For the second consecutive season, the Syracuse basketball team has had to deal with a mysterious eligibility issue that has taken a key player out of the lineup. Last year, it was an academic issue that kept starting center Fab Melo out for three games in the middle of January and then later caused him to miss the NCAA tournament. This year, it’s sixth man James Southerland, the team’s second leading scorer, who is wearing street clothes on the bench, unable to play for an indefinite period of time.
Without Southerland against Villanova on Saturday, the Orange overcame a two-point halftime deficit to win rather comfortably 72-61, due in large part to the extraordinary effort by C.J. Fair and the unexpected contributions of freshmen DaJuan Coleman, Jerami Grant, and Trevor Cooney. But the strong play of Fair and the three freshmen that allowed Syracuse to eventually coast to victory late in the second half masked the problems the Orange had without Southerland in the game during the first half.
Syracuse was plagued by offensive troubles throughout the first half against Villanova.
Aside from not being able to make shots, the Orange were out of sync offensively, and appeared tight. Point guard Michael Carter-Williams was defended well by Villanova, making it difficult for him to get the rest of the team involved; aside from one nice post move by Coleman, the Orange struggled scoring inside; and when Syracuse needed its lone senior, Brandon Triche, to step up, he seemed reluctant to do so, as evidenced by a turnover he committed when he passed up an open look from the perimeter and threw the ball out of bounds midway through his shot. Usually, Southerland would have come off the bench within the first few minutes of the game, but when he didn’t, the Orange looked lost on offense. Without Southerland, and his perimeter shooting abilities, stretching out the defense, there was less room to operate. Without Southerland’s size, and his improvement as an offensive rebounder this year, the Orange struggled to get offensive rebounds and second chance points. The absence of Southerland could be felt throughout Syracuse’s 27-point first half.
Of course, Syracuse responded in the second half, played like the high-caliber team that they are, and won the game comfortably. With Triche in foul trouble for much of the second half, Fair carried the team on his back until Syracuse had taken a sizeable lead. Grant filled in for most of the minutes that ordinarily go to Southerland, and contributed 13 points and five rebounds; Coleman also handled increased minutes, scoring six points; and Cooney hit a pair of three-pointers late to help put the game out of reach.
In the end, Syracuse survived on Saturday without Southerland. But can they survive without him, if Southerland misses an extended period of time. Can they survive without Southerland against tougher competition? On Saturday, Syracuse was a pitiful 4 for 14 from three-point range, shot just 40% from the field, and was out-rebounded by eight: all areas where Southerland would have helped.
That’s not to say Syracuse’s success this season will disintegrate if Southerland continues to be absent. Could Fair, Triche, or Carter-Williams step up in any given game and carry the team to victory? Certainly. But is Grant going to give the Orange 13 points and five rebounds every night? Will Cooney be able to hit clutch perimeter shots time after time? Will 35 minutes a night out of three freshmen top 35 minutes a night from a senior? The answers to those questions are far less certain.
Now, Syracuse is far from a one-man team, and just like last year with Melo, the loss of one player will not derail the entire season for the Orange. But while everything seems fine after Syracuse closed out Villanova in the second half of Saturday’s game, the issues that the Orange had on offense during the first half against Villanova will continue to plague them for as long as Southerland remains ineligible.