Syracuse Basketball: Orange’s 2019 tournament destroyed by Baylor

After an up and down season, Syracuse’s Basketball’s hopes of another March Madness run were ended by Baylor, on Thursday night. The Bears advance and will meet Gonzaga.

This season was far from perfect for Syracuse Basketball. However, it’s been a step in the right direction for Jim Boeheim‘s program. After a tense wait on Selection Sunday, 2018 and missing out completely in 2017, the Orange certainly had a better year as a whole. What will be disappointing though, is the inability to put anything together in this years tournament. After scraping into the First Four, this time last year, and making it all the way to the Sweet Sixteen, Syracuse will feel like a step up over the regular season should have produced something a little more than a first round exit this time around.

In the last game of Thursday in Utah, Baylor got off to a terrific start shooting the rock. With Makai Mason proving to be the Bears’ standout player in the first half, Baylor hardly had any trouble from beyond the arc. Syracuse were able to rival that of their opponents and pretty much went pound-for-pound with Baylor for the entirety of this one. Junior Elijah Hughes was the Orange’s answer to Baylor’s hot hand pretty much all night. Hughes went 6-11 from downtown on the night, racking up a career high 25 points. After a flawless start for Baylor, that seemed durable, ‘Cuse would’ve been quite content going in at the half just one point behind.

On a night without Frank Howard, who was suspended indefinitely by the NCAA, you could tell how much Syracuse missed their point guard, especially on the defensive side. ‘Cuse’s zone really didn’t seem to be too much of a problem for the Bears at any significant point. As a system which has caused high-caliber opponents a lot of trouble over the years, it seemed a difficult task for Baylor, in theory. However, the Bears were able to stretch the zone and make plenty of space for themselves outside. Syracuse scrambled too many a times and never looked comfortable in the way they were playing.

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Baylor shot 16-34 from three, emphasizing the defect that Syracuse’s zone had on the night. Howard was a huge miss. His absence showed a clear hole in where the leadership came off the ball, and it proved to be costly. Howard, who is a senior, sees his college career come to a very disappointing ending. He’s been key to this ‘Cuse team over his tenure and will leave a huge leading role to fill.

The toughness Syracuse has been known for over recent years wasn’t at that same level, on Thursday night. There were too many times where the defensive glass wasn’t crashed, and this resulted in Baylor pulling out of reach. The game was well contested, basically a three-point shoot out, at times, and remained close into the second half, but Baylor’s persistence and all-around better showing was clear down the stretch.

Plenty of Bears players had highly productive nights, where there was just a lack of performance from ‘Cuse. It just wasn’t their night. Oshae Brissett was able to bring glimpses of his in-form self, showing physicality inside and ending up with 14 points, but this wasn’t enough. ‘Cuse star Tyus Battle managed 16 points, but only shot 6-15. After another great personal season for Battle, it’s another disappointment, as he won’t be able to show his best at the biggest stage again. It will very likely be his last game too, after a wonderful college career.

It’s always bad getting knocked out of the tournament, but the Orange definitely will be thinking that they should’ve made a run this year. All in all, Syracuse improved in their season, as a whole, and with plenty of new recruits and changes to be made, it’ll be an exciting year next year.

This was a big one to win as Baylor now get the chance to lock horns with the No.1 seed of the West region, Gonzaga. The Zags blew out Fairleigh Dickinson and will have a tough second round match up on their hands against the Bears.