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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Syracuse’s first three games were supposed to be bye-ins. They ended up being anything but that. The Orange defeated Le Moyne and Colgate by a combined six points. Then came a double-overtime victory over Youngstown State.
Year 2 brought added expectations for head coach Adrian Autry as SU searches for its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021. Autry had ample time to build an adequate roster. One that so far, despite being 3-0, has disappointed.
Thursday would be a barometer to see if SU’s first three games were just an aberration. Facing Texas, a team which has made the past four NCAA Tournaments, the Orange could prove their doubters wrong.
For much of the night, it looked like Syracuse (3-1, Atlantic Coast Conference) was dead and buried. The step up in competition seemed to be too much, trailing by as much as 16 points in the second half. Through an inspired effort from Eddie Lampkin Jr. (12 points) and an improved defense, the Orange battled their way back, but fell just short with Texas (4-1, Southeastern Conference) eking out a 70-66 win.
A Lampkin free throw gave Syracuse a 59-58 lead 4:07 remaining — its first of the game. It was the 12th point of the second half for the center.
Tre Johnson responded for Texas with a mid-range jumper. J.J. Starling put Syracuse back on top, but four straight points from the Longhorns quelled SU’s momentum, making it 64-61 with 2:21 remaining. Two Jyare Davis free throws cut it to a one-point game, but Johnson responded with two of his own to put Texas up three with a minute left.
On an out of bounds play at the baseline, Jaquan Carlos looked for Chris Bell in the corner, but Bell flashed to the wing instead. Carlos’ pass went out of bounds and Johnson converted two more times at the charity stripe, extending UT’s advantage to five with 21 seconds left.
Starling scored and SU forced a steal, where Carlos was fouled. But he went 1-of-2 at the line, and Johnson hit his sixth free throw in a row to end Syracuse’s hopes of an improbable win.
A chaotic ending wasn’t on the cards when Syracuse found itself down 9-0 just over two-and-a-half minutes in. Texas attacked inside through Kadin Shedrick and Arthur Kaluma while star freshman Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer. The Longhorns offense looked fluid, with crisp passing creating open looks.
The same couldn’t be said for SU. Texas packed the paint, baiting Syracuse to shoot from the outside. The Orange’s first six shots were from beyond the arc. UT’s hard on-ball defense forced contested looks from Bell, both of which were off the mark. Even SU’s first make, courtesy of a Starling, came on a heavily challenged shot from the wing, to cut SU’s deficit to 9-3.
Nothing seemed to fall for Syracuse, so it eventually worked the ball inside. Naheem McLeod — in his first action of the season — looked to give SU life. He hauled in a Davis miss for a put-back and-one. Davis attacked again down low, converting a tough layup. Lampkin sealed his man in transition, though his bucket only cut Syracuse’s deficit to 22-11.
It was all for naught. Syracuse’s buckets came sporadically, while Texas’ offense flowed with ease. Autry flipped to a 2-3 zone out of the first media timeout to try and get Texas out of rhythm, but it saw little success.
Jordan Pope’s tough fadeaway jumper was followed by a euro step drive by Julian Larry to put Texas up 27-14. At that point, Syracuse was 6-for-20 from the field, while UT was 10-for-18.
SU’s inconsistency on the offensive end prevented it from going on an extended run. A couple good shots were followed by sloppy possessions. Starling and Donnie Freeman scored on back-to-back possessions, cutting its deficit to eight for the first time since four minutes in, but the lead ballooned right back to 14 following a 6-0 Texas run.
With two minutes remaining in the first half, Kaluma sank his fourth field goal to put Texas up 37-21 — the Longhorns’ largest advantage to that point. SU managed to cut into the deficit slightly. Freeman sank a 3-pointer from the top of the arc as Syracuse headed into the break trailing 41-30.
Yet the Orange started the second half much like they did the first, following two turnovers on their opening possessions. The sloppiness allowed Texas to extend its lead back to 16 less than two minutes after the break.
The Orange looked dead and buried but furiously roared back with a 12-2 run, boosted by seven straight points by Lampkin. First came a bank shot from the free throw line. Following a Texas turnover, the big man converted inside down low plus the foul.
Another Syracuse stop ensued and it fed the hot hand. Starling curled around a screen and hit Lampkin for a wide-open dunk, cutting Texas’ lead to 52-46. The bucket forced Texas head coach Rodney Terry to call timeout. Before heading to the bench, Lampkin high-fived Carmelo Anthony and his son — recent SU commit Kiyan Anthony.
Out of the timeout, Bell cashed in a triple to make it a one possession game for the first time since the opening possession. Lampkin’s ninth point in four minutes made it a one-point game the next time down the floor.
SU’s offensive momentum was slightly halted following two turnovers and a 1-for-4 effort at the free throw line from Davis. Chendall Weaver deposited two points on a floater to make it 56-52 with 7:49 remaining before Autry called timeout.
Out of the break, Starling went into attack mode, with two straight tough buckets to tie the game at 56.
Out of nowhere, Syracuse made a game of it down the stretch, which seemed out of the realm of possibility through the first 25 minutes of play. Even though the Orange took a lead at one point, they didn’t come up with enough plays in crunch time to pull off a shocker.
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