The Syracuse (4-4) shooters went ice-cold and got outscored 38-25 in the second half versus Iowa (6-2) on Tuesday night in the Dome.
Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard III shot a combined 1-9 from three and 4-18 from the field. Leading scorer Elijah Hughes struggled from the field as well going 3-13.
The underwhelming performance resulted in Syracuse’s third consecutive loss of the season. The 68-54 loss to Iowa also marks the third straight time in which the Orange have fallen by double digits to an out of conference foe.
“There was a lot of bad out there, I didn’t see much good,” coach Jim Boeheim said after the game.
Syracuse entered the contest as a slight favorite, yet struggled once again to keep up with a team that could match their talent level.
Iowa’s big man, Luka Garza, lead the way for the Hawkeyes with 23 points and 9 rebounds. The junior listed at 6’11 and 260lbs was a mismatch nightmare for the Syracuse defense from start to finish.
Boeheim said, “we’ve played three games in a row against a big guy that dominated us. We just can’t handle that.”
The Orange trailed 30-29 at halftime and while the Syracuse zone was leaking, courtesy of Garza, the offense still had plenty of opportunities to put up points. The offense had trouble finding any consistent rhythm for much of the night and when they did they still came up empty.
Boeheim acknowledged the offensive woes postgame by saying that it is currently the team’s biggest issue.
Syracuse’s leading scorer was Marek Dolezaj with 12 points and Elijah Hughes was just behind him with 10 points. Outside of Quincy Guerrier, the Syracuse bench also struggled to provide any significant contribution.
It was a night in which Syracuse’s stars couldn’t find the nylon. If it continues, so will the losing.
Syracuse will travel south to play their second ACC game of the season Saturday against Georgia Tech.