Syracuse Rematch Against SMU Ends In Frustrating Fashion

Syracuse earned an opportunity to rematch Southern Methodist University after beating Florida State in the first round of the ACC tournament. Coming into this matchup, Syracuse was riding a great offensive showcase by JJ Starling and an efficient day by Eddie Lampkin. Syracuse would start the game off with some high energy, and that showed as JJ Starling would nail a corner three to start the game.

From that point on Syracuse showed more energy than a power plant and that energy would be converted to hustle plays. One of those hustle plays came from Eddie Lampkin who would dive on the court to stop a potential turnover when the game was tied 19. But only two minutes later Lampkin would pick up his 2nd foul in the half forcing him to sit due to foul trouble. Naheem McLeod would come in for Lampkin and play extended minutes off the bench. McLeod would record two blocks in the last minute of the first half.

Syracuse was only down 3 at halftime. JJ Starling led the Orange in scoring with 11 points at the half while shooting 50% from the field in 19 minutes. Eddie Lampkin, on the other hand, dealt with constant double teams in the post and late foul trouble. Lampkin only attempted 2 shot attempts in the first half and finished with 2 points.

SMU defensively smothered Lampkin forcing the ball out of his hands and disrupting Syracuse’s offense.

“I was just trying to play the flow of the game. I never try to force anything. I tried to
read what they give me, and they was just everywhere, they were sending three people at me,” said Eddie Lampkin on not trying to force up shots.

SMU would tighten up their defense in the second half by blitzing Lampkin whenever he was in the post, flying at set shooter forcing turnovers and press the ball handler to mess with the timing of the Syracuse offense. It would all lead to Syracuse shooting 8 for 30 in the 2nd half and 2 for 14 from deep.

The combined struggles to score would become even more frustrating for Syracuse as SMU would shoot 85% on 2-point field goals and out-rebound The Orange 21 to 11. The only thing slowing the Mustangs down were their turnovers as they would have 11 in the second half alone.

“I thought the offense today, giving credit to SMU’s defense was the difference in the
game. They were physical. They pushed us out. They made our catches hard, and they pressured us, and we didn’t handle the pressures as well as we needed to, and I thought that was the difference,” said Coach Adrian Autry.

It would be 10 minutes in the 2nd Half before Lampkin would be able to even attempt another shot. The shot attempt didn’t count because it was deemed a foul on SMU. The Mustangs took away one of Syracuse’s best scoring options and would outscore Syracuse 42 to 25 in the second half. They would defeat Syracuse 73-53.

While the game obviously did not end the way he envisioned it Coach Autry didn’t shy away from saying how important the leadership from the seniors was for this team.

“I thought the senior leadership was huge. Again, the way they handled it, I was impressed. I was very impressed. They really came in every day to work, and just watching them interact with their teammates, constantly uplifting them, smiling, talking to them,” Coach Autry continued to say,“but through them experiencing what we did this year, staying together, I think that was very impactful, and those guys had a lot to do with it.”