Syracuse Struggles Offensively, Falls at #16 Illinois

The Orange had one of its worst game in recent years on offense and lost its third straight.

Mike McAllister | Nov 29, 2022

Syracuse Struggles Offensively, Falls at #16 Illinois /

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Syracuse's losing streak is at three after falling 73-44 at #16 Illinois Tuesday night. The Orange struggled mightily on the offensive end all night, wasting a strong defensive outing against one of the highest scoring teams in the country. With the loss, Syracuse falls to 3-4 on the season. Next up is at Notre Dame on Saturday.

The first half was marred by poor shooting performances on both ends, thanks in large part to solid defensive efforts. Syracuse held Illinois to just 30 points in the first half, but could not take advantage large stretches without the Illinois scoring. The Orange had just 23 points in the first half. It would not get any better in the second.

The lead stayed between five and 10 for a while, but Syracuse's offensive struggles prevented a serious run to challenge Illinois. The Illini got going with a 12-0 run in the second half to push the lead from 11 to 23 with less than six minutes to play. Syracuse would score just 21 points after halftime and shot just 27.8% from the floor for the game. The Orange also turned it over 17 times.

Judah Mintz was 3-16 from the floor in his return after getting ejected against Bryant. He was out of control for most of the night and looked like a freshman for the first time in his young career. Joe Girard did not get out of his shooting slump, going 0-3 from the floor and failing to score. Jesse Edwards led the Orange in scoring with nine points, but was just 3-9 from the floor. He did grab 17 rebounds, however, but fouled out for the second straight game. No one from Syracuse reached double figures in scoring.

Justin Taylor provided a brief spark in the second half, making two three pointers to give the Orange offense some slight hope. But that was short lived as no one else could seem to make a shot. Chris Bell added eight points with a pair of threes as well.

Illinois' leading scorer Terrence Shannon was just 5-17 from the floor, but Coleman Hawkins had 15 points on 7-11 shooting to go along with 10 assists and 10 rebounds for a triple double to lead the Illini.

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Published Nov 29, 2022

MIKE MCALLISTER

Title: Publisher All Syracuse Education: Roberts Wesleyan College Location: Syracuse, New York Expertise: Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting. EXPERIENCE Mike McAllister has been covering Syracuse basketball, football and recruiting for more than a decade. Mike's career started with his own free blog as a way to vent following sporting events. Shortly thereafter, a network of basketball sites called Coast 2 Coast Hoops asked him to run their Syracuse site. That site was called Nation of Orange, and Mike quickly established it as a go-to for Syracuse fans. After running Nation of Orange for several months, a position with the Syracuse site on the Scout network became available. After one year as the recruiting expert with Cuse Nation, he was named the publisher. Mike oversaw the transition from Scout to 247Sports, and ran the site on that network for years. Presented with the opportunity to join one of the biggest names in the sports journalism industry, Sports Illustrated, Mike jumped at the chance. All Syracuse was started from scratch by Mike and the Fan Nation team. It has now become a staple for Orange fans of various sports. Mike has broken news on recruiting, Syracuse basketball and football team information and has established himself as the top recruiting inside in the market. He has appeared on local radio shows, television broadcasts, national radio shows and much more. Mr. McAllister has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting and Information Management from Roberts Wesleyan College.