BUFFALO, N.Y. — As shot after shot clanged off the rim, an issue that plagued Syracuse all season exacerbated into a fatal flaw.

The Orange had chances to avoid another upset and a first-round exit in the Atlantic Coast Conference on Friday, but SU missed six shots on the final possession of a stunning loss to North Carolina State. Its shooting percentage for the day plummeted from an already poor 36.7 percent to 32.7.

“We shot the ball badly and it’s hard to recover when you’re not shooting the ball well,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said after the Orange’s 66-63 loss to the Wolfpack. “It’s very difficult to win when the ball’s not going in the basket.”

The problem for SU (27-5, 14-4 ACC), though, is that Friday has become the norm rather than the exception. It’s something Boeheim realizes — he called the problem “well-documented” — and it could make No. 3-seed Syracuse susceptible to an early exit from the NCAA Tournament when it opens play against No. 14-seed Western Michigan (23-9, 14-4 Mid-American) on Thursday at 2:45 p.m. in the First Niagara Center.

But Boeheim also likes to point out that his team won 27 games and finished the season ranked No. 14 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll, despite its incompetence from beyond the arc.

“Our offense isn’t going to be there every night and our defense is kind of our advantage,” SU forward C.J. Fair said after the selection show Sunday. “If we play the defense we’re capable of playing, then we can definitely make another Final Four run.”

That was the identity that the Orange rode to the national semifinals a year ago. In 2012-13, Syracuse ranked 80th in the nation in points per game and 127th in field-goal percentage going into the NCAA Tournament.

The Orange’s numbers this year are a bit more staggering — 253rd in points per game and 201st in field-goal percentage — but the premise is the same. Defense feeds offense, and right now the defense isn’t playing particularly well either.

“I think our offense feeds off our defense and our defense wasn’t great against N.C. State,” Fair said. “If we come out with the same defensive presence we usually have, I think that can help our offense and that takes away the confidence of the opposing team.”

As expected, SU’s offense has struggled in its losses, but the defense has been surprisingly ineffective. In four of Syracuse’s five losses, its opponent shot at least 46 percent against the Orange’s Top-10 scoring defense.

The only loss Syracuse suffered while holding an opponent to worse than 46 percent shooting was against Boston College, which Fair compared the Broncos to on Wednesday.

In that game, the Orange’s bad offense bottomed out. It shot a season-worst 32.3 percent and made just 2-of-12 shots from 3-point range.

It’s been a prolonged struggle for alleged sharpshooter Trevor Cooney, but now is as good a time as any for the guard to get going.

“Going forward, we need to get a lot better,” Cooney said after the loss to NCSU. “We have stuff to work on.”

The redshirt sophomore suffered an ankle injury during the loss and actually hit his only 3 of the game moments after sitting out to rest the injury. But Cooney practiced at full speed Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

He’s struggled during ACC play, but he’s still shooting 37.7 percent from 3 this season and is the closest thing SU has to a dangerous long-range shooter.

But shooters, like teams in March, can get on a roll in a hurry. Syracuse lost 5-of-6 to end the regular season last year and made a run to the Final Four.

And while this year isn’t the same scenario — the Orange played well at the final Big East Tournament — it’s an example for Boeheim to point to.

March is all that matters.

“The Tournament’s a different thing,” Boeheim said. “You can start playing well in one game, and all of a sudden you can get on a roll.”

Published on March 19, 2014 at 10:57 pm

Contact David: dbwilson@syr.edu | @DBWilson2