Spring Break
The Daily OrangeMBB | GROWING PAINS: Young Syracuse's shooting goes cold as Ohio State dominates inside
By John Clayton
Posted: 11/22/07, 1:34 AM EST Section: Sports
Nov. 22, 1:30 a.m.
NEW YORK -- For a second, Thad Matta thought his team was in trouble.
Just three minutes into the game, the Ohio State head coach watched Donte Greene bank in a fade-away 3-pointer to give Syracuse an early lead.
"I thought, 'My Gosh, we're in for a long night," Matta said.
Not exactly. Syracuse wouldn't hit another 3-pointer until 18 minutes later when Eric Devendorf broke the stretch with 19:11 to go in the second half.
A cold-shooting Syracuse was unable to compensate for a poor defensive effort on Wednesday night, and the young Orange suffered its first setback, losing its NIT Tipoff semifinal game to Ohio State, 79-65, in front of 8,388 at Madison Square Garden.
With the loss, No. 21 Syracuse (3-1) will play Washington, which lost to No. 16 Texas A&M, 77-63, in the first semifinal of the evening, on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
"I think a couple of our young guys tried to do a little too much," SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. "I think this was a learning experience coming down here, that we got a lot of things to learn about our team."
Playing against a zone defense that seemed to tantalize the Orange guards into repeatedly lofting up 3's, Syracuse went 5-for-25 from 3-point range and shot 36.2 percent from the field. Syracuse had shot 46.7 percent from deep in its previous three games this season.
Jonny Flynn had five of those missed treys in a forgettable evening in which he failed to register a point on six shot attempts, while tallying just two assists to three turnovers.
"We got good shots," Boeheim said. "Jonny had real good looks. He was 6-for-7 the first game, shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line for three games, and he had wide open (shots). … All of Eric's, except for I think one, were shots that he would normally take."
Things didn't go much better for Syracuse on the defensive end, as Ohio State (3-0) was able to penetrate into the lane frequently, racking up 32 points in the paint. Most of those points came from 7-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos, who led all scorers with 24 points.
NEW YORK -- For a second, Thad Matta thought his team was in trouble.
Just three minutes into the game, the Ohio State head coach watched Donte Greene bank in a fade-away 3-pointer to give Syracuse an early lead.
"I thought, 'My Gosh, we're in for a long night," Matta said.
Not exactly. Syracuse wouldn't hit another 3-pointer until 18 minutes later when Eric Devendorf broke the stretch with 19:11 to go in the second half.
A cold-shooting Syracuse was unable to compensate for a poor defensive effort on Wednesday night, and the young Orange suffered its first setback, losing its NIT Tipoff semifinal game to Ohio State, 79-65, in front of 8,388 at Madison Square Garden.
With the loss, No. 21 Syracuse (3-1) will play Washington, which lost to No. 16 Texas A&M, 77-63, in the first semifinal of the evening, on Friday at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN.
"I think a couple of our young guys tried to do a little too much," SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. "I think this was a learning experience coming down here, that we got a lot of things to learn about our team."
Playing against a zone defense that seemed to tantalize the Orange guards into repeatedly lofting up 3's, Syracuse went 5-for-25 from 3-point range and shot 36.2 percent from the field. Syracuse had shot 46.7 percent from deep in its previous three games this season.
Jonny Flynn had five of those missed treys in a forgettable evening in which he failed to register a point on six shot attempts, while tallying just two assists to three turnovers.
"We got good shots," Boeheim said. "Jonny had real good looks. He was 6-for-7 the first game, shooting 50 percent from the 3-point line for three games, and he had wide open (shots). … All of Eric's, except for I think one, were shots that he would normally take."
Things didn't go much better for Syracuse on the defensive end, as Ohio State (3-0) was able to penetrate into the lane frequently, racking up 32 points in the paint. Most of those points came from 7-foot freshman center Kosta Koufos, who led all scorers with 24 points.
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Pat Brennan
posted 11/22/07 @ 9:10 PM EST
Watched the game with my daughter, a coed. It was painful. After the first three wins this season my expectations were dangerously raised. This team is what you'd expect from a squad of freshmen. (Continued…)
Jonas Bolin
posted 11/22/07 @ 9:47 PM EST
G-Mac's overrated.
Marc LeVine
posted 11/26/07 @ 12:57 PM EST
Ohio State WAS the defining game for the early part of the season. Now...with the monkey off our backs, we can go on to having a respectable season. Come on folks. (Continued…)
Post a Comment