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Through six games, Syracuse only left the friendly confines of the JMA Wireless Dome twice, but neither was a real road matchup. The Orange played against Texas and Texas Tech in Brooklyn, New York, at the Legends Classic, with a heavy Syracuse contingent.

SU’s first true road test came Tuesday as it traveled to Knoxville to take on Tennessee for the SEC/ACC Challenge. The Volunteers have been dominant throughout the first few weeks of the season, winning their first seven games. Their games haven’t been particularly close, beating opponents by an average of 27 points.

Despite looking somewhat competitive in the first half, Syracuse was completely outmatched after the break. The Orange were outscored 51-35 in the second half while shooting 43% from the field, leading to their largest loss of the season.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (4-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) 96-70 blowout loss to No. 3 Tennessee (8-0, 0-0 Southeastern):

Life without Starling

An already tough matchup for Syracuse got even harder Tuesday morning when the team announced that its leading scorer, J.J. Starling, was ruled out for the game. Voice of the Orange Matt Park later revealed on X that Starling broke his left hand.

Starling has shouldered a large offensive load for the Orange this season, averaging 19.8 points per game. He’s been the go-to option for SU when it needs a bucket. Starling carried the Orange in their 104-95 double-overtime win over Youngstown State on Nov. 16, scoring a career-high 38 points, 31 of which came after halftime.

Without Starling, the question was, who would fill his spot? SU head coach Adrian Autry elected to start Lucas Taylor, following a season-high nine points last Wednesday against Cornell. Even with Taylor getting the start, it was Elijah Moore who stepped up in a big way. The freshman came into Tuesday confident, coming off a career-high 19 points and five 3-pointers against the Big Red.

Moore was the first guard to score over six minutes into the game, hitting a mid-range jumper to cut SU’s deficit to 12-11. Following another 2-pointer, Moore drained his first look from beyond the arc to give him seven early points. Moore was SU’s leading scorer at halftime, with 12 points on just one missed shot. But he was the only player to total more than six points in the first 20 minutes.

Outside of the freshman, Syracuse didn’t receive much help in the backcourt. Moore ended with a career-high 24 points, but the rest of SU’s guard combined to score just nine points.

Early turnovers

Without Starling — SU’s main ball-handler — offense was always going to be hard to come by for SU. Rick Barnes’ teams are known for their defensive toughness, and this season is no different. According to KenPom, Tennessee entered with the second-best defensive efficiency in the country, allowing 88.7 points per 100 possessions while holding its opponents to a 40.1 effective field goal percentage, also ranking second in the nation.

The Volunteers provided hard on-ball pressure right from the jump, and the Orange struggled with it. SU scored the first basket of the game but turned the ball over on three straight possessions. Jahmai Mashack poked the ball away from Chris Bell, leading to an and-one on the other end. Donnie Freeman then lazily tossed a pass upcourt which was intercepted by Chaz Lanier.

The next time down the floor, Taylor lost control of the ball, and Tennessee made the Orange pay with a lob to Lanier to punctuate an 8-0 run. To end the first half, Syracuse did much better handling the ball, only coughing it up four times across the final 17 minutes.

SU not turning the ball over kept Tennessee out of transition and prevented it from scoring easy baskets. Even though the Orange only turned the ball over 11 total times, their offense wasn’t consistent enough to keep up with Tennessee.

Phillips’ spark

Cade Phillips entered Tuesday averaging 6.7 points per game. In the first 10 minutes of the first half, Phillips already exceeded that total. He was a spark plug for Barnes when his offense started lukewarm. The forward entered at the 15:22 mark and immediately grabbed a defensive board.

Phillips converted a layup inside to get on the board before punctuating a dump-off feed from Zakai Zeigler with a two-handed jam to put Tennessee up 12-9. Phillips continued to be active around the basket, scoring four more points in the paint over the next two minutes. With 10:01 left in the first half, he already had eight points. Phillips punctuated his minutes with an athletic tip-in over Jyare Davis following a missed 3-pointer from Igor Milicic Jr.

During his first seven minutes, Phillips went 5-for-5 from the field with 10 points. The sophomore only reached double figures on two previous occasions, including a career-high 13 against Austin Peay on Nov. 17.

After starting on the bench in the second half, Phillips re-entered less than two minutes in. Immediately, he was involved, catching a lob from Zeigler for his sixth field goal of the game.

2nd-half separation

Syracuse trailed by 10 at halftime, but without its best player against a top-three team in the country, the deficit was somewhat manageable. SU also left points on the board in the first half, going 3-for-10 from the free-throw line. So did Tennessee, only hitting two 3-pointers on 15 attempts.

Considering how good the Vols have been to start the season, it was only a matter of time before they blew open the game. They did exactly that following halftime.

The Orange started just 2-for-9 from the field. Meanwhile, Tennessee hit eight of its first 11 shots from the field. It outscored Syracuse 21-12 across the first eight minutes of the second half while receiving a major boost from Jordan Gainey.

The sophomore totaled 10 points through the opening portion of the second half after going scoreless in the first. He knocked down a couple of 3s and easily got in the paint off dribble penetration. There was little resistance from Syracuse after the break. Zeigler picked the Orange apart numerous times while their offense looked lifeless.

SU’s deficit ballooned to 20 soon after. Bell made a smart defensive play, sending SU the other way. Though he dribbled into traffic, leading to a Gainey dunk on the other end. Moore then stepped out of bounds, and Milicic converted a contested layup to make it 77-53. Lanier drilled two straight 3s as Tennessee’s lead eventually increased to 31 to complete the rout.

Published on December 3, 2024 at 9:47 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22