Syracuse’s consistency problem persists in win vs. Northeastern
Throughout Syracuse's 91-83 victory over Northeastern, SU's consistency problems prevented it from pulling away from the Huskies. Courtesy of Seth Gitner
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Syracuse’s season can best be described as a pendulum. Adrian Autry knows it, too.
“We improve here,” Autry said, placing his right hand on the podium, “then we go down here,” he added, dropping his left.
“We gotta get that balance,” Autry noted while alternating his hands up and down. “That’ll be the challenge for us going forward.”
Despite defeating Northeastern (4-6, 0-0 Coastal Athletic) 91-83 for its second straight win since getting upset by Hofstra, the Orange’s (8-4, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) consistency problems persisted. A once 15-point second-half lead was trimmed to seven before the Orange re-gained a 14-point lead with 5:49 remaining. Three and a half minutes later, Syracuse all of a sudden only led by five before closing out an eight-point win.
Though the Orange scored a season-high 91 points, their 83 conceded was the second-most this season. Despite draining 13-of-14 (92.9%) free throws in the first half, SU reverted to a 21-of-34 (61.8%) clip in the second. And for the third straight game, Syracuse was outscored in the second half after leading at halftime. It led to SU’s KenPom ranking going down to a season-low No. 83.
“Obviously, I’m the head coach, but the players have some responsibility as well,” Autry said postgame. “My job is to keep challenging them on that and get them through that. I think they understand that more and more now, because this is like two or three games that we’ve had this.”
The third-year head coach feels his team loses focus once they take a double-digit lead, and they “have to push through that.” It’s somewhat remarkable that this is the case because, against No. 8 Houston, No. 17 Kansas and No. 20 Tennessee, Autry’s coveted “fight” never stopped.
Hypothetically, cruising by teams like Northeastern shouldn’t be too difficult, right? For Syracuse, wrong.
“We just got to be more mentally locked in,” J.J. Starling said. “That’s what it comes down to, being locked in and engaged for a full 40 minutes.”
That hasn’t been the case for three straight games since Syracuse opened its season by defeating Binghamton, Delaware State and Drexel by a combined 108 points. Even with Hofstra, Mercyhurst and Northeastern supposed to be among the easiest three-game stretches on the Orange schedule, their point differential across the stretch was plus-21.
Across the three games, SU lost the 3-point discrepancy each time. After making just three triples to the Huskies’ eight on Saturday, it made 15 in the span compared to the 25 it conceded.
Syracuse’s 29.8% 3-point percentage ranks 299th in the country heading into its final nonconference matchup against Stonehill on Monday.
“That definitely is a concern. We got to make shots,” Autry said.
En route to a 41-31 halftime lead, SU limited Northeastern to 1-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc. Among the seven 3-pointers the Huskies drilled in the second half, six came after Syracuse led 65-50 with 10 minutes remaining.
If not for Naithan George tallying a season-high 22 points, it might’ve resulted in another unacceptable nonconference home loss. It’s the first time the Orange have had a player score at least 20 points since Donnie Freeman — who missed his eighth straight game Saturday with a lower body injury — did so against Delaware State.
George, who led the ACC in assists at Georgia Tech last year, was 12-of-14 from the free-throw line while adding six assists and six rebounds.
“(Northeastern was) a good team, but we had them, and we just got to kind of keep our foot on their necks and extend that lead,” George said. “That comes with that focus and that drive to wanting to be the best team that we could be.”
The Huskies, who were ranked No. 214 by KenPom pregame, were led by Ryan Williams (20), Xander Alarie (19) and Youri Fritz (17) scoring a combined 56 points. However, SU offset that by Kiyan Anthony (18), William Kyle III (14), Nate Kingz (14) and Tyler Betsey (14) all also scoring in double figures.
While scoring wasn’t a problem for Syracuse, at least inside the 3-point arc, getting a stop was. Autry feels SU stopped paying attention to the ball, whether it was off a cut or on a kick-out 3-pointer. Autry also emphasized that the Orange need to be better in keeping offensive players in front of them because the Huskies had “too much drive and penetration.”
As SU’s schedule changes gears toward ACC play, consistency is something it will need to find quickly. With how the Orange played against Northeastern, they can still squeak out wins because they’re simply the better team.
If inconsistencies trickle into conference play against teams like Duke, Louisville or North Carolina, SU fans will grow even more restless as a four-year NCAA Tournament drought threatens to extend to five.
With a rebuilt roster and Freeman sidelined, swings are inevitable. Whether Syracuse can stabilize them may define its season.
