Observations from SU’s loss to No. 7 Tennessee: Williams’ spark, McLeod’s rebounding

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For the first time since 2013, Syracuse is back in the Allstate Maui Invitational, formerly known as the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Ten years ago, the Orange won the tournament, beating Baylor 74-67 in the championship game. The victory was Jim Boeheim’s third-career Maui Invitational title.

Now, with a first-year head coach in Adrian Autry, the Orange plunge into a deeply-talented field of programs in Hawaii, including the likes of No. 1 Kansas, No. 2 Purdue, No. 7 Tennessee and No. 11 Gonzaga. To start off, SU battled the Volunteers, one of the favorites to finish on top in the Southeastern Conference.

Against Tennessee, the Orange took a commanding 19-11 lead early on after Benny Williams provided an eight-point first-half spark off the bench. The Volunteers responded with a 19-6 run to end the first half up 30-25. After taking as much as an 11-point lead early in the second, Syracuse crawled back to within three. Yet, it wasn’t enough. SU’s 15 turnovers and 35.6% shooting performance proved too much to overcome as Tennessee defeated the Orange 73-56.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (3-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 17-point loss to No. 7 Tennessee (4-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) to open the Allstate Maui Invitational:

Dalton’s Knecht’s knack for scoring

Dalton Knecht, a transfer from Northern Colorado, came to Tennessee as the reigning Big Sky Conference scoring leader and has established himself as its go-to guy. It was no different against the Orange, giving them trouble on the offensive end throughout.

Knecht drilled the first bucket of the game, an open 3 from the left baseline. After a quick period on the bench, he then went on a personal six-point run, including a 3 in transition and a 3-point play after SU’s Peter Carey fouled him while driving to the rim.

Knecht capped off a dominant, 15-point first half with an acrobatic finish around Quadir Copeland. He shot 3-for-4 from deep in the opening 20 minutes, and 5-for-9 in total.

It was a similar story in the second half. He easily blew by Judah Mintz and converted a layup in the paint to make it 38-27 Tennessee at the 17:12 mark in the second. Then, after not scoring for the next seven minutes, Knecht muscled by Bell to get to the rim and missed a layup. He went to the ground holding his right calf before exiting the game.

Without Knecht, Tennessee kept things close initially. Then, it pulled away toward the end of the second half, as a 3-pointer from Josiah-Jordan James gave the Volunteers a 57-48 lead with less than 6:00 to go. Syracuse stayed close, but Knecht’s dominance from the first half helped the Volunteers play with a lead in his absence en route to a victory.

Benny Williams’ first-half spark

Benny Williams checked in off the bench at the 13:50 mark in his second game of the season after being suspended by the team for its first two contests. Right when he got in, Williams made his presence clear.

With the Orange down 9-8, Williams drove the lane and drilled a pull-up mid-range jumper on his first attempt of the afternoon. On SU’s very next offensive possession, Williams drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give it a 13-9 lead.

A few minutes later, Maliq Brown corralled a loose ball after Kyle Cuffe Jr. nearly turned it over. Brown instantly swung it to a wide-open Williams, patiently waiting in the left corner, who splashed his second straight 3-point attempt. Williams had a game-high eight points through the opening 10 minutes against Tennessee.

Williams started to cool down at the end of the first half, as Tennessee started to focus on him more defensively. He didn’t find as much open space, once airballing a forced fadeaway attempt with less than three minutes remaining in the first.

He finished the fist half with a team-high eight points on 3-for-4 shooting and two 3-pointers. While he didn’t have as much of an effect in the final 20 minutes, Williams’ spark off the bench allowed Syracuse to keep things tight with Tennessee at the half.

McLeod’s presence felt with blocks, but not on the glass

Through his first four games, Naheem McLeod grabbed four defensive rebounds, despite his 7-foot-4 frame. And on Tennessee’s first possession, McLeod continued his struggles on the defensive glass.

Justin Taylor closed out on James in the right corner, forcing a missed 3-pointer. Battling with the Volunteers’ Jonas Aidoo, McLeod was easily boxed out and Aidoo pulled in the rebound. He swung it to Santiago Vescovi, who passed to Knecht at the left wing and drained a 3 for the game’s first points.

McLeod, who’s five inches taller than the tallest players on Tennessee’s roster, grabbed two rebounds in the first half — four fewer than guard Taylor.

Though McLeod came back and blocked Tennessee’s Tobe Awaka while driving to the rim. After the Volunteers grabbed the rebound, McLeod then stepped up from the left block and contested a mid-range jumper by Knecht, which fell short.

McLeod blocked James again toward the 5:00-mark in the first. He converged behind the Tennessee guard and rejected the ensuing lay-in try. McLeod recorded three blocks in the first half, but his rebounding struggles persisted.

Two minutes into the second half, Syracuse hadn’t hit a shot yet. A missed pull-up mid-range jumper from Chris Bell left McLeod battling for position with Aidoo. McLeod started out in front of Aidoo but as the ball traveled behind the two, he couldn’t adjust to the ball’s trajectory and Aidoo grabbed the rebound.

With less than three minutes in the second half, McLeod let Aidoo get inside again and finish a monstrous dunk to give Tennessee a 63-56 lead. McLeod finished the game with just three rebounds. Although he led the game with four rejections, his 7-foot-4 frame makes it difficult for him to beat guys with athleticism down low.

Free throws matter

In a tight game against a superior opponent, free throws were paramount for the Orange. Yet, they failed to consistently convert from the charity stripe, finishing the first half at a lowly 4-for-10.

McLeod was the cause for most of the poor free-throw numbers. He got to the line twice in the first half and knocked down 1-of-4 attempts. But in key situations, Syracuse missed from the line time and time again.

SU held a 19-11 lead midway through the first half, which was followed by a 19-6 run by the Volunteers. As the clock read 52.9 seconds, Starling was at the line for 2 with SU down 26-24 at the time. On his first attempt, Starling hit the back rim and it bounced away. Despite making the second try, Starling’s inability to knock both down let Tennessee hold its lead and extend it with a 4-0 run to close the half.

Later on in the second half, right after Tennessee’s leading scorer Knecht went down with an injury, Mintz got to the line with SU down 44-39 and 9:52 remaining. It was an opportunity to draw within three. Though Mintz missed both, continuing an abysmal team performance from the stripe. Syracuse closed the loss 8-for-17 from the line, while Tennessee went 20-for-27.