Syracuse (13-5, 4-1 Atlantic Coast) fell to Clemson (10-7, 2-3) 66-53 at Littlejohn Coliseum on Saturday, and here are three quick observations from the game.

1. Cooney-less

Didn’t know just how badly the Orange needs its sharpshooter to produce? Now you do.

Rakeem Christmas was his usual self — tallying 21 points and collecting 10 rebounds — but the senior forward had no support from Cooney on the perimeter. That allowed the Tigers to clamp down on Christmas throughout the game as Cooney was blanketed by Clemson guard Rod Hall and rendered a non-threat.

Cooney didn’t score until he went to the line with 3:51 left in the game, and finished with five points while shooting 0-for-7 from the field and 0-for-5 from beyond the arc.

2. No adjustment

Clemson wasn’t supposed to shoot well from the outside, but that wasn’t the case after tipoff on Saturday. Yet the Orange never adjusted and Hall and Donte Grantham had a field day from deep. Those two combined to score 31 points and made six 3s on 11 attempts.

While SU shot 2-of-15 from 3 Clemson finished 8-for-20. That wasn’t the pregame script, but it’s how the game played out. And as it did, the Orange never made the right changes as the game gradually slipped away.

3. Lone bright spot

Syracuse’s offense shouldn’t take much out of the Clemson game, but freshman point guard Kaleb Joseph did take steps in the right direction.

After SU head coach Jim Boeheim challenged Joseph to be more aggressive offensively after the Orange beat Wake Forest on Tuesday, Joseph answered his call against the Tigers. Joseph finished with 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting, which was the second-highest total of all SU players.

Clemson smothered Cooney and did a good job agitating Joseph as well, but Joseph was able to excel at the rim and make enough space for his midrange jump shot. Syracuse needed more from its backcourt, yet Joseph did his job.

Published on January 17, 2015 at 6:07 pm