What we learned from Syracuse’s 93-60 loss to St. John’s
Jacob Greenfeld | Asst. Photo Editor
St. John's beat a struggling Syracuse team and shrunk the Orange's margin of error.
Syracuse suffered its worst home loss in the Jim Boeheim era on Wednesday night, a 93-60 thumping at the hands of St. John’s (6-7) in the Carrier Dome. The Orange dropped to 7-5 on the year marking the first time in program history SU has lost five nonconference games.
Here’s what we learned from the contest.
MORE COVERAGE
- Superlatives from Syracuse’s 93-60 blowout loss to St. John’s
- Syracuse’s season descends into disarray in historic, 93-60 loss to St. John’s
- Andrew White scores 2 points, has season-worst performance in blowout loss to St. John’s
- The Final Word: Beat writers discuss Syracuse’s big loss, 93-60, to St. John’s
Syracuse will need some upsets in Atlantic Coast Conference play
Boeheim’s squad is now in unchartered territory with a record number of nonconference losses. A year ago, the Orange barely snuck into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 10 seed with three nonconference losses as well as wins over Texas A&M and Connecticut.
After losing on Saturday against Georgetown, SU eliminated essentially any margin for error in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Following the loss to St. John’s, not only will Syracuse need to win every game it’s supposed to, it will without a doubt also have to upset some teams. Six ACC teams currently rank in the Associated Press Top 25 while three others received votes. SU didn’t receive a single vote this week.
If there’s any silver lining to playing in arguably the toughest conference in the country, it’s that the Orange can play its way back into contention. But as of now, Syracuse is in bad shape.
“We can’t win many of those games, the way we’re playing right now,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “That’s what I see.”
Jim Boeheim is willing to take the heat for Syracuse’s struggles
After the game on Wednesday, Boeheim, unprompted, said the loss was on him.
“I didn’t get them ready to do what we needed to do,” Boeheim said. “We just didn’t execute on defense or offense. St. John’s did. That was the game.”
When a reporter followed up about the loss being his fault, Boeheim said, “I don’t think I (do know what I’m doing) with this team because they’re not doing what we need to do to win.”
Boeheim hasn’t been shy to point out specifics in what’s been wrong with SU this year. After losing to Connecticut, he said his team’s offense was “horrendous.” After losing to Georgetown, he said guard play had to improve.
Andrew White’s inability to get going throws the offense out of rhythm
When Andrew White is shut down, so is SU’s offense
Entering Wednesday, fifth-year senior transfer Andrew White had scored in double-figures in every game this season. For the first time all year, he was shut down. St. John’s played a box-and-one against him and Malik Ellison rendered White ineffective.
White averaged almost nine 3-pointers attempted coming into Wednesday night’s game but only took two against the Red Storm. His lone bucket came with 16:49 left in the second half on a tip-in following his own missed layup.
After the game, White said it was the least amount of space he’s had all season and that him being shut down threw the whole team out of rhythm. Tyler Lydon scored 16 points, but other than that only Taurean Thompson and Dajuan Coleman reached double figures just two days after eight players did the same.
“Gotta give a lot of credit to their coaching staff,” White said, “They drew up a great game plan.”
Published on December 21, 2016 at 11:59 pm
Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds
