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Twenty points and four assists are routine for Paige Bueckers. Both are on par with her season averages, and both were enough for Bueckers and UConn to dissect Syracuse’s defense on Tuesday night.

The All-American freshman guard led No. 1-seed UConn to a monstrous win over the Orange in the NCAA Tournament’s second round. Besides Bueckers’ performance, Syracuse gave up 82 points to one of the best offenses in the nation — it’s highest total in a regulation game since December.

Syracuse’s defense has showed promising spurts this season, like 27 combined blocks and steals against No. 9 seed South Dakota State on Saturday night. But too often, they’ve been plagued by defensive collapses. A 25-point halftime deficit against Clemson in January. A 27-9 run to hand Syracuse one of its two losses to Louisville.

Tuesday night, Bueckers exposed SU’s (15-9,9-7 Atlantic Coast) defense in its most important game of the season, an 83-47 loss that ended the Orange’s tournament. Bueckers and the Huskies (26-1,18-0 Big East) frequently breached the zone, using sequences of quick passes, penetrating passes, points in the paint and Buecker’s individual vision to bury the No. 8-seed Syracuse after a close first quarter. And for the third time in six years, the Orange are traveling home without a national championship at the hands of the Huskies.

“For the first quarter, first 13 or 14 minutes, it was fine,” head coach Quentin Hillsman said. “Then, they went on a run, and (we) didn’t respond.”

The at-times porous defense was a part of the reason that Syracuse dropped to a No. 8 seed when preseason expectations had them ranked higher, according to ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme. Hillsman said in February he wanted to avoid a “middle of the pack” seed for the NCAA Tournament, but the Orange were on track for that inevitable destiny through the final portion of their season. 

Syracuse led the ACC in blocked shots and blocks per game. But against top-ranked opponents this season, blocks in particular shielded the Orange from other defensive issues. Despite having the tallest team in the conference, Syracuse ranked 10th in the ACC in scoring defense and 14th out of 15 teams in rebounding defense. 

The zone was successful against weaker opponents — holding Stony Brook to 39 points in Syracuse’s season opener, Miami to 58 and 64, and Pitt to 57 and 67. SDSU, a team less familiar with the zone, scored just 55. But Syracuse’s defense has collapsed against top opponents, and it showed on Tuesday again.

Bueckers fired 11 shots from the field in the first half and scored 16 points in the opening 20 minutes. She nailed a 3-pointer after Syracuse missed a jumpshot on the other end, electing to pull the shot before the Orange could get set after the under-5 media timeout during the first quarter.

Bueckers got swarmed in the paint and dished to Aaliyah Edwards for an easy layup, too. She cut inside moments later and did the same thing. This time, she found Edwards, who went to the line after a foul by Kamilla Cardoso.

“It was just transition defense, not getting back and stopping the ball in transition. They did a really good job of just running lanes, and we didn’t get back and get our defense set,” Hillsman said postgame.

Bueckers’ statline of 20 points and four assists against Syracuse is nearly her season average. Courtesy of Ben Solomon | NCAA Photos

Bueckers faded to the right and absorbed a foul from Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi, too, smiling as she went to the line and sank both free throws. The UConn star nailed all of her nine shots from the charity stripe. 

Later in the second quarter, Tiana Mangakahia was late to closeout Bueckers in the right corner. Bueckers had already let her shot fly, and it didn’t connect. But Mangakahia got a piece of her hand, and Bueckers smiled after hitting the hardwood. She put three fingers up in the air to indicate the three free throws she’d proceed to sink, and Mangakahia and the Orange could only watch in dismay.

Bueckers was sporadic at first, appearing for windows of time in the first half but coming to life as a facilitator in the second. From the top of the arc, hovering near the left side, she dribbled until she saw Olivia Nelson-Ododa dart across the baseline and into the paint. Through traffic, and through Syracuse’s zone, Bueckers unleashed a precise no-look pass that found her teammate. 

Minutes later, she cut from the top of the arc and to the elbow as the pass from Christyn Williams was fired toward her. In one smooth move, the freshman caught it and flipped it over her shoulder to Nelson-Ododa. 

“Paige has incredible court vision, so she’s able to get those passes there, first of all see them and second of all get them there with (time),” Nelson-Ododa said after UConn’s win. “I gave her a lot of credit, especially finding the open person.”

And beyond Bueckers’ individual vision, the Huskies collective ability to outpass Syracuse’s zone was on full display during the third quarter. Syracuse couldn’t move quick enough as UConn strung together sequences of as many as eight passes, with no player holding the ball for more than a split second. They were facilitated by Bueckers, but they were frequently finished by Williams, Edwards and Nelson-Ododa, who all scored in double-digits.

In the final five minutes, Bueckers collected a rebound, crossed over to avoid Digna Strautmane and cut upcourt. When Bueckers reached halfcourt, she picked her head up and fired a long pass toward a running Edwards. 

The forward turned, caught the ball on the run and handed off to Aubrey Griffin, who converted the easy shot unmarked. Syracuse’s zone was beaten, and the Huskies knew it. 

After all, they led by 35 points.

Published on March 24, 2021 at 2:18 am

Contact Roshan: rferna04@syr.edu | @Roshan_f16