Observations from SU’s ACC loss to Clemson: Tigers survive, Freeman returns
Syracuse senior guard J.J. Starling only mustered four points in the Orange's ACC-opening loss to Clemson Wednesday. Matthew Crisafulli | Contributing Photographer
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After an up-and-down nonconference slate, which included a Quad 1 win over No. 19 Tennessee and an upset loss at home to Hofstra, Syracuse began Atlantic Coast Conference play by hosting Clemson. The Tigers entered Wednesday ranked No. 35 by KenPom and EvanMiya.
In Year 16 under head coach Brad Brownell, Clemson’s nonconference portion was highlighted by an overtime triumph over No. 23 Georgia and close losses to No. 10 BYU and No. 14 Alabama. With the Tigers looking to make a third straight March Madness and the Orange trying to snap a four-year drought, the ACC opener presented both programs with a Quad 2 opportunity.
While Clemson led for most of the contest, Syracuse cut its deficit to 63-61 with 42.1 seconds remaining as Donnie Freeman percolated down in the stretch in his return to the court after missing the previous nine games. However, he missed a game-tying 3-point attempt with nine seconds remaining, and the Tigers escaped central New York with a 64-61 win.
Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (9-5, 0-1 ACC) ACC-opening loss against Clemson (11-3, 1-0 ACC):
Clemson prevails down the stretch
Though Syracuse never led in the second half, it cut its deficit to 51-47 after William Kyle III made two free throws with 6:01 remaining. Kyle III’s conversions followed Clemson’s RJ Godfrey — who scored a game-high 14 points — picking up his fourth foul. While Clemson struggled shooting from 3-point range all game (finishing 4-of-16), Dillon Hunter stepped up by drawing nylon from beyond the arc with Godfrey on the bench.
Freeman answered by draining a catch-and-shoot 3 from the right wing, but Hunter responded by pouring in another triple to give the Tigers a 57-50 lead with 5:08 remaining. After a scoreless minute and a half, Clemson called a timeout, which led to another two Hunter points after a SU defensive breakdown, extending the lead to nine.
Freeman got the Orange back on the board with two free throws before J.J. Starling forced a turnover with 2:45 remaining. Offensively, Freeman canned another catch-and-shoot 3 from the right wing to cut the score to 59-55. However, the Tigers then quickly pushed the pace, leading to an easy Jestin Porter layup.
While Freeman kept SU alive with two made free throws, Porter again got an easy deuce the other way. However, Clemson nearly started collapsing from there.
Naithan George worked his way inside for a floater, and then Syracuse forced a five-second violation. The Tigers forced Starling into a turnover, but couldn’t capitalize as they were called for a shot clock violation, leading 63-59 with 50.1 seconds remaining.
Needing a basket, George drove through the lane before dishing his sixth assist to Freeman, who cut inside for an easy deuce. Leading 63-61, Hunter tried getting inside to push the advantage to two scores but was blocked by Kyle with 20 seconds remaining. It led to a Tigers inbound with 4.3 seconds on the shot clock, where Freeman proceeded to foul Carter Welling.
Welling then made his first attempt before missing his second, which gave SU an opportunity to tie the game. However, Freeman missed a clean look from the top of the key, and Clemson survived.
Donnie Freeman’s return
Heading into the Players Era Festival, Syracuse was 4-0, and almost everything seemed to be clicking. And then, Freeman was ruled out for the tournament with a lower-body injury hours before SU faced No. 8 Houston. Head coach Adrian Autry affirmed Syracuse’s star forward would return soon and wouldn’t be out for the season.
It seemed like déjà vu after Freeman was labeled “day to day” for over a month last year before being ruled out for the season after playing just 14 games as a freshman. After starting the season 4-0, the Orange went 5-4 while Freeman missed nearly six weeks with his injury.
But at long last, Syracuse’s star returned versus the Tigers. Freeman came off the bench and first entered at the 16:25 mark. Over his first six minutes and change, Freeman missed two shots after trying to back his defender down, notched a block, had a turnover and bricked a 3-pointer.
The sophomore was subbed out with 9:02 remaining but returned about three minutes later with SU leading 24-23. Though Freeman remained scoreless, missing five field goals entering halftime, Syracuse stayed afloat, trailing by one.
Freeman sat out the first four and a half minutes of the second half before returning. His first notable play came just over a minute later, when a pass went right through his hands, leading to an easy Ace Buckner transition score to give Clemson a 40-32 lead.
After receiving a feed from Kiyan Anthony a couple of minutes later, Freeman backed down his defender before floating in his first points of the game to cut the deficit to 43-37 at the 11:50 mark. The score helped Freeman get going, as he scored another four points over the next two minutes after working his way inside.
Freeman then percolated as the Orange tried to overcome their deficit, finishing the game with 18 points (all of which came in the second half) and nine rebounds while playing 27 minutes.
Playing to Autry’s mantra
As crazy as it may sound, Autry has emphasized that he cares more about energy than made or missed shots.
“He just wants us to sustain ‘level five,’” Anthony said of Autry’s philosophy after defeating Northeastern on Dec. 20. “He doesn’t really care about makes or misses, just playing hard defense and doing whatever we can to just sustain a ‘level five.’”
To say the least, it’s an interesting strategy. It can also, in part, explain why the Orange have played up to the level of the Houstons and Tennessees of the world while playing down to the Hofstras and Monmouths.
Syracuse shooting 40% from the field and 33.3% from 3-point range certainly wasn’t encouraging. But Autry’s squad fought the whole game. Despite trailing 12-3 in the opening minutes, the Orange fought back to take a 24-23 lead at the 6:38 mark before taking a 29-28 deficit into the locker room at halftime.
Though Syracuse saw its deficit expand to 10 and also didn’t make a field goal for nearly six minutes in the first eight minutes of the second half, Clemson never went on a back-breaking run.
With just over eight minutes remaining, a Kyle III alley-oop forced a Clemson timeout with its lead down to 49-45. Despite Clemson leading the whole half, Syracuse continued to fight, eventually cutting its deficit down to two. However, fighting wasn’t enough, and the Orange dropped a crucial game.
Scoring distribution
Entering Wednesday, Syracuse had six players — Freeman (17.8), Starling (11.3), Anthony (10.9), Kyle III (10.5), George (10.4) and Nate Kingz (10.3) — averaging double-digit points per game. However, in Freeman’s absence, the Orange often struggled with nobody emerging as an alpha scorer.
Even with Freeman back, that sentiment rang true for most of the game before Freeman got hot down the stretch. His 18 points led Syracuse, while George (10) was the only other Orange to score in double figures. Meanwhile, Freeman was the only SU player to attempt double-digit field goals, finishing with 11.
After scoring a season-high 20 points versus Stonehill, Starling finished with four points while shooting 2-of-7 from the field. Anthony and Tyler Betsey gave Syracuse a lift off the bench, combining for 15 points and both playing 15 minutes.
