BROOKLYN — The boos started when Mike Watkins grabbed the second rebound. 

Penn State led by seven in the latter part of the second half, and Syracuse fans hoped for another stop to chip away at the lead. When Seth Lundy clanged a jumper off back iron, no white jersey blocked him out, allowing him to get his own rebound. When the following corner 3 ricocheted in the air on that same possession, Watkins, as he had through most of the contest, snatched it. 

Groans from the Orange faithful rang throughout the Barclays Center. As the shot clock sounded, framing the backboard in a red hue, Lundy sunk a 3. An arena camera caught him celebrating, shouting “let’s go, boys!” 

“Frustrated,” said Elijah Hughes postgame while staring across the Orange locker room, “I’m just frustrated. That’s probably the best way to describe it.” 

Syracuse’s (4-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) “painful” second-straight loss, this one a 85-64 stomping at the hands of Penn State (6-1), could be attributed to rebounding issues. PSU won the battle on the glass (57-28), scored 10 more second chance points than the Orange (17-7) and even added 10 3s, including Lundy’s dagger. But in the big picture, this defeat means more. Syracuse secured its worst seven-game start since 1996, providing a bleak outlook for the 2019-20 campaign. Aside from Hughes, who finished with 19 points, four rebounds and four assists, veterans expected to produce haven’t, and freshmen hoped to inject talent have been slow to adjust. 

These three early season losses stain an NCAA Tournament resume of a perennial bubble team. Nonconference blowouts against Seattle and Bucknell masked issues, but back-to-back potential NCAA Tournament teams proved that even the more modest preseason hopes should be tempered. Just ask Orange head coach Jim Boeheim. 

“I thought this team would take awhile,” Boeheim said, “It’s going to take longer. I thought it would take 10-12 games. I don’t know if it will be done in 15 or 20 games.” 

Friday’s loss mirrors the Oklahoma State game with another top-40 defense stifling a hit-or-miss offense. Another defensive breakdown. Another wasted opportunity. Like against the Cowboys, the Orange offense sputtered while their defense thrived. SU went 1-for-6 to start, the Nittany Lions a feeble 2-for-9. Penn State mustered an early advantage inside as Watkins wreaked havoc in both paints even while being an inch shorter than SU’s Marek Dolezaj and Bourama Sidibe. He swatted a Sidibe lay-up on one trip, and bothered others. 

Syracuse associate head coach Allen Griffin told Sidibe to jump while rebounding from the sidelines. All season, Boeheim has attributed Sidibe’s success with his movement inside and when that failed, Penn State noticed. On one side-out, Penn State fed an open Watkins on the block. He missed the first try and then tipped the put-back above a throng of SU jerseys and heads staring at Watkins, then at one another. Penn State — a team who struggles to rebound, head coach Patrick Chambers said — hauled 13 offensive rebounds in the first half. 

Sidibe said he’s dealt with a cold throughout the last week and running the court tonight made his chest burn. He told SU coaches he could play through it, but he tallied four fouls in 16 minutes. 

“I really feel like my body kind of felt weak tonight,” Sidibe said. “It’s not that I didn’t jump or nothing like that.” 

Kaci Wasilewski | Senior Staff Writer

SU’s forwards ran into foul trouble again. Dolezaj committed his second foul with 12 minutes left in the first half, as PSU — an offense known for attacking the paint — drove. Lamar Stevens, PSU’s leading-scorer (17.7 points per game) beat Syracuse up the floor when the Orange pushed the pace. 

On three consecutive plays, Stevens flashed backdoor and found an open lane for either a make or set of free throws. When Wheeler capped a run with an open lay-up, Boeheim called a timeout before all five blue jerseys crossed half-court. 

Syracuse, a 3-point heavy offense, connected on its first deep ball 14 minutes in via Hughes from the wing. And like they have often this season, the Orange kickstarted their offense with more shooting. Hughes swished two more with a defender in his face both times. Guerrier caught a pass near his shins and hit from above the break. With time winding down in the first half, Hughes fed an open Dolezaj inside for two more points. 

They clawed back with Watkins off the floor and their shots finally falling. Spelling SU’s starting forwards, Guerrier exhibited an interior presence (posting his first career double-double) that the Orange needed. Yet, PSU managed enough offense inside to never let SU take the lead. 

They called only a few set plays, Chambers said, and found most of their offense exploiting the zone. And with the game nearly out of reach, Lundy’s 3 sealed Syracuse’s fate.

Postgame, in the SU locker room, Buddy Boeheim recalled the play and sighed. The Orange had contested Lundy’s 3. They kept the game tight despite other issues — poor rebounding, transition defense and free throw shooting — hindering a comeback attempt. But the shot still slipped through twine, and for the third time in its first seven games, SU wasn’t good enough. In 1996, three losses in the first seven games meant an eventual trip to the NIT tournament.  

SU’s two NIT Season Tip-Off games in the Barclays Center have been a backbreaker for a young team with more problems than solutions and an unclear timetable to address them. 

“We got two young guards that are not doing the things we need to do to win,” Boeheim said, “And our centers aren’t. We don’t have a lot to look forward to and really pin our hopes on.”

Published on November 29, 2019 at 9:19 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez