Syracuse’s roller coaster offense finally hit a new low.
The inconsistent and, sometimes, inefficient scoring attack has already led to two close calls this season – in a preseason win over Carleton and last weekend against Hampton. The third time, however, wasn’t the charm for Syracuse, who wasn’t as lucky in Madison Square Garden on Thursday night.
The Orange shot just 37 percent and registered its lowest scoring output of the season, en route to a disappointing 73-59 loss to California. Syracuse turned the ball over 12 times – the most through three games – and the Golden Bears capitalized with a scoring frenzy at the end of the first half.
"We have a freshman point guard," said Jim Boeheim. "He’s learning the position. It’s going to take time. But I just thought our offense put our defense in such a bad position that we couldn’t really get anything going."
The Orange (2-1) moves on to face the Iowa Hawkeyes in the consolation game of the 2K Classic, while the Golden Bears advance for a championship match against No. 10 Texas.
Kaleb Joseph and Michael Gbinije led Syracuse with 13 points apiece, while Chris McCullough added 12 points, his third straight game in double figures.
The game started on a positive note for Syracuse when Joseph lobbed the ball up to Rakeem Christmas for an alley-oop on the first play on the game. But it only went downhill from there. The Orange missed its next four shots and was shut out for the next three minutes and 43 seconds of game time until McCullough sank a three pointer. It was one of four times during the half when the Orange didn’t register a field goal for at least a three-minute stretch.
It kept the pro-Syracuse crowd quiet for most of the game as it kept the Orange behind on the scoreboard throughout the night.
For most of the first half, meanwhile, the Bears were just as inefficient on offense. They were relegated to many long, contested threes and missed six-of-seven from deep to start the game. Then Cal hit its next four shots from behind the arc, beginning with David Kravish’s shot that put the Bears up 25-20. That shooting spree boosted Cal to a 12-2 run to end the first half.
"I thought Cal was really good on offense," Boeheim said. "They ended the first half and we couldn’t get our offense going at all. You score 20 points, you’re going to have problems."
The Orange weren’t able to cut Cal’s lead to single-digits from then on, let alone take the lead. Syracuse compounded its deficit by committing five of its 12 turnovers in the first four minutes after intermission.
A layup from Joseph got Syracuse within 12 points with 5:07 left, but the Bears responded with a quick 7-0 run with Christmas having fouled out. The Orange used big second halves to throttle past its first two opponents. In the Syracuse's first real test against big competition on a big spotlight, it came up small.
Said Boeheim, "It’s going to take, I think, some time. I don’t think right now that we’re ready to score like we need to."