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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Eddie Lampkin Jr. stepped to the free throw line with 4:07 remaining in the second half with the chance to give Syracuse its first lead over Texas all night. Less than 15 minutes prior, the Orange had trailed by 16 and looked dead in the water. Until Lampkin dragged them back.

He scored nine points, part of a 22-8 Syracuse run. His free throw put Syracuse ahead 59-58. Though from there, it failed to build on the momentum to finish what it started. The Orange made a calamity of mistakes down the stretch. Costly turnovers, poor defensive rebounding and missed free throws all came back to haunt them.

Across the final four minutes, Syracuse made just two field goals — both of which from J.J. Starling. In the second half, it went 6-for-11 from the free throw line. Even though it only turned the ball over 11 times, a crucial giveaway by Jaquan Carlos with 40 seconds left and SU trailing by three all but sealed its fate.

“We got to finish the game out, and we just got to learn how to win. And we don’t know how to win yet,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said postgame.

For much of the night, Syracuse’s (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) lacked a pulse. The holes it displayed through its opening three games were finally coming back to cost it against Texas (4-1, 0-0 Southeastern Conference), a step up in competition. Yet, the Orange found cohesion in the second half. On the back of an inspired effort from Lampkin (14 points) and improved defense, the Orange battled their way back. But it was the same lapses in concentration that ended up proving costly as SU fell 70-66 in its first game at the Empire Classic.

Autry didn’t mince words following Syracuse’s defeat. He stated that there was no consolation prize despite his team’s valiant effort, and nobody was satisfied with the result. He emphasized the little things cost Syracuse, like letting up too many offensive rebounds and not taking advantage of trips to the charity stripe.

Similar issues plagued Syracuse in its first three games. Initially looked at as bye-ins, they ended up being anything but that. The Orange defeated Le Moyne, Colgate and Youngstown State by a combined 15 points.

Thursday would be a barometer to see if SU’s first three games were just an aberration. From the opening tip, the step up in competition was clear.

Before the Orange could blink, they were down 9-0. Texas attacked inside through Kadin Shedrick and Arthur Kaluma, while star freshman Tre Johnson knocked down a 3-pointer. The Longhorns offense looked fluid, with crisp passing creating open looks.

The same couldn’t be said for SU. Texas packed the paint, baiting Syracuse to shoot from the outside. The Orange’s first six shots were from 3-point range. SU’s first make, courtesy of a Starling 3, came on a heavily challenged shot from the wing to cut SU’s deficit to 9-3.

That was just one of two times Syracuse was within eight points in the first half. The next occasion came with 6:35 left after Donnie Freeman hit a mid-range jumper.

“(We just have to) come out from the gate, and push hard and come out punching. Be the one that is punching, not the one that’s receiving it,” Lampkin said.

Eddie Lampkin Jr. went on a personal 7-0 run in the second half, helping Syracuse overcome its 11-point halftime deficit. However, Texas prevailed down the stretch, securing a 70-66 win. Courtesy of Dennis Nett | syracuse.com

Every time Syracuse looked to go on a run, Texas answered right back. It contributed to the Orange trailing by double digits for much of the first frame. Texas went 17-for-28 from the floor while the Orange went 12-for-29 as the Longhorns carried a 41-30 into the locker room.

Not much changed at the start of the second half. Two sloppy turnovers out of the gate, first by Lampkin, then Chris Bell, allowed Texas to extend its lead back to 16 less than two minutes after the break.

Then came a 12-2 Syracuse run, boosted by seven straight points by Lampkin. First came a bank shot from the free throw line. Following a Texas turnover, the big man converted inside down low, plus the foul.

Another Syracuse stop ensued, and it fed the hot hand. Starling curled around a screen and hit Lampkin for a wide-open dunk, cutting Texas’ lead to 50-44, forcing Texas head coach Rodney Terry to call a timeout.

Out of the break, Bell cashed in a triple to make it a one-possession game for the first time since the opening possession. Lampkin’s ninth point in four minutes cut the deficit to one with 10:03 left.

“If you watch our first three or four games, we’ve been down. This is the one thing I’ll say about this group. They keep their composure,” Autry said of his team’s comeback effort.

Syracuse went the next three-plus minutes without a field goal, but its defense held strong. Starling — who finished with a team-high 16 points — then scored twice in the paint to tie the game at 56 with 6:17 left. The lead slalomed back and forth across the next three minutes, but Starling put the Orange ahead 61-60 for just the second time with a floater at the three-minute mark.

But that was the last time Syracuse would hold an advantage. A second-chance put-back allowed UT to jump ahead before Jordan Pope’s jumper extended the advantage to three.

With 40 seconds left and trailing by three, Syracuse had a chance to tie the game, trailing 66-63. Carlos inbounded the ball as Bell curled around a Lampkin screen. Carlos fired a pass to the corner, but Bell had stopped just short of it, and the ball rolled out of bounds.

“We had critical turnovers. We had 11. But man, it was all at the wrong time. And we can’t do that. That’s just unacceptable,” Autry said.

30 seconds later, Carlos went 1-for-2 at the line with a chance to cut the lead back to one. On the other end, Johnson connected on two free throws to ice the game.

Johnson’s free throws optimized Syracuse’s struggles down the stretch. The freshman finished just 1-for-11 in the second half. But he stepped up when it mattered most, hitting all six of his free throws in the final minute.

It was a bittersweet ending in a game that was there for the taking for the Orange. They clawed their way back in an unlikely fashion. But unlike it’s done all season, Syracuse couldn’t do enough to get it over the finish line.

“It’s frustrating, and I’m tired of it. It’s just disappointing right from the beginning of the year,” Autry said. “We have an expectation that we have the standard for ourselves. We haven’t played that way yet.”

Published on November 21, 2024 at 9:34 pm

Contact Zak: zakwolf784254@gmail.com | @ZakWolf22