesday is set for 2:30pm Eastern and the game will be televised by ESPN2.

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