5 takeaways from Syracuse’s 82-72 win over Cornell

Syracuse climbed out of an early hole in their 82-72 victory over Cornell Wednesday night. Here’s a look beyond the box score with five takeaways from the game.

While there is very little Orange head coach Adrian Autry can count on from game to game, one thing his team has done well is defensive rebounding. Cornell was only able to collect four offensive rebounds as SU gobbled up 35 defensive boards.

Syracuse has won the battle on the glass in five of six games, finishing at least plus-nine in each of those five contests.

On the season, Orange opponents have a total of 39 offensive rebounds while SU has grabbed 183 defensive boards, giving their foes a miniscule 17.6 percent offensive rebounding rate, one of the best marks in the nation.

Elijah Moore played 23:25 off the bench in three stretches and Syracuse outscored the Big Red in each of them. Most of Moore’s +26 plus-minus came in the final 11:40 of the first half when Syracuse outscored Cornell, 33-11, but he was on the floor for two positive spans of time in the second half, including the final 7:55 of play.

Lucas Taylor logged 21:26 for SU and was nearly as effective, finishing with a +24 mark. While Taylor made much of his mark with hustle play, he also added nine points on 3-of-5 shooting from the floor and 3-of-4 at the line. Each of Taylor’s made baskets came from the mid-range, which is almost certainly unsustainable, and he will need to rely on those shots less in the future.

The two combined for one of the most important sequences of the night with under two minutes to play and the Orange holding a four-point lead.

Taylor blocked a Cornell lay-up and Moore grabbed the rebound and took off. Moore ended up backing the ball out and shooting a 3 from the left wing that found the net, stretching the lead to 76-69 and giving the SU an emotional lift.

Their dual efforts in that brief span underscored their contributions to the win.

While Syracuse has often struggled coming out of the gate this season, the Big Red had no such difficulty.

Cornell made 7-of-14 shots to start the game in grabbing a 17-6 lead. In the second half, they started 7-of-10.

After those hot starts, they crashed to earth, shooting 4-of-20 and 7-of-18 to finish the two halves.

The Orange have suffered from a combination of bad luck, bad shot selection, and quite possibly other bad things when it comes to shooting inside the arc. SU posted a 25-for-60 line on two-point field goals against Cornell, good for 41.7 percent.

The first half was particularly rough, as they were 12-of-32 for a meager 37.5 percent.

The only thing SU has done in each of their six games this season is end the contest with a fairly close score, as the 10-point win over Cornell is the largest margin in any of their games. Beyond that, the team is a grab bag on a nightly basis, unless it is something they are poor at (3-point shooting, we see you).

J.J. Starling has two games with over 60 percent shooting where he rolled up 65 points… and a 3-for-17 night against Cornell. Chris Bell is shooting 28.1 percent from long range and his playing time has been reduced in each of his last three games.

Eddie Lampkin is fighting through his back injury (and what looks like a potential leg something with his stride against Cornell) and Donnie Freeman is an athletic rebounding machine… when he can stay on the floor.

Jyare Davis had been up-and-down, but at least more of the former than the latter. Moore has had freshman blues mixed in with some successes, but has played with more confidence in his last two outings. Jaquan Carlos and Taylor have each struggled with their shot, but at least work on defense.

A fair amount of Autry’s postgame press conference was harping on his players’ effort, an easy path to walk based on the evening’s events. The Orange came out of the gate slow and fell behind to a team of far less talent, then did the same to start the second half, save for falling behind. The bench had to inject energy and effort into the team.

Chris Bell, in particular, had what could be a thin ice game. He played under 18 minutes and, after being removed after starting each half, never returned to the floor. Against the Big Red, Bell logged his first game at Syracuse where he attempted zero 3-point shots and he has historically struggled to contribute when not bombing away from long range.

While the team has 10 players Autry says he feels comfortable playing, he spends far too much time of each game figuring out who is willing to play hard that night and who can contribute in each game.

Lampkin’s effort on defense, including when he was physically struggling in Brooklyn last week, makes him a shoo-in, as does the way Autry talks about Starling as a go-to guy. Freeman’s athleticism and rising learning curve make him a strong number three.

Beyond that, Moore seems to be making a push for more playing time while Davis and Taylor show the effort side of the coin, even if their shots are not falling.

Autry has shown the willingness to make tough decisions in his short tenure at Syracuse. His decision to send Benny Williams packing last year was the right one, as he had afforded the forward plenty of rope, then reached the point where he had multiple suspensions and the final decision had to be made, not just for Williams, but to establish he was the head coach and it was his way or not at all.

Perhaps in an effort to get consistency, or at least the effort that makes it easier to build consistency, Autry could look at promoting Moore into the starting lineup, even if it is at the expense of Bell, the most experienced wing.

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