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As Syracuse built a 20-10 lead in the first eight and a half minutes against Southern Methodist University, it had four different scorers and combined for four 3s. Lucas Taylor had 11 points on three triples and helped Syracuse go on an 8-0 run to separate from SMU.
Despite losing J.J. Starling for about four minutes midway through the half due to injury, the Orange took a 44-36 lead into halftime on 57% shooting and 53% from beyond the arc (7-of-13).
However, the second half was a much different story. SU shot just 38% from the field and made 2-of-9 triples. Taylor scored just two more points to finish with a team-high 13 in the contest, and Starling finished the game 3-of-17 from the field.
Syracuse’s (12-18, 6-13 Atlantic Coast) inability to find offense from Taylor and others led to it being outscored by 10 in the second half, and it fell 77-75 to SMU (22-8, 13-6 Atlantic Coast). It marked SU’s second straight game with at least five different players in double figures, but most of the damage came in the first 20 minutes.
The Orange’s last field goal of the contest was a layup by Jyáre Davis at the 5:12 mark of the second half, putting them ahead by eight points. Though down the stretch, Syracuse’s only offense came from the charity stripe, where it went 3-for-6.
“It was a well-balanced scoring today,” Jaquan Carlos said. “We learn a lot from these games, just stuff we got to build on.”
Carlos was one of SU’s players that got going early on. He assisted three straight 3s to help Syracuse take an 18-10 lead. On two feeds to Taylor, he drew multiple defenders in the center of the floor before dishing out to the perimeter.
Taylor got off to a 4-of-4 start to the game to propel the Orange just one contest after scoring zero points. He fouled out in 12 minutes while not attempting a shot in SU’s overtime loss to Virginia Tech.
SU head coach Adrian Autry subbed out Taylor at the 12:27 mark of the first half, and moments later, Starling collided with Chuck Harris, putting two of Syracuse’s top offensive players on the bench.
Neither Taylor nor Starling checked back in over the next four minutes, and the Mustangs tied the game 23-23 on a 13-3 run. Over that span, Kyle Cuffe Jr. tallied three points, but the Orange were held scoreless for a stretch that lasted over two minutes.
Taylor played just under two more minutes the rest of the first half. In his second spurt, Taylor didn’t take a shot but collected one board and was called for his first personal foul.
That’s when Autry turned to SU’s leading 3-point shooter, Chris Bell. The 6-foot-7 forward scored eight of Syracuse’s next 10 points, catapulting it back to a 39-32 lead with a minute and a half left in the half.
Then, Eddie Lampkin Jr. threw down a dunk, and Carlos hit a 3 at the halftime buzzer to give Syracuse an eight-point cushion heading to the break.
In the first six minutes of the second half, Taylor shot 1-of-2 and turned the ball over while also collecting his second foul. SMU had pulled within five points, and Autry turned back to Bell at the forward spot.
Bell knocked down his third triple just a few minutes after returning to the game and played the next 13 minutes. Meanwhile, Taylor only returned for the final minute of the game. Autry said the Mustangs didn’t change their defense on Taylor, but he preferred Bell’s production.
“Chris started playing well. Chris gave us a very good lift,” Autry said. “We look at those guys as one spot (players). Lucas shot the ball really, really well but in the second half Chris got himself going. He gave us a nice groove out there.”
However, in the second half, Bell scored only three points, and the rest of SU’s offense couldn’t find much success.
For over three minutes in the middle of the second half, SU didn’t make a field goal. Following the stretch, Cuffe gave SU a 63-51 lead at the 9:54 mark before Starling connected on a jumper at the 6:22 mark. In that span, the Mustangs trimmed their deficit to 68-62.
SMU carried that momentum for the remainder of the game, allowing just two more field goals. Lampkin couldn’t contribute down the stretch, and Starling missed his last three shots.
As the Orange fell into an offensive slump, the Mustangs took the lead in the final minute and won on a tip-in by Keon Ambrose-Hylton in the final seconds to win the game.
“We really showed the world what we can do,” Cuffe said. “It’s really a deciding factor on second-chance points, last chances. We can do pretty good things, we just got to put it together.”
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