A
drian Autry found himself in a position no first-year head coach would want to be in — apologizing about his team after a 29-point defeat to Wake Forest on Feb. 3.
“I want to apologize to our fans, our University for that performance,” Autry said. “Unacceptable, (it) won’t be tolerated, (it) won’t be allowed.”
“We should not lose like this. (It) should not happen,” Autry continued in his three-minute rant.
That moment was the mental rock bottom and the second time this season (UNC on Jan. 13) — twice too many, Autry said — that the Orange were destroyed. And a recovery seemed more doubtful when Benny Williams’ was released three days later.
But against all odds, they did respond, picking up a tough 94-92 win over Louisville on Feb. 7, where Chris Bell dropped eight 3s.
“The energy’s been different,” Bell said Saturday on the changes after the Wake Forest defeat. “We want to win, we want to go to March.”
Since losing Williams, Syracuse finished the regular season 6-3, including a four-game win streak. The roller-coaster of Autry’s first year reached its peak during that stretch with an upset-win over then-No. 7 North Carolina — his first signature win and SU’s first AP top-10 win since 2019.
Despite the ebb and flow season, it should be viewed as a success, regardless of an NCAA Tournament appearance. In the first year of the Autry era, Syracuse won 20 regular season games, its most since 2018-19. And though Syracuse’s positioning in the ACC Tournament remains unknown until March 9 — it’ll either be a No. 5, No. 6 or No. 7 seed — the Orange have secured the most conference wins in a single-season since the 2013-14 season.
“That’s still to be determined, but I’m excited,” Autry said of the team’s ceiling at media day in October. “I think we have a lot of potential. I’m just excited for the group. But the potential is there. We just got to play it out now.”
Syracuse hasn’t reached its maximum potential. The up-and-down nature of the season has lowered and raised the ceiling at times. You never knew what Syracuse team you were going to get in a given game.
There was the team that finished 14-2 at the JMA Wireless Dome, the one that upset then-No. 7 North Carolina and the one that rattled off five straight wins in December. Other times, there was the Orange squad that floundered at the Maui Invitational and suffered their two worst ACC losses ever.
Syracuse recorded its first 20-win regular season since 2018-19 and its most conference wins in a campaign since 2013-14. Arnav Pokhrel | Staff Photographer
For roughly the first half of the year, Syracuse both won and lost games it was expected to. But following its 36-point defeat to UNC on Jan. 13, Syracuse has pulled out some massive wins, like the Quadir Copeland buzzer-beater over Miami, and has also hit rock bottom after back-to-back losses to Boston College and Wake Forest on the road.
Prior to the season, Syracuse already had to deal with some internal adversity. Auburn transfer Chance Westry suffered a season-ending lower-body injury in a preseason practice. Then, during the team’s preseason exhibition games on Nov. 1, former forward Benny Williams was suspended for a violation of team rules, but would return to team activities on Nov. 10.
Syracuse began the year as expected with a 3-0 start, though needing to comeback from 24 against Colgate. At the Maui Invitational, double-digit losses to Gonzaga and Tennessee showed the Orange weren’t ready to compete with the upper echelon of college basketball.
Back from Hawaii, the Orange started to show their potential. A 22-point drubbing in Virginia was SU’s only loss from Nov. 28 to the new year. SU’s 80-57 win over LSU, spearheaded by Judah Mintz’s career-high 33 points, proved the star-guard’s ceiling and value of this team. Wins over Oregon and Pittsburgh proved Copeland and Maliq Brown were the perfect supporting cast.
But once 2024 hit, Autry was tested with the ACC’s best, traveling to top-ranked Duke and UNC, with a home game against Boston College in between. Brown notched a career-high 26 against the Blue Devils, but was overshadowed by the 20-point loss. The Orange briefly bounced back with a win over BC, but was outclassed back on the road at UNC, losing 103-67.
Statistically, that was SU’s rock bottom as its largest margin of defeat since the move to the ACC. Autry said Syracuse “didn’t do a good job in any aspect.” But SU ascended shortly after, winning three of the next four. Copeland’s buzzer-beater against Miami was arguably the highest moment of the season, and Syracuse had the season back on track.
But it then came spiraling down at the end of January and the beginning of February. SU’s weakness this season has been inconsistent play on the road, highlighted by consecutive losses to BC and Wake Forest. Since, Syracuse has found a way to dig itself out of that grave.
Aside from the back-to-back losses at the Maui Invitational and consecutive defeats to BC and Wake Forest, Syracuse has countered any other loss with a win. After a bad loss to Georgia Tech, Bell went 8-for-9 from 3 and scored 26 points in the first half to help Syracuse defeat NC State.
“Whenever we’ve lost, we’ve had really productive practices,” associate head coach Gerry McNamara said. “We’ve dropped a couple this year, games we maybe shouldn’t have. They come ready to work, they come ready to play.”
McNamara said it best. Syracuse didn’t reach its full potential this season, and lost games it could’ve won — Florida State, Georgia Tech and on the road at BC to name a few.
But finishing as a guaranteed top-seven seed for the ACC Tournament, dealing with depth issues and injuries while seeing the growth of players like Mintz, Bell, Brown, Copeland and J.J. Starling are all legitimate reasons to classify this season as a success.
“They want to win,” Autry said after Saturday’s win at Louisville. “I think they have stayed together. They don’t let anything get between them. We have some losses, and sometimes teams don’t get back from those, but this group is resilient.”
Cole Bambini is a Senior Staff Writer at The Daily Orange, where his column appears occasionally. He can be reached at colebambini@gmail.com or on X @ColeBambini.
Photograph taken by Ryan Jermyn | Contributing Photographer
Published on March 7, 2024 at 1:38 am
