NEW YORK — In its second game of the 2K Empire Classic, No. 15 Syracuse (2-2) lost to No. 13 Oregon (3-1), 80-65, at Madison Square Garden. The loss drops the Orange to its worst start to a season since 1987.

Here are three takeaways from Friday evening’s game.

Drought season

The Orange’s past two games in New York can be distilled into a number of things, not the least of which is its sliding offense. Stagnant sets, flat jump shots forced late in the shot clock and a dearth of ball movement pushed the Orange out of reach in both games. Standing around and chucking up shots, especially when the team is shooting 35 percent from the field and 21 percent from deep, won’t get it done.

Syracuse is sporadic on offense and reliant on individual dribble moves that don’t really end up anywhere. It’s a one-dimensional team right now. Several SU possessions came down to the final seconds of the shot clock.

The Orange have time to figure things out, with only one game (home vs. Colgate) over the next 11 days. Given head coach Jim Boeheim’s comments Thursday regarding SU’s lack of offense, that will likely be the focal point of practice for the rest of November.

Interior D

One of Boeheim’s primary concerns following SU’s 83-76 loss to Connecticut Thursday night centered on the Orange’s defense in the paint. Senior center Paschal Chukwu struggled to defend the frontcourt of UConn, whose rotation featured players a couple of inches shorter than Oregon’s, especially Ducks 7-foot-2 center Bol Bol. He went for 14 points and seven rebounds in the first half alone and created problems for SU inside. He also stretched Syracuse’s 2-3 zone by functioning from the high post and knocked down a 3 to finish with 26 points and nine rebounds.

For the second-straight game, SU gave up 80 points, largely due to gaps in the paint.

No trio

Sophomore forward Oshae Brissett was lost this week. He shot 1-for-8 Friday from 3-point land and 2-for-12 overall. He traveled with the ball, threw away a couple of passes and shot poorly in both games. Junior guard Tyus Battle wasn’t much better, not making a 3 in the loss to Oregon. The Orange’s newcomers in Elijah Hughes (14 points) and Jalen Carey (14 points) played well, but they didn’t have the support they need from the players that carried Syracuse to a surprise Sweet 16 run eight months ago.

Published on November 16, 2018 at 6:38 pm

Contact Matthew: mguti100@syr.edu | @MatthewGut21