GAME #25 RECAP - Miami, Syracuse

Major oof.

Feb 12, 2025

Pain.

If you’re a subscriber to this newsletter, you’re obviously a Syracuse basketball fan.

I’m assuming that means you likely don’t need a rundown of how bad things are, how bad this loss was, and the general overarching state of the program/fanbase at this moment.

But here are some basics:

This was the worst loss of the Red Autry Era if you look at KenPom ranks. Miami was ranked 184th going into this game. The worst loss before this was Georgia Tech last year (ranked 123rd).
Miami had the 341st ranked defense in the country going into the game
Syracuse is projected to finish 7-13 in the conference and on the edge of ACC Tournament qualification.

Also, please note that is potentially NOT actually rock bottom for Syracuse basketball.

If you dare, here’s a look at the condensed game:

ANALYTICS/NUMBERS

Here are Syracuse’s numbers after the loss to Miami (and in comparison to their numbers before they played):

KENPOM: 133rd (122nd)
KENPOM OFFENSE: 131st (130th)
KENPOM DEFENSE: 158th (150th)
GOOD STATS (top 100)
- 23rd in Defensive Rebounding % (30th)
BAD STATS (sub 200)
- 346th in Defensive Turnover % (345th)
- 262nd in Offensive 3P% (280th)
- 264th in Offensive FT% (294th)
- 260th in Defensive 2P% (255th)
- 248th in Defensive Effective FG% (226th)
- 202nd in Offensive Turnover % (212th)

3 THINGS/THOUGHTS

Most of the time when I watch Syracuse play, I come away feeling like they’re just “too cool”. I especially feel this way if I stay up for the 9pm games after watching Syracuse play. There just isn’t a lot of grit, toughness, playing HARD. It’s disheartening.
Miami lost to Charleston Southern and Mount St. Mary’s. They have a 35 point loss to Duke, a 43 point loss to SMU, and a 37 point loss to Stanford.
It’s amazing how many wide open looks from 3 Syracuse gives up in Pick-and-Roll coverage 25 games into the season. What’s alarming is they are the same exact mistakes over and over and over.

BONUS THOUGHTS:

Syracuse was 16-17 for over 94% from the line…something they’ve struggled with all year…and still came away with the loss.

STATS

Biggest difference makers:

Miami dominated most of the important stats like they controlled most of the game
Syracuse did a good job of taking care of the ball and scoring off assists - again, this is the worst Power 5 defense in the country so it is to be expected…but it’s also nice to see.
Miami’s offensive efficiency was…very good.

PLAYER BREAKDOWN

JJ Starling led the way with 25 points…but 9 of those came in the last minute when the game was already over. He was 8-21 from the field (7-15 from 2 and 1-6 from 3), had 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 turnovers. A solid statsheet night, but it just still feels like there was more to be desired from him as the leader of the team.

Eddie Lampkin recorded another double-double in his best game statistically this season. The big man played 34 minutes and was 8-12 from the field (and an impressive 6-6 from the line). He scored 22 points, grabbed 13 rebounds, and had 6 assists. He also had no turnovers which was great to see. All that to say…the lack of defense on the other end might have negated all of that.

Jyare Davis scored 5 points in 24 minutes. He had 2 rebounds and a nice passing game for him (3 assists). He was pretty quiet most of the game though.

Lucas Taylor has seen his minutes start to dwindle and he played 19 in this one. He hit a big 3 to end the first half, but was 1-4 for the game. He had 1 assist and nothing else on the stat sheet. He also struggled to handle Matthew Cleveland on the defensive end.

Elijah Moore had another no-show game. 11 minutes, 0-2 from 3, didn’t do anything else.

Chris Bell continued to shoot at a decent clip. He played 23 minutes and scored 14 points. He was 5-10 from the field (2-5 from 3). He’s been playing well for Syracuse as of late and is doing what they need him to do.

Jaquan Carlos hit two big 3s, but had some costly mistakes as well. He made some big plays defensively, but also got burnt. He hit some big shots, but also had some tough turnovers. The guard played 23 minutes, scored 6 points, had 3 assists, and 2 rebounds. He also had 2 turnovers.

Petar Majstorovic played 16 minutes, scored 2 points, and grabbed 3 rebounds (along with 2 assists).

Kyle Cuffe played 11 minutes and scored 5 points (2-5 from the field).

Naheem McLeod had a good 5 minutes of action - he scored 2 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. He’s beginning to earn more trust from the coaching staff it appears.

WHAT’S NEXT?

If Syracuse doesn’t find a way to beat UNC or Pittsburgh in their next two games, the game against NC State becomes a very big one. The Wolfpack are right on the heels of the Orange in projected finishing.