For a Syracuse team replacing 86 percent of its scoring from a year ago and 80 percent of its starting lineup, the 2017-18 Orange squad still resembles last season’s. The scoring load has been carried by two players — Tiana Mangakahia and Miranda Drummond — and the team has struggled early on in conference play, specifically on the road.

“We have nine, 10 newcomers on the court playing in one of the best conferences in the country,” SU head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “… It’s tough to win on the road.”

SU has four losses, all of which have occurred away from the friendly confines of the Carrier Dome. One was a neutral-site game, and the rest have been on the courts of conference opponents. Last year, Syracuse won just one of its first four conference road games. Hillsman doesn’t think it’s an issue. He argues that his team has no bad losses and even one upset win. But SU still hasn’t cracked the Associated Press Top 25 poll and it currently sits eighth in the ACC standings.

When Syracuse (14-4, 2-3 Atlantic Coast) travels to Coral Gables, Florida to take on Miami on Thursday night and returns home to face Pittsburgh on Sunday, it has a chance to defeat two of the lesser teams in the conference and find the consistency it has lacked so far in conference play. Last year, SU played then-No. 14 Miami following two conference road losses and routed the Hurricanes, 81-48, in the Carrier Dome. Since then, Miami has graduated three starters and is 10th in the ACC.

“We’re there most of those games and we have a chance to win at the end of the game,” Hillsman said. “… We have to finish the game and be tougher.”

The Orange sprinted out to its best start in eight years (11-0) before falling to then-No.5 Mississippi State in Las Vegas on Dec. 21. After being outpaced by the Bulldogs, 76-65, SU bounced back with a win against UNLV to close out its non-conference schedule. But since then, the Orange has sputtered, tallying a 2-3 record to start conference play.

In its first conference matchup against then-No. 2 Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana, the Orange were gashed down low and allowed 48 points inside the paint. Mangakahia was the only player to score more than 15 points but committed eight turnovers. Despite leading by one in the third quarter, the Orange allowed a 10-0 Irish run and ended up losing by 15. After the contest, which took place on Dec. 28, Hillsman said his team had to do a better job of closing out games.

Three days later against Virginia in Charlottesville, SU’s offense wilted in the fourth quarter and connected on just four of 14 shots. Mangakahia, again, was the majority of SU’s offense but she shot just 33 percent from the field and committed 12 turnovers, five of which came in the final frame. The back-to-back losses marked the first time in three years that SU started conference play 0-2.

After the game, Hillsman again noted that his team couldn’t close it out. The 12-year head coach cited a play down the stretch, with SU down by a possession and UVA at the free-throw line, when J’Kyra Brown missed but the Cavaliers got it back after the Orange couldn’t secure the rebound.

Syracuse returned home and won its first two conference games of the year in the Carrier Dome against Georgia Tech and then-No. 11 Florida State. Those victories came off two stellar scoring outbursts from Mangakahia and Drummond that Hillsman isn’t “trying to figure out.”

“When I’m not having a good day or Miranda isn’t,” Mangakahia said, “I think we can all step up and contribute.”

On Jan. 14, against North Carolina State, Mangakahia and Drummond were limited to 27 combined points and no other scorer reached double-digits. The Orange led at half, but still were outrebounded and fell in Raleigh, North Carolina.

SU’s upcoming stretch would be an opportune time to find the steadiness it has needed and get above .500 in the ACC. SU’s next five opponents are a combined 6-18 against other teams in conference.  After Miami and Pittsburgh, Syracuse faces Clemson, Boston College and Virginia Tech. Two of those games, Miami and Boston College, will be away from the Carrier Dome and test the Orange’s ability to close out games on the road. If Syracuse looks to prove itself as an upper-echelon team in the ACC, it will need to.

“It’s a long conference season,” Hillsman said. “There’s a lot of basketball left to play. We’re trying to stay healthy and get through these games and compete at the highest level.”

Published on January 17, 2018 at 10:49 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez