Three takeaways from Syracuse basketball’s 70-66 loss to Texas

The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team (3-1) suffered its first loss of the 2024-25 season, falling to the Texas Longhorns 70-66 in the Legends Classic. The Orange trailed by as many as 16, but fought back to take the lead late in the second half. In the end, Syracuse ended up coming up short from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn with Carmelo and Kiyan Anthony sitting courtside.

JJ Starling led the way with 16 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists, while Eddie Lampkin had 14 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists. Jyare Davis finished with 11 points and 7 rebounds, while Chris Bell scored 11 points.

Texas jumped out to a 9-0 lead and Adrian Autry abandoned his man-to-man defense and opted to go to a 2-3 zone for the first time this season. Also representing a first, Naheem McLeod made his season debut, checking in first off the bench along with Jyare Davis as Syracuse zoned out.

Texas opened the game in the first half and went into halftime with a 41-30 lead. The Orange was able to battle back in the second half behind the play of Starling and Lampkin, but ultimately struggled to get the defensive stops necessary (and avoid fouls) to get over the hump.

For takeaways.

A tale of two halves defensively

Syracuse continues to struggle at guard. That was evident from the opening tip as Texas struck first to open up a 9-0 advantage. Autry chose to go 2-3 zone with McLeod at center in the first half. The initial move to zone worked, but any immediate success with the defense quickly faded as Texas dissected the 2-3 zone for easy looks. The Longhorns shot 17-28 from the floor in the first half.

The Orange have been able to rebound well after forcing misses. The problem is that Syracuse doesn’t do enough to deter teams or force them into tough shots.

The second half was a different story as Syracuse locked down defensively, communicated effectively on screens and forced Texas into tougher, contested shots. The Longhorns shot just 10-30 in the second half. Still, Texas was able to close out this game with tough shots from Johnson and clutch free throws from the freshman.

No laying

Syracuse looked dead in the water for much of the first half. Texas held a 41-25 lead with 18:25 left in the game and looked poised to put this game away.

But Syracuse battled back and went on a 14-2 run behind Starling, Lampkin’s play and a timely three from Bell to get back in it. The Orange tied the game at 56 all on a Starling bucket with 6:13 left. It came right back to take the lead 59-58 with 4:07 left in the game.

Down the stretch, Syracuse couldn’t quite get the necessary stops and scores to get past Texas. The Orange won’t be satisfied with a morale victory, but showing this kind of fight by hanging with a team just outside the AP Top 25 is certainly a good sign for a team that struggled to put down Le Moyne, Colgate and Younstown Stay away.

#FreeThrowsMatter

Don’t look now, but Brent Ax is beating that drumbeat. While it’s easy to pinpoint any difference from the box score, no advantage was more glaring than the free throw line. Syracuse left some points off the board from the charity stripe, shooting 9-18 from the line, including some key misses late in the game.

Meanwhile, Texas was an efficient 12-14 from the free throw line for the game. Texas’ Johnson knocked down six straight free throws in crunch time that ultimately kept Syracuse at bay.

Free throw. They matter, people.