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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The writing on the wall for Syracuse’s demise was there all season. The Orange weren’t consistent at many things throughout the year, but one issue that kept popping up was poor second halves. It especially rang true across the final stretch of the regular season, where they blew three straight road games in two weeks, after having double-digit leads after halftime in all of them.

Thirty minutes of fundamental basketball would be ruined by five-minute stretches where Syracuse looked like it’d never played basketball before. It always ended the same way — with monumental capitulations.

So with Syracuse trailing by three at halftime against Southern Methodist University and its season on the line, it had a chance to put those demons to bed. The situation was slightly different than the previous ones, considering SU wasn’t playing from ahead. But the same principle applied, and the stakes were raised. The Orange needed to put together a complete half to keep their season alive for one more day. Twenty more minutes of solid basketball was required. What the Orange got was anything but that.

“We put ourselves in great situations and we just ended up beating ourselves,” Syracuse point guard J.J. Starling said.

With its back against the wall, Syracuse (14-19, 7-13 Atlantic Coast) folded, falling to SMU (23-9, 13-7 Atlantic Coast) 73-53 in the second round of the ACC Tournament. The Orange scored a season-low 25 points after halftime, shooting 8-of-30 from the field, including 2-of-14 from 3. They paired five assists with seven turnovers, while their lack of rhythm on offense allowed the Mustangs to run away with the game.

A season that started with expectations of a possible first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2021 ended with Syracuse finishing with its worst winning percentage since 1961-62.

“The biggest thing you talked about this year was the consistency piece. It was really about trying to get everybody to be consistent at one time,” Autry said.

The modern era of college basketball lacks continuity due to the prevalence of the transfer portal. In the offseason, Autry brought in a pure point guard in Jaquan Carlos and two bruising post players in Eddie Lampkin Jr. and Jyáre Davis.

Autry touched on the idea that all coaches have an idea of what their team might be before the season, but it’s unknown until it actually starts. In Syracuse’s case, the new additions combined with returning players like Starling and Chris Bell never gelled.

Injuries to Starling and later Donnie Freeman — who missed SU’s final 19 games — forced Autry’s hand, and certain players were asked to go out of their comfort zone. Carlos struggled due to the pressure on him as SU’s lone reliable ball handler, while Davis shifted into more of a perimeter role than previously at Delaware, with Freeman out.

“Dynamics changed. Different people had to step into different roles and step up,” Autry said. “I’m not sure if they were kind of ready for that at that time, but we had to adjust.”

Even when Starling came back from a seven-game absence, SU never reached the heights a program of its standard should. The Orange only won consecutive games three times this season — its first three. Its regular-season finale win over Virginia and postseason triumph over Florida State presented SU an opportunity to win three in a row, which quickly fell apart in the second half.

Starling was forced to carry a large load on the offense, but he simply couldn’t make up for SU’s lack of self-creators on the perimeter. Wednesday was another example of that. SMU cut off Starling’s driving lanes and forced him into contested 3-pointers. He finished with 16 points on 6-of-17 shooting and coughed the ball up four times.

“I didn’t really look at it as a burden or anything,” Starling said of his role within the offense. “My coaches and my work ethic allowed me to be able to handle that. So at the end, I just look at it as a blessing to be in that situation.”

Outside of Starling playing hero ball at points, Syracuse never developed a clear identity until late in February, which was to pound the ball in the paint. Lampkin became one of the best post scorers in the ACC, while Davis also packed a punch. Starling came up with clutch buckets when he needed to as well. Though, as Carlos put it, that wasn’t enough over the course of the year.

“We started playing very good basketball toward the end (of the year),” Carlos said. “But I know in the college season, you can’t dig yourself in a type of hole like this. It’ll be hard to shake back out of it.”

SU’s win over FSU in the first round kept the door open to a potential run. That was slammed in Syracuse’s faces in the second half against SMU. Nothing went right. Typically if Starling had an off game, Lampkin picked up the slack, but he was held to five points on two field-goal attempts, his lowest marks since Feb. 5. SMU fronted him throughout, so when he did get the ball, his impact was minimal due to the litany of bodies thrown at him.

With Syracuse’s two main sources of offense shut off, it never stood a chance. In a way, it was emblematic of its season. At times, the Orange became too predictable, and against upper-tier opponents, their flaws were exposed. That’s why instead of taking on Clemson in the ACC Quarterfinals, SU was sent packing.

It leaves the program with more questions than answers heading into the offseason. Year one under Autry led to 20 wins. The second rendition was a few steps back. Autry said he learned a lot as a coach, but is yet to fully process it.

For now, he’s tasked with steering the program back in the right direction as it goes through its longest NCAA Tournament drought since the 1970s.

Published on March 12, 2025 at 11:55 pm

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