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Syracuse’s final field goal Tuesday night came with 5:38 left in the second half, on a Quincy Guerrier baseline drive that he finished through contact. But on the remaining nine possessions against No. 21 Rutgers, everything unraveled. 

“We gave ourselves an opportunity to win, and then we made two or three bad plays, and our defense broke down,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame.

Four missed field goals, one turnover and a trio of failed presses sunk the Orange against their first ranked opponent this season.

Here’s a breakdown of those final possessions that caused Syracuse’s collapse and allowed the Scarlet Knights to regain control en route to 79-69 victory:

Possession 1: 4:50 — Richmond misses open put-back, Rutgers easily scores in transition

After Rutgers made two free throws to trim Syracuse’s lead to one, Kadary Richmond nearly turned it over as soon as he crossed mid-court. But the Orange salvaged the possession, creating an open scoring opportunity when Marek Dolezaj faced the basket at the elbow with Joe Girard III to his left and only one Rutgers defender in front of him.

He kicked it out, but during a night and a season of shooting struggles, Girard missed the open look. It was his fourth missed 3-pointer of the night, a “bad offensive game” that Boeheim said carried over into the defensive end, too. 

As the shot bounced around, Richmond raced in from the opposite 3-point line and squeaked between three Rutgers defenders. It created a wide-open putback opportunity, though he also failed to connect.

Ron Harper Jr. corralled the rebound after the miss and sent an outlet pass, and Rutgers pushed the tempo up the floor — just like they had the entire game. Four Syracuse defenders converged as Jacob Young entered the paint, leaving Myles Johnson wide open underneath for a dunk. 

Rutgers scored 10 transition points in the first half, consistently beating SU and its 2-3 zone up the court. The Orange tightened up their transition defense after halftime, but that dunk put the Scarlet Knights back on top and gave them a lead they never relinquished.

Possession 2: 4:10 — Dolezaj turnover, Montez Mathis 3-pointer

Dolezaj flashed up to the top of the key after Syracuse cycled the ball a handful of times, and he squared up Johnson, the Scarlet Knights’ 6-foot-11, 255-pound center. Johnson instantly poked the ball away, creating another transition opportunity for Rutgers, this time a breakaway for Young. Alan Griffin, however, chased him down and prevented the layup.

Just like 12 other times Tuesday night, the Scarlet Knights corralled the offensive rebound and reset. Richmond was slow to close out on Mathis, who drained an open 3-pointer.

Possession 3: 3:30 — Richmond missed 3-pointer, Young reverse layup

After leading Syracuse’s possession up the floor, Richmond curled around a double-screen from Girard and Griffin on the left side. He corralled Dolezaj’s pass and missed a 3-pointer without a Rutgers defender in his face. 

Young raced up in transition, catching Girard flat-footed, driving past him and finishing around Dolezaj for the layup. Boeheim said after the game that those drives from guards into the paint are where injured center Bourama Sidibe’s 7.60 block percentage helps. 

Possession 4: 2:30 — Richmond misses spinning layup, turns ball over, Rutgers easily breaks press out of timeout

To open the possession, a screen from Dolezaj forced Harper Jr. to switch off Richmond and Johnson and onto the Syracuse point guard. After noticing the switch, Richmond reset, eventually driving left on the Rutgers center before spinning back to his right for a layup attempt that bounced off.

The ensuing rebound bounced from hand to hand until Richmond knocked the ball out of bounds attempting to secure it. Richmond’s inability to capitalize on the Rutgers mismatch became a turnover, which allowed Syracuse to set up its press (shown below) with Guerrier lining up on the ball and each Syracuse player grabbing a man off the inbounds pass.

But Girard cheated down a few steps off Harper Jr. to trap in the middle on an inbounding play, leaving the Scarlet Knights’ leading scorer wide open. Harper Jr. took it down the court, drew a foul and made the basket.

Possession 5: 2:02 — Dolezaj draws foul, makes one free-throw, Rutgers easily breaks press again

On this possession, Dolezaj received the ball in his interior spot and got Johnson in the air on an initial pump fake. But when Syracuse attempted to re-establish its press after the second foul shot, Rutgers again broke it with ease. Guerrier didn’t defend the ball this time, but Young sped past Woody Newton down the left sideline to set up the offense.

Rutgers missed its layup on that possession, but it was the latest example of Syracuse’s inability to press — something Boeheim has talked about the entire season. 

“We can’t press a pair of pants,” he said.

Possession 6: 1:40 — Richmond draws foul after near turnover, Rutgers breaks press again and ends with Johnson and-one

After Rutgers’ missed layup, Richmond led Syracuse’s transition offense, but a return pass from Griffin was almost stolen by Paul Mulcahy. The Orange’s freshman guard recovered, continued driving and drew a foul.

After two made shots, Young cut through the middle of the court, this time splitting Richmond and Guerrier around the elbow and settling the Scarlet Knights into their offense once again.

Possession 7: 1:11 — Girard forces 3-pointer, Syracuse fouls

Girard’s horrid shooting stretch continued on this possession, as he completely rushed a 3-pointer from The RAC logo that bounced off the side of the rim. Syracuse was forced to foul on the next possession.

Possession 8: 1:01 — Griffin pulls up and misses transition 3, Syracuse fouls again at the other end

This sequence ended similarly to Syracuse’s last one, with Griffin pulling up from well behind the arc and missing a 3-pointer. With under a minute left, the Orange didn’t really have time to get into a set offense, but Griffin’s shot was still rushed.

Possession 9: 0:34 — Richmond drives on Harper Jr. and scores SU’s last point on a free throw

On the Orange’s final possession against Rutgers, with the game all but sealed as the Scarlet Knights reclaim a double-digit lead, Richmond cut the right corner on Harper Jr. The SU freshman hit his fourth foul shot, and Rutgers dribbled out the remainder of the clock on its next trip down the court.

All screenshots courtesy of ESPN broadcast.

Published on December 9, 2020 at 11:11 pm

Contact Andrew: arcrane@syr.edu | @CraneAndrew