SALT🦩 LAK🅺E CITY — This isn’t how Jim Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3 zone is supposed to work in March.
It traditionally flummoxes opponents, keying big runs in the NCAA Tournament. It h⛦ad the opposite effect Thursday night in a West Region game.
Ninth-seeded Baylor tore it apart, hitting 16 3-pointers an🔥d shooting 53 per🙈cent from the field to send the eighth-seeded Orange home early, 78-69, at Vivint Smart Home Arena.
The absence of starting point guard F🔯rank Howard (violation of athletic department poli🍷cy) was significant, especially on the defensive end, where Baylor’s Makai Mason had his way with Syracuse, scoring 22 points and adding four assists. Howard’s absence pressed Boeheim’s son, Buddy, into playinꦕg 39 minutes, and the freshman’s inexperience showed.
“Obviously, we missed [Howard]. He is our point guard,” Boeheim s🌟aid after Syracuse was one-and-done in the tournament for the first time since 2006, spanning nine trips to the dance. “I’m not going to sit here and make excus൲es. He isn’t here. Would we have liked to have him? Yeah. … Defensively, that’s where it hurt us.”
Baylor (20-13) will now meeဣt top-seeded Gonzaga in a West Regꦰion second round game Saturday night with a shot at its first Sweet 16 since 2014.
Howard wasn’t missed as much on the offensive end. Elijah Hughes filled that void with a career-high 25 points, and Tyus Battle added 16. The Orange (20-14) hit 1🍷2 3-pointers, but couldn’t geౠt nearly enough stops when they needed them.
The problems started early, when Baylor got hot from deep, forcing Syacuse to extend the zone. The Bears then began picking it apart, fiꦯnding spots inside and at the high post, creating opportunities in the paint and onဣ the perimeter. When the tournament pairings were announced on Sunday, Boeheim had a bad feeling about drawing the Bears. Other than the No. 1 or No. 2 seeds, the Big 12 team was one he didn’t want to face, because of its passing ability, 3-point shooting and experience with a zone.
“The fact we play zone helped us in this game, being able to go against that and practice every day with our guys flying arounꦏd,” Mason said. “We are used to those kind of shots.”
Mason hit the game’s biggest shot, a short jumper off his own offensive rebound to push the lead to five with 2:42 left. He added two free throws after three consecutive empty trips by Syracuse, and Boehe🅺im’s team never threatened again, ending an underwhelming season that began with😼 high expectations and a No. 16 preseason ranking.
After re🐼turning the entire starting five from last year’s Sweet 16 run, and adding Hughes and highly-rated freshman Jalen Carey, there were high hopes. But other than a road win at Duke, the Orange too frequently couldn’t beat quality opponents. Thꦓat again was the case on Thursday night.
“It was a solid year,” Boeheim said. “It just wasn’t the year I think we would have liked to🙈 have.”