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Head coach Jim Boeheim thought, at this point in the year, that dropping games wasn’t going to be the norm. The four-game losing streak, all of which allowed the opposition at least 91 points for the first time since 2004-05, wasn’t supposed to be where Syracuse was at the end of the season. The Orange, headlined by an incoming crop of six freshmen — three of which comprised the starting lineup — were supposed to have a better handle of Boeheim’s patented defensive scheme.

SU hadn’t progressed the way Boeheim thought, and instead of competing for a top seed in next week’s Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, it was fighting off falling into the opening round of the tournament as a double-digit seed. Going into the last game of the regular season, Syracuse had one last chance, against one of the best 3-point shooting teams in the conference, to show that they could compete. And when Chris Bell, a freshman who hadn’t played in the last two contests, stole an inbound pass from Tyree Appleby, the first glimpses of an “active” defense began to shine through.

Judah Mintz batted away a pass intended for Andrew Carr inside the teeth of Syracuse’s zone, swatting the chest pass with his left hand and taking off for a contested floater in transition. SU was starting to click on the defensive end. “Just keying in on certain players,” Mintz said, was the difference. “Obviously, guys are going to get shots at times, but just making it as difficult as possible to have guys get rhythm from the 3-point line.”

The Orange have struggled defensively throughout the last four games. After a poor offensive performance against Duke, Boeheim waved off concerns, saying that the Blue Devils were simply too good and physical for Syracuse to handle. But, it served as the start of a late-season slide, one that took the Orange from the highs of an upset win over then-No. 23 NC State to allowing at least 14 3-pointers in three straight contests. But against Wake Forest (18-13, 10-10 ACC), the Orange (17-14, 10-10 ACC) forced 16 turnovers and held the Demon Deacons to just 40% shooting from the field.

Three games ago, against Clemson, the Tigers exploited the Orange’s wings by quickly passing around the top of the key before a shooter opened up and nailed a wide open shot. Then, Pittsburgh piled on shots early and took advantage of SU’s slow transition defense. Two nights ago, Georgia Tech simply embarrassed a team that had beat it by 17 points earlier in the season.

The Orange just didn’t have the talent to successfully play defense throughout the course of the season. Early on, after they allowed 19 3-pointers to Colgate and 84 points to Pittsburgh, Boeheim could excuse the performances and cite youth as reason for the breakdown. However, the last four games showed minimal progression and failed expectations within Boeheim’s young core. Saturday showed that progress might have occurred. Growth, though incremental, took place going into the postseason.

“Our defense was more on top of it. We were making them move a little bit, not giving them the easy looks,” Boeheim said. “(They were) a little more off balance, and they’re going to miss some of those.”

With 2:41 remaining in the first half, Syracuse held a 34-29 lead. The Demon Deacons were in the midst of a 6-for-20 shooting performance from beyond the arc and couldn’t generate consistent scoring. Appleby tried a bounce pass inside to Bobi Klintman at the free throw line. Although Jesse Edwards lurked behind him, he exposed the basket for a wide open Matthew Marsh. But, Maliq Brown was clogging up the passing lane inside the paint for Appleby.

Wake Forest’s point guard had to find an alternative inroad, and with just 12 seconds left on the shot clock, he forced a pass inside to Klintman. Edwards easily took a step up and poked away the ball for one of his team-high five steals. He handed the ball off to Mintz, who went coast to coast for a close-range jumper. Both Joe Girard III and Mintz said that the Orange were doing a better job of jumping into passing lanes, keeping Wake Forest’s shooting guards uncomfortable. The Demon Deacons began the game firing 0-for-7 from beyond the arc, allowing the Orange, despite a poor offensive outing, to jump out and maintain an early lead that lasted throughout the game.

WF has enjoyed a 53.6% shooting percentage from inside the arc this season, the 46th-best rate in the country. But against the Orange’s zone, they fired just 40% from the field, a drastic falloff that ensured no comeback would be pieced together in Syracuse. For once in five games, the Orange played defense they were supposed to all year

“Just keep playing defense, just keep making stops,” Girard said. “Getting out to their shooters and making sure we don’t have a defensive collapse.”

Published on March 4, 2023 at 9:16 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt