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Syracuse Basketball: Key takeaways from crushing loss to Oklahoma State

By Rudi Richards

SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a made three-point basket as teammate Buddy Boeheim #35 gestures against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY - FEBRUARY 20: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a made three-point basket as teammate Buddy Boeheim #35 gestures against the Louisville Cardinals during the first half at the Carrier Dome on February 20, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /
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SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 06: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange shoots the ball as Casey Morsell #13 of the Virginia Cavaliers defends during the second half at the Carrier Dome on November 6, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Virginia defeated Syracuse 48-34. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images)
SYRACUSE, NY – NOVEMBER 06: Elijah Hughes #33 of the Syracuse Orange shoots the ball as Casey Morsell #13 of the Virginia Cavaliers defends during the second half at the Carrier Dome on November 6, 2019 in Syracuse, New York. Virginia defeated Syracuse 48-34. (Photo by Rich Barnes/Getty Images) /

Syracuse Basketball suffered a crushing defeat on Wednesday night at the hands of the Oklahoma State Cowboys. There’s plenty to take away for the Orange.

Syracuse Basketball headed into their opening game of the NIT Season Tip-Off tournament on the back of a four-game winning streak. After starting the year with a loss, the Orange picked up the pace and put in a number of impressive performances over the last couple of weeks. However, last night they faced their match, as they came up against their second power five conference side of the season in Oklahoma State. Mike Boynton’s side, themselves, have had a great start to the year, as they came into the match-up with the Orange at 5-0.

Jim Boeheim‘s Orange side started off the game extremely poorly, and although they were able to make their way back into the game, they weren’t able to keep up with the intensity that the Cowboys brought onto the Barclays Center floor.

Defensively, Syracuse was solid as usual, but there was only so much they could do against a hot Oklahoma State offense which continued to punish the Orange for their inability to create their own game on the other end of the floor. It was a night reminiscent of Syracuse’s opening night loss to Virginia, in the sense that they couldn’t get their offense into a consistent rhythm and there were just too many poor decisions in terms of shooting the basketball.

The Orange now falls to 4-2 on the season and will face Penn State on Friday night in the consolation game in Brooklyn. Syracuse was slightly favored going into last night’s game, according to the bookies, but it never seemed like a game that they were going to be able to win. They’ve done well to beat the teams they should definitely be beating so far this year, it’s just a case of keeping that up and at least being competitive when they face better sides like Oklahoma State. Anyway, there’s plenty to take away from this game. A lot more negatives than positives, but the Orange can use this as motivation and a real wake-up call for the rest of the year.

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