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Fighting to eclipse the .500 mark midway through January is not the “Orange Standard.” Yet, it’s exactly what Syracuse was trying to accomplish hosting Louisville.

While not up to the “Orange Standard,” a win over the Cardinals could’ve been a major turning point in SU’s second year under head coach Adrian Autry. Louisville entered the contest as the hottest non-Duke team in the Atlantic Coast Conference, registering six straight victories.

Meanwhile, the Orange entered the matchup following two conference wins over Georgia Tech and Boston College. A third-straight victory would’ve pushed SU toward the top of a middling ACC.

Syracuse (8-9, 2-4 ACC) was instead blown out by Louisville (13-5, 6-1 ACC) 85-61, continuing its disappointing campaign. The Orange surrendered a tied-for-season-high 12 3-pointers en route to their wire-to-wire loss. SU finished the game 40% from the field and 32% from deep, suffering its third loss by 20-plus points this season (Tennessee and Maryland) and its worst in ACC play.

“It’s always disappointing to be under .500,” Autry said postgame. “We just got to keep fighting the battle each day, and we got to get better. And it’s been like that for the whole year. Whether it was due to injuries, whether it’s due to poor play, it all matters to this team.”

The Orange are now one of five teams in the conference with an overall record under .500 and one of 10 teams under the mark in ACC play. The last time SU’s record was below .500 this late into a season was the 2021-22 campaign, Jim Boeheim’s only losing season in his 47-year tenure.

Though Boeheim’s tenure ended with consecutive NCAA Tournament misses, he established the Orange as one of college basketball’s most prestigious programs. When Autry took over, he was meant to transform Syracuse back to the “Orange Standard.” In year one, 20 wins brought it closer. Year two has been the opposite.

“It’s definitely disappointing, for sure, especially when you come expecting to be in a winning culture type deal,” Lucas Taylor, who was held scoreless across 18 minutes, said of falling below .500. “But the only thing we could do from this point forward is just try to stack wins and set us up for the ACC Tournament.”

However, the wins over the Yellow Jackets and Eagles marked the highest points of the Orange’s season, showing glimpses they were gearing toward a turnaround in conference play.

Across their two-game winning streak, the Orange lived and died by J.J. Starling. In his second and third games since returning, the junior guard averaged 23.5 points while attempting 19 field goals per game.

Against Boston College, more so in the second half, SU consistently put the ball in Starling’s hands. With Jaquan Carlos relegated to the bench, playing seven-and-a-half minutes per game over the previous two contests, Syracuse cleared out around Starling, allowing him to go to work driving inside.

Facing Louisville, the Orange tried to spread the ball in the halfcourt before attacking inside. Which, facing a Cardinals team that starts four guards, makes sense. However, Syracuse struggled drastically from inside the arc to start, making four of its first 12 shots. Starling finished the first half scoreless, shooting 0-for-4 from the field, his first scoreless first half this season. He ended the game with a season-low four points on 1-of-7 shooting and had a season-high six turnovers.

“I know me personally, I’m going to take this feeling right now because I know how I feel, and I’m just gonna use it to motivate me throughout the whole season,” Starling said.

On the other side, Louisville scored 16 points in the paint early, helping it take a 21-15 lead with 8:32 remaining in the first half. Though they’re as bad from beyond the arc as SU (29.1%), making 30.2% of their 3s, the Cardinals entered the contest attempting 3-pointers at the ninth-highest rate in the country. They put that on display to close the first half. Yet they didn’t look like one of the worst 3-point shooting teams.

First, Reyne Smith drew nylon from beyond the left wing while getting fouled by Carlos — who played 18 minutes after playing five against BC — and converting the four-point play. Chucky Hepburn, who had a team-high 15.1 points per game but shot just over 30% from 3 before facing the Orange, then went on a 3-point rampage, making four triples in the first half’s final eight minutes. The Wisconsin transfer finished with a game-high 24 points.

“He’s a really good player. I thought he gave us a lot of problems,” Autry said of Hepburn. “In the lane, when he was making his shots. I think the big difference was he made his shots today.”

Additionally, Smith connected once more from 3 while Terrence Edwards Jr. added a triple of his own. This propelled Louisville to 8-of-16 shooting from beyond the arc, entering the locker room with a 43-27 lead.

The Orange kept pace with the Cardinals from deep, attempting 15 3-pointers, tied for their most attempts in a first half this season. After shooting 9-for-35 from 3 against Georgia Tech and Boston College, they began Tuesday 5-for-10, with Chris Bell (two), Jyáre Davis (two) and Kyle Cuffe Jr. (one) all connecting. But the Orange missed their final five triples to close the half, seeing their deficit balloon to 16.

The second half began much like the first ended, as Louisville’s 3-point avalanche continued. Smith, who finished with 10 points while shooting 3-of-8 from 3, notched the second half’s first points with a 3 before J’Vonne Hadley nailed his first trey less than two minutes later.

While Carlos, who started the second in place of Elijah Moore, who played just six minutes, hit an early 3, the Orange’s 3-point struggles persisted in the final 20 minutes. Moore hasn’t scored since registering 16 points versus Maryland on Dec. 21. He was SU’s second-highest-rated freshman behind five-star Donnie Freeman, who missed his third straight game with an undisclosed lower-body injury. There is no disclosed timetable for his return.

Just over four minutes into the second, Syracuse saw its deficit grow to a then-game-high 21 points, trailing 55-34. Louisville went back to attacking inside, as Hepburn, Edwards, Aboubacar Traore and James Scott all scored. U-of-L finished the game with five players scoring in double figures. SU had three, led by Chris Bell’s 18.

The Cardinals continued dominating throughout the rest of the half, leading to their sixth-straight win. On the flip side, SU’s momentum was completely stripped, suffering its third-worst losing margin of the season.

“You play a team who’s been hot, a team who is at the top of the ACC right now, you want to be able to compete with those type of teams,” Davis said.

Published on January 14, 2025 at 9:16 pm

Contact Justin: justingirshon@gmail.com | @JustinGirshon