Syracuse offense falters as Orange drop ACC opener to Clemson 64-61
Donnie Freeman nearly willed Syracuse into overtime by scoring 18 second-half points, but it wasn’t enough as the Orange fell to Clemson 64-61. Matthew Crisafulli | Contributing Photographer
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J.J. Starling said Syracuse’s previous contest, a 77-48 drubbing over a lowly Stonehill program, was a relief. He thought it was the first time all season the Orange put together an excellent 40-minute, wire-to-wire performance. There was no better time for Starling to feel that way — considering it was SU’s final tune-up before entering Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Yet, in their crucial ACC opener at home against Clemson, the Orange reverted to their inconsistent, erratic ways.
Syracuse (9-5, 0-1 ACC) lost to Clemson (11-3, 1-0 ACC) 64-61 Wednesday afternoon in the JMA Wireless Dome. The Orange shot 40% from the field and gave up a whopping 46 points in the paint. SU head coach Adrian Autry got what he wanted on New Year’s Eve: an all-out dogfight. That style of play, Autry says, is how this SU team is supposed to win. Yet, once again, mere “effort” and “fight” couldn’t resolve Syracuse’s inefficiencies.
Even 18 second-half points from SU forward Donnie Freeman in his return from injury weren’t enough.
Late Tuesday night, the ACC’s initial player availability report didn’t list Freeman with an injury designation. The star sophomore missed Syracuse’s previous nine games with a lower-body ailment, but Freeman was back just in time for the conference opener.
Despite a healthy Freeman, who logged 27 minutes off the bench, the Orange had a tough time taming the Tigers.
Clemson held a commanding 12-3 lead with 15:30 left before halftime. The Orange made just one of their first four free-throw attempts, looked lost in transition and static in the half court, all while struggling to get stops.
As inconsistent as Syracuse was in the first half, life pumped through the Dome when point guard Naithan George lobbed the ball up for a soaring Akir Souare, who finished a two-handed alley-oop jam and drew a foul. After Souare cashed the free throw to cut Clemson’s lead to 23-21, Starling blocked a layup from Butta Johnson, grabbed the rebound and hit George for an open 3 on the right wing.
All of a sudden, SU led 24-23. Then, amid Syracuse’s palpable momentum boost, Autry stopped play to substitute freshman forward Sadiq White for the rusty Freeman. Freeman soon missed his fourth consecutive shot as SU’s run ended, trailing 27-26 with 3:28 left in the half.
It’s fair to see why Autry would want Freeman in as much as possible, though. The Orange’s paint defense was bad without him. They surrendered 46 paint points to the Tigers, 22 more than SU’s offense generated. Forwards RJ Godfrey (team-high 14 points), Jake Wahlin and Carter Welling had their way with William Kyle III, White and Souare inside.
Freeman, however, was a force, totaling nine rebounds and a block on the day.
The Orange’s offense looked dazed and confused in half-court sets, like at the 14:40 mark of the second half, when George air balled a 3 to cause a shot-clock violation on Syracuse.
Meanwhile, perfect ball movement from Clemson in its own half court left Johnson wide open as his man, Anthony, was drawn away from the shooter. Johnson drained the 3-pointer, giving the Tigers their then-largest lead of the contest at 43-33.
Freeman followed with four straight points on his first two field-goal makes of the game, providing a necessary boost. And with more consistent stops on the defensive end, a Starling lob to Kyle at the 8:10 mark injected hope into the Dome once again as SU trailed just 49-45.
The Orange simply couldn’t pull away, though, failing to hit enough big shots down the stretch. Starling missed a corner 3 with under 7:00 left, which would’ve put Syracuse down by just one point. After a subsequent block from Kyle, SU’s big man missed a short jump-hook on the opposite end. Clemson’s Dillon Hunter quickly splashed a huge 3-pointer.
Even when Syracuse did hit the big shot — when Freeman canned a 3 from deep along the right wing — it allowed Hunter to hit a similar shot on the other end, giving the Tigers a 57-50 advantage. The final stretch featured Freeman scoring at will, but SU didn’t hold up on defense.
A Freeman lay-in made it a two-point game with 42.1 seconds left, and for a moment, it looked like Syracuse could finally pull away. Then Freeman got called for a foul that sent Clemson center Carter Welling to the free-throw line, and after he split the two shots, Freeman missed a potential game-tying 3 to end his heroic late-game performance with a thud.
