VCU's Defense Shuts Down Syracuse, Orange Drops Second Straight

The Rams athletic, aggressive defense was too much for Syracuse.

Mike McAllister | Nov 24, 2021

VCU's Defense Shuts Down Syracuse, Orange Drops Second Straight /

Syracuse basketball dropped its second straight game with a 6-55 loss to VCU in the first game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. This puts the Orange in the losers bracket, and will face the loser of Baylor vs Arizona State. Syracuse drops to 2-2 on the season while VCU improves to 3-2.

The matchup featured one of the better shooting teams in Syracuse against one of the better defensive teams in VCU. The defensive team won as the aggressive style of the Rams frustrated the Orange all night, preventing open looks and forcing difficult shots. VCU has not been a great offensive team so far this season, but scored 44 points in the second half to earn the victory.

Syracuse led 27-23 at halftime despite shooting under 25% from the floor. The Rams took control with a 9-2 run to open the second half, and kept the Orange at bay the rest of the way.

Syracuse shot just 29% from the floor overall and made only five of 23 three point attempts. The Orange outrebounded VCU but still lost the game due to poor shooting. Syracuse could not solve VCU's defense and when open shots were available, they were missed. The pressure, full court press really bothered Joe Girard, who finished with six points, zero assists and six turnovers.

Buddy Boeheim led all scorers with 20 points but was just 6-17 from the floor and 2-10 from beyond the arc. Jimmy Boeheim finished with 17 points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Cole Swider was 2-14 from the floor including 0-7 from three point range.

Published Nov 24, 2021

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.