A season-long six-game homestand has featured plenty of peaks and valleys but little consistency for Syracuse.
The Orange will get one more chance to steady themselves in nonconference play Monday night, when Syracuse hosts Stonehill.
Syracuse earned its second straight win Saturday by beating Northeastern, 91-83. Stonehill has been off since Wednesday, when the Skyhawks fell to host Northeastern, 59-58.
The 91 points were a season-high for Syracuse (8-4), which hadn’t reached 80 points since an 80-50 win over Drexel on Nov. 15. But the offensive struggles continued for the Orange, who rank 300th or lower nationally in both 3-point shooting (29.8%) and free throw shooting (60.1%).
Syracuse was just 3-of-12 from 3-point land and did most of its damage at the free throw line, where it was 34-of-48 (70.8%). The 48 free throw attempts were tied for the 11th-most in a Division I game this season.
The Orange also once again struggled to finish off an opponent at home. The Orange, which began the homestand with a 62-60 upset of then-No. 13 Tennessee on Dec. 2, was tied with Saint Joseph’s in the second half of a 71-63 win on Dec. 11 and squandered a last-minute lead in a 70-69 loss to Hofstra on Dec. 13.
Syracuse led by as many as 15 points Saturday before Northeastern inched within five points in the final minutes.
“We’ve got to get that balance,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said. “That’ll be the challenge for us going forward.”
There have been no shortage of challenges this season for Stonehill (3-9), which is visiting a power conference foe for the third time this season. The Skyhawks fell to the Big East’s DePaul 72-64 on Nov. 7 before losing to the Big 12’s Iowa State 96-57 on Nov. 17.
Stonehill, which is in its fourth season as a Division I program and was picked to finish third in the 10-team Northeast Conference, has lost four straight games against Division I foes. The Skyhawks beat Division III Vermont State University Johnson, 101-60, on Dec. 12.
Freshman Kiyan Anthony, the son of Basketball Hall of Famer and former Syracuse star Carmelo Anthony, leads the Orange with 11.5 points per game. Donnie Freeman is averaging 17.8 points per game but hasn’t played since Nov. 18 due to a right foot injury.
Sophomore Hermann Koffi leads Stonehill with 15.3 points per game.
-Field Level Media
