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Syracuse nearly did it. It nearly pulled off what would have been a major upset.

In a game against Miami two weeks ago, it was a turnover committed by Judah Mintz that gave the Hurricanes the chance to close out a last-second win. In the final moments facing North Carolina last week, it was a rebound and putback from Pete Nance that the Orange couldn’t stop off of a missed free throw. Then, on Monday night, it started with allowing another offensive rebound.

Ben Vander Plas faked out Jesse Edwards at the free throw line and got the center to jump past him. Vander Plas then drove down the lane and went up and under Maliq Brown for the layup attempt.

He missed, catalyzed by too much force from Brown going straight up at the rim. Justin Taylor swiped at the loose ball and missed and so did Joe Girard III. Vander Plas leapt back into position to regain the rebound and passed it out to Armaan Franklin, drawing Mintz out of position and leaving Kihei Clark wide open at the top of the key. Had Vander Plas made the initial layup, Virginia would’ve led 61-58. Had Syracuse corralled the defensive board, it’d only be down by one. Instead, Clark drained the wide open 3-pointer to extend Virginia’s lead to four points.

“I think we’ve struggled this year winning those close games. It hurts,” SU forward Chris Bell said.

Head coach Jim Boeheim can scoff at the question in postgame press conferences. Taylor can claim that “it’s just basketball,” but the fact remains that the Orange’s inability to close out games in the final few minutes has cost them multiple wins this season. Instead of Syracuse (13-10, 6-6 Atlantic Coast) competing for an NCAA Tournament spot as February hits, it sits near the bottom of the conference.

Jacques Megnizin | Design Editor

Taylor paused and looked up. Pittsburgh, Miami, North Carolina… He listed off the close contests that Syracuse nearly won., On Monday night, at home, another one was added to the list after a 67-62 loss to No. 6 Virginia. The loss to the Panthers was a blown 19-point lead. Against Miami and North Carolina, Mintz appeared a little too overzealous at times, pushing the issue. Virginia combined all of the mishaps the Orange have had in previous losses and led to yet another frustrating loss leaving players shaking their heads.

In its losses to the Cavaliers, Tar Heels and Hurricanes, SU fell by just a combined 10 points. Midgame runs of 12-0 and 12-2 against both Virginia and UNC showed the Orange had a win in their grasp, but let slip in the dying embers.

“I think coach (Boeheim) hit it, Maliq (Brown) said it when we came into the locker room: we gotta hit our free throws,” Symir Torrence said.

Bell said that Boeheim has been putting the Orange in late-game – situations in practice where they are down by four or fewer points. While he didn’t reveal what Syracuse has been trying to do differently — Torrence said overcoming late-game mistakes isn’t even a matter of experience — Bell said that the team still believes they have “big time shot makers” that can close out a game.

However, SU’s final shot was a 3 from Mintz, and the 20% shooter from beyond the arc was smothered. Girard, Syracuse’s leading scorer, had the ball at one point but flipped it back to Mintz. Taylor was also wide open near the top of the key.

In the final play against North Carolina, Mintz drew a charge that was upgraded to a Flagrant-I foul. Boeheim said he’s fine with how aggressive Mintz is, but Benny Williams was right next to Mintz. Mintz could have kept his head up, dumped the ball off and boxed out in the case of a Williams miss.

The same thing happened against Miami. Mintz drove into the lane as three defenders collapsed in on him to force the turnover. Edwards was right next to him, and Taylor was once again wide open along the perimeter. But Edwards has been bullied throughout conference play and is now a lock to foul out. Williams is playing inconsistently — if at all — and Brown and Taylor are still adjusting to collegiate basketball.

Jacques Megnizin | Design Editor

The Orange have been a consistent free throw shooting team this season, adding in fiery offensive doses to a lineup that shoots 47% from inside the arc. On Monday, it was open shots from the corner that let Virginia maintain a lead, then it was an 11-for-18 performance from the charity stripe that loomed large in the final possessions. “Shots just didn’t fall,” Torrence said.

“Obviously it’s super, super frustrating just because we have been shooting the ball super well,” Taylor said.

But Torrence also said that Syracuse needed to start doing the “little things.” Grabbing that rebound off a missed free throw, making their own free throws or making one extra pass to create space is what the Orange need to do.

A questionable offensive charge call on Edwards, his fifth of the evening, closed the book on a Syracuse comeback. The Cavaliers were double-teaming Edwards throughout the night down low, but SU had ample opportunities to take advantage of the pressure by swinging the ball to Taylor or Bell. If they really had those big game shooters, the play calling hasn’t signaled that late in the game.

“We did everything we did to win this game, but it got away at the last second,” Boeheim said after the North Carolina loss. Copy and paste that at least three other times this season.

Published on February 1, 2023 at 12:01 am

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt