Syracuse defense falters in 90-75 loss at Clemson

Clemson jumped out to an early double-digit lead, then spent the remainder of the evening fending off every push Syracuse had to claim a 90-75 home win on their Senior Night. The Orange (20-11, 11-9 ACC) almost climbed out of 11-point first half hole, but the Tigers (21-9, 11-8) shoved them back in by finishing the session with a 12-2 run.

SU spent almost the entire second half trailing by double digits, briefly getting within five. Clemson then put enough space between the two to hold on despite a handful of late Syracuse 3’s.

The hosts had their way with the Orange defense most of the night, shooting just over 56 percent overall and making 11 3-pointers. A side effect of the Tigers’ efficient offense was taking fast break points off the table, as SU finished with a single transition point. The Syracuse offense was effective, shooting 47.5 percent overall and 36.4 percent from long range, but it paled in comparison to the Clemson effort.

J.J. Starling started the scoring with a 3-pointer for the Orange. The Tigers then asserted themselves, opening up the floodgates with a 16-2 avalanche in three-and-a-half minutes, led by P.J. Hall’s ten points. Former SU guard Joe Girard III added to his three early assists by splashing a deep triple to force a Syracuse timeout with less than five minutes off the clock and the hosts up, 16-5.

For the next few minutes, Clemson had an answer for everything Syracuse had, but the Orange eventually pushed through with their first run of the game. Led by Quadir Copeland’s four points off the bench, SU put together nine straight to pull within 25-23 with just over eight minutes left in the opening half.

Syracuse hung close for a couple more minutes, but their offense then froze, missing five straight shots as the final four minutes of the half got underway. That cold snap gave the Tigers an opening and they walked through it, scoring eight straight points for a 38-28 lead. The hosts added to that lead on a dunk for a 42-30 halftime lead.

The Orange started the second session hot, notching the first five points as they hit their first four shots after play resumed, but Clemson responded with three 3-point shots to fend off SU and reinstated their 12-point lead at 51-39 by the first media timeout. Syracuse got the first run of the second session shortly after, getting a 9-2 burst to get within 56-51 with just under 12 minutes to play.

The Orange offense stalled at that point, missing five straight shots to allow the Tigers to post nine of ten points and build their lead back up to 65-52 with 8:30 remaining. Maliq Brown got a dunk to stop SU’s dry spell, but Clemson’s sixth 3 of the half pushed their lead to 14 points.

Syracuse chipped away to get within single digits, but Girard undid almost all of that work with a four-point-play to give the hosts a 74-61 advantage with 5:42 on the clock. The Orange got a trio of treys to draw within eight with under two minutes left, but Girard took care of things from there, icing the game with six straight foul shots.

Judah Mintz paced SU with 20 points, but needed 21 field goal attempts to get there. Copeland had 17 points off the bench, including knocking down three 3-pointers. Brown posted a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double while Starling chipped in with ten points. Kyle Cuffe Jr. added nine points, all from behind the arc.

Hall’s hot start lasted through the entire first half, as he posted 21 of his game-high 25 points before the break. Girard hit four 3-pointers as he piled up 21 points against his former mates and Chase Hunter added 17. Ian Schieffelin was a load inside, not missing a shot as he finished with 16 points and 16 boards.

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