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The last time Syracuse lost to Cornell, Jim Boeheim was a first-year assistant, Lyndon B. Johnson was president and Adrian Autry hadn’t been born.

SU has dominated Cornell for the past half-century. Entering Wednesday, the Orange had defeated the Big Red 43 straight times and most of the games haven’t been particularly close, with only four of SU’s wins coming by less than double digits. Last season, Syracuse posted an 81-70 victory over the Big Red. Though in that matchup, Cornell only trailed by two with less than three minutes left.

The 130th rendition of Syracuse’s (4-2, Atlantic Coast Conference) and Cornell’s (4-3, Ivy League) rivalry induced more drama, with the Orange defeating the Big Red 82-72. SU’s leading scorer J.J. Starling struggled, finishing 3-for-17 with 12 points. But Syracuse got contributions from elsewhere. Freshman duo Elijah Moore and Donnie Freeman combined for 42 points, as SU broke a two-game losing streak.

“Coming into this game, I thought we made some progress in New York. That wasn’t the case today. We took steps backwards,” Autry said.

In Syracuse’s three previous home contests, it was forced to hold on down the stretch. Its wins were by a combined 15 points. Though Wednesday was SU’s largest margin of victory this season, it was anything but comfortable.

The Orange led by nine with 3:35 remaining, but Guy Ragland Jr.’s fifth 3-pointer of the game and a bucket from Nazir Williams cut their lead to four, forcing Autry to call a timeout.

An empty possession from Syracuse almost led to another bucket for Williams, but Lucas Taylor somehow rejected the point guard on a chase-down block. It led to Moore’s fifth 3-pointer of the game on the other end to make it 76-69. The five-point swing ended up being the difference to get Syracuse over the line.

“He’s starting to kind of settle in, and I expect him to continually settle in and provide us with that, with that spark with his team,” Autry said of Taylor, who played a season-high 21 minutes.

With Starling having his worst shooting night of the season (17.6%), Taylor stepped into the spotlight, along with Moore and Freeman. Starling came into the matchup averaging 26 points over his last three contests, but never got into a rhythm.

The junior’s early struggles led to another sluggish start, where the Orange began 1-for-15 from the field. Freeman was the only Syracuse player to score across the first seven-and-a-half minutes, as it fell behind 14-2.

Another factor to the slow start was Eddie Lampkin Jr.’s absence from the starting lineup for the first time. Autry said postgame that Lampkin’s initial absence was planned due to him not being 100%. He wasn’t slated to play until he tapped Autry on the shoulder in the first half and told him he was good to go.

Lampkin entered with SU trailing by nine at the under eight media timeout. Though he didn’t score, Lampkin’s presence brought stability to the floor. Moore hit his first 3, sparking a 15-0 run. The Orange started to get more cohesive looks, instead of settling for more jump shots. Freeman got a floater to go to level the game at 20, before four quick points from Starling gave SU its first advantage.

Moore then closed out the half strong. He scored seven of his game-high 13 first-half points in two minutes to end the half. He and Freeman had 23 of SU’s 39 points at halftime as the Orange led by 11.

As quickly as Syracuse built its advantage, it allowed Cornell right back in. Despite getting good looks to finish off the half, Syracuse reverted to settling for tough jump shots, which Autry lamented postgame.

Freeman misfired from deep on Syracuse’s opening possession before Ragland responded by canning Cornell’s sixth 3. Williams then maneuvered his way inside and Cooper Noard got free again to cap off a 10-2 run in just two-and-a-half minutes to cut SU’s lead to three.

During Syracuse’s two-game trip to Brooklyn, New York last week, Autry felt his team made strides defensively, but was critical of it again.

“It’s going to be up and down until this team understands we got to play defense and don’t let the offense impact the defense,” Autry said.

SU did hold Cornell to just 40% shooting from the field, but gave up 12 3-pointers. Autry also took issue with SU’s timeliness on defense, explaining that on too many occasions, Cornell answered a Syracuse score, which prevented it from creating separation.

“Guys that are not going to play with heart, that are not going to do what we actually do, will not play. Moving forward, that’s just the bottom line,” Autry said.

After allowing Cornell to cut into its deficit, Syracuse once again gained a rhythm. Moore drained a pair of 3s, while Freeman continued to be effective inside the arc.

In an attempt to get Syracuse out of rhythm, Cornell flipped to a 1-3-1 zone. Taylor quickly countered, hitting a catch and shoot mid-range shot. Freeman then worked his way into a crowd before pulling up for a tough 2 that he got to fall, extending Syracuse’s lead to 67-57.

Freeman then set up at the free throw line, executing a perfect feed to Davis on the block for a wide-open dunk on SU’s next offensive possession. The forward was aggressive on his next touch, going straight through the chest of a Cornell defender to deposit two, making it 71-61 with 4:23 left.

Cornell remained pesky as Ragland canned his fourth three of the game, cutting SU’s lead back down to seven with 4:03 remaining. Ragland’s 3 caused some nerves to creep into the JMA Wireless Dome.

It’s become a recurring theme in Syracuse wins. Create enough separation to be comfortable, but let the other team creep back in to cause a nail biting ending. It happened when SU led by eight in the first overtime against Youngstown State with just over a minute remaining. The Orange also led by double digits in the second half against Colgate, but ended up winning by just two.

Though Wednesday’s contest didn’t come down to the last second, with Syracuse finishing on a 9-3 run across the final two minutes. But the Orange once again showed that they’re still a work in progress.

“We got enough, but we can’t continue to have performances like these,” Autry said.

Published on November 27, 2024 at 9:12 pm

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