Fill out our Daily Orange reader survey to make our paper better


Super Nova: Orange can’t escape pitiful 1st half vs. Wildcats

PHILADELPHIA – Villanova hit one of its eight first half 3-pointers, and Demetris Nichols shook his head. Syracuse passed the ball to the third row for one of its 15 first half turnovers and Josh Wright shook his head. Maybe they were shaking their heads out of frustration. Or maybe it was out of amazement. Both would have been applicable on Saturday night.

The Orange dropped its second consecutive game, losing to Villanova, 80-65, in front of 20, 581 – the largest crowd to ever watch a college basketball game in Pennsylvania. It was a combination of a breathtaking first-half performance for the Wildcats and a frustrating performance from the Orange, who trailed 39-20 after the first 20 minutes.

‘Our offense is killing us,’ Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said. ‘(Villanova) started off 12-0. As much as it’s been the other team, it’s been ourselves on offense. We’re just making bad turnovers and we got to get that corrected.’

The Wildcats first half surge that Boeheim alluded to – the first 12 points that turned into a 26-8 lead when the Orange called its second timeout at the 9:33 mark of the first half – was primarily a result of a defense that scored 25 total points off SU turnovers. In comparison, the Orange mustered six points off turnovers.

The turnovers are somewhat uncharacteristic of SU, which entered the game averaging a middle-of-the-pack 15.6 turnovers.



‘We’re not a high turnover team,’ Boeheim said. ‘We take care of the ball well in games. I think we’re a little bit unsure offensively and everyone’s trying too hard to make something happen. But we have to get better movement. In the second half, we got a little better movement and a little better spacing and we got some real good possessions.’

Similar to Monday’s loss to Connecticut, SU surged in the second half, opening with a 17-2 run. Eric Devendorf, who finished with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and Terrence Roberts, who scored 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting, paced the Orange. They combined for 35 second-half points. SU cut the lead to four points on two occasions, but Villanova was able to extend the lead back to double-digits on the second occasion.

Two plays allowed the Wildcats to swing the momentum on their side. The first was when Eric Devendorf fouled Randy Foye when the senior was shooting a 3-pointer after SU initially cut the lead to four points. Foye connected on all three free throws, part of an impressive 32-of-35 Villanova performance from the charity stripe (91.4 percent). The second play was when Villanova forward Will Sheridan stole the ball from McNamara and found Kyle Lowry on an outlet pass who converted a lay-up while being fouled. The play highlighted a 14-4 run for Villanova.

The turnover was representative of a forgettable night for McNamara. He only scored four points, his first time in single digits since the season-opening win against Bethune-Cookman and his lowest point total since his freshman season. He also committed six turnovers and didn’t attempt a 3-pointer. (McNamara did manage to distribute seven assists.) Although Roberts and Devendorf played well, it wasn’t enough to offset McNamara’s off-night.

‘I don’t look it as me playing well. I look it as me playing just one half,’ said Roberts, who scored 16 points in the second half. ‘The first half I was invisible basically. When they needed me the most, I wasn’t there.’

The Wildcats’ much-hyped four-guard offense did precisely what it’s designed to do: swarm the opponent on defense and spread the ball around on offense until it can find an open shot. The guards – Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Mike Nardi and Kyle Lowry – combined for 63 points, which was 78.75 percent of the Wildcats’ scoring. But it wasn’t the four guards as much as it was the first 20 minutes that will haunt the Orange.

‘I was a little surprised we were able to get back in it so quickly,’ Boeheim said. ‘We just started off the game so poorly on both sides of the ball – defense and offense – and that’s not a good way to start.’





Top Stories