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Syracuse entered Thursday night in search of its first road win of the season. It had just defeated Pittsburgh at home, carried by a strong 3-point performance that made its poor play down low insignificant. Against Miami, it didn’t find that same success from deep as the Orange continued to be exploited down low.

Foul troubles persisted, and the Orange were outmatched once again down low, especially on defense. Once Najé Murray was ejected, Syracuse tried to storm back but fell one point short before allowing a run from Miami that sealed the game.

Here are five observations from Syracuse’s (9-11, 2-8 Atlantic Coast) loss to Miami (12-8, 5-5 ACC):

 

Overpowered again

Early on, Syracuse allowed Miami to generate plenty of passes inside the paint, which led to close range shots. Despite defeating Pittsburgh and snapping their six-game losing streak, the Orange were still outrebounded and drastically outscored in the paint. Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi checked in and immediately made a difference for the Hurricanes off the bench, complementing a starting lineup that was consistently bodying the Orange down low. She turned around on Christianna Carr and buried a hook shot shortly after she sped down the lane and finished a layup attempt over Christianna.

As the first quarter progressed, Syracuse began tightening up inside, relying not only on its forwards, but scrappy play from Murray and Chrislyn Carr. But out of the halftime break, Miami’s Destiny Harden easily walked down the lane and floated in a shot. On the next possession, Lola Pendande popped a mid-range jumper from the top of the paint. Then, Kelsey Marshall went behind the back to get around Teisha Hyman and crossed up Christianna to finally get open enough for a layup.

 

Late comeback falls short

Chrislyn knocked down a 3-pointer to bring Syracuse six points in the fourth quarter. The Orange dialed up the pressure and applied a full-court press again, hoping to storm back in the game’s final minutes. Then Alaysia Styles got an outlet pass inside from Hyman and knocked down a layup. Chrislyn came back with another shot, and Christianna finished the fiery sequence when she grabbed a pass from Alaina Rice, spinning around for the layup.

But that was all Syracuse could muster in the final quarter, a last-gasp effort that brought it within one point of Miami, and one point of its first road win. Miami held its own and stormed back to a 9-0 run of its own in just over a minute, extending a one-point lead to a 10-point advantage with 1:28 left in the game.

 

Letting it fly early on

Syracuse hasn’t replicated performances of over 40% shooting from 3-point range since the beginning of December. When the offense is humming, thriving in the transition game and keeping the pressure high on opponents, Syracuse is able to pull away from its opponents.

But that didn’t happen early on in Thursday night’s game. Murray did knock down a 3 in the opening minutes of the game to get the Orange on the board, but misses from deep littered the first quarter. Even on the fast break — an area of the game Syracuse typically thrives in — Christianna fired from deep early in the first quarter but clanked the wide-open miss, stifling a possession that just began. SU finished the first quarter with nine 3-point attempts, but Murray’s make marked the only one until Murray’s 3 just over a minute into the second quarter.

The Orange continued to struggle from deep, although they let up on the amount of 3-point attempts as the first quarter — and the rest of the game — progressed.

 

Najé Murray’s resurgence continues

Since contracting COVID-19 toward the end of December, Murray hasn’t been the same sharpshooter that Syracuse was used to at the beginning of the year. In the last two games, however, Murray has finished with 11 and 14 points, respectively. She started slow, along with Syracuse, but took many shots in the first half and entered the third quarter with 12 points on 3-of-6 shooting from deep.

In the second quarter, Murray grabbed a long rebound off a missed layup shot and sprinted down the court, keeping up with the rapid pace of the game. Instead of driving all the way to the hoop, she pulled up, like many SU players against Miami, and buried a mid-range shot from the free-throw line. A few possessions later, Murray maneuvered her way down to the far right corner. Chrislyn realized the guard was all alone and rifled a chest pass over to Murray, who quickly turned her shoulders and swished in a 3.

Murray continued to lead the Orange, finishing with 15 points, until the two minute mark in the third quarter. That’s when Murray stepped over Djaldi-Tabdi and started yelling with another Hurricanes player. After the referees reviewed the sequence, they issued her two intentional fouls, leading to her ejection.

 

More foul trouble

One of the downsides of Syracuse’s aggressive, fast style of play is that it has fallen victim to foul trouble, especially during its recent losing streak. Miami consistently attacked the Orange down low throughout the game, forcing the Orange to swat at balls and fall into foul trouble midway through the second quarter.

Despite leading all scorers for the majority of the game, Styles wasn’t immune to picking up fouls. Djaldi-Tabdi drove on Styles and easily drew a foul, Styles’ second of the evening. With three minutes remaining in the third quarter, she also bumped a Miami player while trying to get a long rebound, giving her and Hyman three fouls apiece. Even Rice, who is known for her erratic play that at times can help Syracuse’s defense, picked up two fouls before she recorded a point.

Murray’s ejection left Syracuse with an even shorter roster and four players with at least two fouls. Once Styles picked up her third foul, she let up defensively on multiple possessions, as she was seen standing still down low in the hopes of not collecting another foul.

Published on February 3, 2022 at 9:20 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt