Coach: Jim Boeheim

The Orange had high expectations for the season. The entire lineup returned from the previous season, and there was an influx of talented freshman joining the team. The team had made a strong buy improbable run in the NCAA tournament the previous year, and the media noticed as the Orange started the year ranked #16. Unfortunately, the year would not turn out as well as hoped.

All three of the Syracuse point guards would be injured in the preseason, hampering practice and having an big impact on the early season games. Senior Frank Howard had a severe lower leg injury, sophomore Howard Washington struggled with recovering from his ACL tear, and freshman Jalen Carey would turn his ankle. The Orange would struggle to score early in the year, and they would lose back to back games against Connecticut and Oregon in the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden. Particularly concerning was how poor the Orange were shooting from the perimeter.

Frank Howard would return after four games, and would slowly be integrated into the lineup. He eventually would get back into game shape, but never would recover his form from the previous year. Washington would then be out for the remainder of the year, later revealing that he had suffered a stroke. The team traveled to Ohio State, and had a convincing victory over the #16 Buckeyes 72-62.

The Orange would beat Cornell on December 1st, the second Battle of the Boeheims, this time with Coach Jim Boeheim and freshman son Buddy taking on Cornell and sophomore son Jimmy Boeheim. A week later the Orange would beat Georgetown 72-71 as Tyus Battle would hit the game winning jumper with 2.5 seconds remaining. He scored 21 of his 26 points in the second half of the game.

Syracuse would then suffer back-to-back losses to unranked Old Dominion and #14 ranked Buffalo. The team would finish non-conference play at 9-4 with a lot of work to be done in ACC play.

The team started to change its offensive style, allowing Battle to run many of the offensive sets. Buddy Boeheim's shooting started to improve, and he would be a consistent deep threat the remainder of the year. Transfer Elijah Hughes helped the Orange to victory over Notre Dame with a 22 point, 10 rebound effort.

The biggest win of the year would occur against #1 ranked Duke down in Durham, North Carolina. Duke had four highly touted freshman including Zion Williamson and R.J. Barrett. Williamson would dominate the Orange with a 35 point, 10 rebound effort. But the Orange perimeter defense was tough on Duke, and the Blue Devils would shoot only 9-43 from three point range. Tre Jones, the star point guard from Duke, would get injured a few minutes into the game, and Tyus Battle took advantage of that to dominate Duke, with a 32 point effort of his own. Syracuse's Paschal Chukwu, who had lost his starting job because of ineffective play, had the best game of his career with 18 rebounds, and 10 points. Williamson tied the game up for Duke with a free throw with 16.2 seconds left, but he missed his second free throw. Battle had a chance to win the game but his 3 point shot at the buzzer missed. The Orange would score first in overtime, and outscore the Blue Devils 10-6 to win the game 95-91. It was the first loss a #1 ranked Duke team ever suffered to an unranked team at home.

The Orange would struggle with their offensive identity for the remainder of the year, and the defense was inconsistent. The team was able to sweep Boston College and Pitt, and a large lopsided win on the road over #18 Louisville 69-49.

They would face Duke later in the year with an NCAA record crowd in attendance. The game was overshadowed by the tragic accident earlier in the week where Jim Boeheim struck and killed a pedestrian Jorge Jimenez who was walking alongside the highway in bad weather. The Orange would lead Duke 34-29 at halftime, but R.J. Barrett dominated the second half for Duke, ending up with 30 points. Battle, who was the hero in the previous meeting, had a poor game hitting only 4 of 17 shots.

The Orange would face Pittsburgh in the first round of the ACC tournament. Buddy Boeheim, who started in place of an injured Tyus Battle, would have his best game of the year leading the team with 20 points, along with six rebounds and four assists. Syracuse would face Duke for the third time that season, this time without Battle. Frank Howard would have his best game of the year with 28 points, but Zion Williamson dominated the game for Duke as the Blue Devils easily won 84-72.

The Orange would finish the regular season and ACC tournament going 3-8 against top 25 teams, including six games against top five teams. Their resume was good enough that they easily made the NCAA tournament as a #8 seed. The team received bad news before the game that Howard had been suspended for the remainder of the year due a violation of the team's substance policies. Baylor would out hustle the Orange all game, and win easily 78-69, ending the season.

© RLYoung 2018, 2019