Syracuse basketball struggled in a five-point win over inferior Monmouth.
It was not that Syracuse basketball played poorly, but Monmouth tested their limits on Tuesday night.
The Syracuse Orange hosted the Monmouth Hawks, and the Hawks gave them maybe their toughest test of the season yet. The Orange pulled out a win 78-73 and are now 4-0 on their start to the season, making it the first time they have gone undefeated through four games since the 2017-18 season, a team that made a surprising run to the NCAA Tournament, getting all the way to the Sweet Sixteen. Maybe this is a Syracuse team that finally has its spark back and could make yet another run.
The Orange saw a 14-point lead with less than seven minutes left to play in the second half, but that lead got cut to two under the final minute. With 10.1 seconds left, Bryce Zephir got fouled in the backcourt and missed both free throws, allowing the Hawks to come down the floor and have one last attempt. Jason Rivera-Torres took an off-balanced three and missed, giving SU a sigh of relief.
This issue was free throws, as Syracuse shot 19-33 from the line, a whopping 57% and the second time this season they shot less than 60% from the charity stripe. For Monmouth, Justin Ray led the Hawks with a career high of 25 points off 4-7 from downtown, keeping them alive.
After a first half that the Orange were not expecting, Monmouth seemed not to budge. Syracuse went into the locked room only up 36-33. A main contributor to this was rebounding for Syracuse. The Orange were out-rebounded 21-17 in the first half, and to make matters even worse, it was 13-4 at one point in the first half. Syracuse picked it up in the second half with rebounding, but only led the margin 36-35, which is not ideal for the caliber of this matchup.
The expectations are high this season, and guard J.J. Starling was frustrated with efforts to crash the boards.
“To get to where we want to go, that can’t be the result…we knew that coming into the season, we knew rebounding was going to be a focus for us, and that is something we need to work on,” said Starling.
The Orange head to Las Vegas next week for the Players Era Tournament to take on No. 2 Houston and No. 24 Kansas, and rebounding will have to be on point.
Energy seemed low and was not what it was like in the prior three games. Without any energy, the Syracuse offense will struggle as they thrive on this. Coach Adrian Autry knows this will be a work in progress.
“I don’t think our energy was there consistently, and that is the difference. When our energy is there and our focus is there, that will make the difference; we will have to continue to work on that,” said Autry.
Monmouth was the most competitive they have seen and gave them the most trouble not just physically on the floor but also mentally, challenging Syracuse basketball and forcing them to face some adversity.
“We still closed the game out…made some free throws, fought through some adversity… it was the first game this year we have fought through this adversity, and to be able to pull this win out is a good encouraging sign,” said Autry.
There will have to be a switch that is flipped to stay a competitive team, and some more Noah Lobdell enthusiasm from the “juicing station”.
In addition to the lack of energy, shot blocking is a key factor in helping to feed into that energy. Syracuse had eight blocked shots to Monmouth’s five, with William Kyle III protecting the rim for the Orange. Not only will this help with energy from the team, but the fans and the crowd will feed off of this energy. Kyle has led the team in blocks this season with a total of 13 and feels not just his presence can help boost the Orange on the interior on defense
“Knowing the guys have someone behind them, not just me, but Donnie (Freeman) and Sadiq (White), just athletes who could protect around the rim and will definitely bring us energy.”
Blocked shots and interior defense could be a way for the Orange to prosper this season.
The return of Starling raised many questions about this new look for Syracuse. It was almost like Autry did not even need him out there. They drew up the first play for him, and he missed a hook shot on the right side of the basket, but then did not take a shot again until 6:36 left in the first half. Starling quickly got subbed out of the game, not even four minutes in, for replacement by freshman Kiyan Anthony. Starling picked it up in the second half with an and-one on the first possession, and finished with 11 points on 4-6 shooting from the field. The play has been limited for him, and although he has been injured to start the season, there are new faces in town for the Orange. His teammates are still high on his presence as he is the veteran leader of this team, and many Orange fans would not doubt that his play would decrease this much.
Anthony has stepped into this role as we saw him start in the win over Drexel last week and now he gets to see what starting and getting time of the bench is really like.
“Its different for sure…but definitely helpful to see what I can do in the starting lineup…finding my role coming off the bench…and trying to just play my game and find that same rhythm,” Anthony said.
This is helping Kiyan transform into the college ready player he has been made out to be.
Syracuse basketball raised some questions in the win over Monmou,th but closed it out in the end after a scary finish. They will use their 4-0 start to take their talents to Las Vegas for back-to-back top 25 matchups, where energy, rebounding, and free-throws, will be the key to success.
Up next for Syracuse:
Nov. 24 – No. 2 Houston Cougars
Nov. 25 – No. 24 Kansas Jayhawks
Nov. 26-27 – Players Era Championship