Syracuse men’s basketball could not pick up its first quadrant one win of the season on Saturday. The Orange fell 71-59 to Virginia Tech, moving SU back to 13-12 overall and 7-7 in the ACC.
It was an up and down game throughout for Syracuse, who started slow, battled back, but still went into the locker room down double digits. In the second half, Virginia Tech held its lead, but SU came back to tie the game at 54 with under 10 minutes to go.
Then, disaster. SU goes over five minutes without scoring and Virginia Tech goes back up double-digits and holds on for a 12 point win. The Hokies only shot 8-27 from three-point range, under 30%, but the Orange could not take advantage.
Syracuse made more threes than Virginia Tech and still lost the game. 11 turnovers plagued the Orange, while the Hokies only had four the whole night. Another big stat disparity was foul shooting. SU only got to the line four times and went 1-4. Virginia Tech took 21 free throws and made 17 of them.
“21 free throws to four there is no way to account for that,” Jim Boeheim said postgame.
Those two numbers essentially decided this game against the Orange. The Hokies took advantage of SU’s mistakes, and Justyn Mutts was the main enforcer. The Virginia Tech forward had the second triple-double in school history with 12 points, 14 rebounds, and 11 assists.
Mutts’ ability to facilitate from the high post and find shooters on the outside, along with Keve Aluma on the inside was detrimental to Syracuse’s defense. That’s nothing to take away from Frank Anselem’s performance. The sophomore center stepped in for the injured Jesse Edwards and scored six points, corralled 15 rebounds, and blocked a couple of shots.
Aside from Anselem, there was not much good on the Syracuse side of things. Buddy Boeheim and Joe Girard were the only SU players to get to double figures. The guard duo shot a combined 8-17 from three, which is good, but not good enough to win.
Cole Swider and Jimmy Boeheim struggled for the Orange, combining for 14 points and only 2-10 from three. Swider, who had been scorching hot of late, was 0-5 himself. The senior forward has proven to be the X-Factor for Syracuse. When he plays well, SU likely wins. When he plays poorly, SU likely loses.
Syracuse has a week off before its next game, next Saturday at home against Boston College. The Orange downed the Eagles 73-64 in Chestnut Hill last Tuesday. GZA Countdown to tipoff starts at 11:30 on Saturday before a noon start in the Dome.