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The Syracuse Orange lost to the Arizona State Sun Devils 61-54 on Saturday, December 12th. Syracuse put up a good fight, but Arizona State was too much. Arizona State's defense stifled Syracuse, holding them to a 16.7% shooting mark from behind the arc. The bigger issue was rebounding. For each shot that Arizona State took, they were able to rebound it 56% of the time. That means it was more likely that the Sun Devils would rebound their own missed shot than it was for Syracuse to grab a defensive rebound. This should never be the case. Rebounding hurt the Orange badly. Another issue Syracuse had been getting to the line.
During the entire game, they shot only two free throws, both of which were in the first half. That put none of Arizona State's players in foul trouble. The Sun Devils, on the other hand, got to the line 22 times, making a low 13 of them. However, this hurt Syracuse in many ways. Brittney Sykes (5), Brianna Butler (4), Briana Day (4), Alexis Peterson (3) and Taylor Ford were all in foul trouble during the 2nd half. This forced a bigger rotation and less time for the starters. Syracuse just couldn't string together a comeback late in the game. Having fewer players to use certainly diminished Syracuse's late comeback attempt.
Another concern was injuries. Luckily none of them seemed to be too serious. Brianna Butler, Brittney Sykes and Cornelia Fondren all left the game at some point, went to the locker room and came back into the game. What seemed to be the biggest injury was a right ankle roll from Alexis Peterson. She was helped off the court and was clearly in lots of pain. Fortunately, she was back in the locker room after the game, which Coach Q calls a good sign.
Syracuse's next game is a home game against Jacksonville on Monday, December 21st at 7 pm. The Jacksonville Dolphins are 5-4 and have not received any votes in the AP Poll this season. Coach Q emphasized how the team will be ready for the Dolphins and how they will always be ready for a battle.