We’ve all seen the Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team get off to slow starts this season, but is that perception or reality?
After another occurrence against the North Carolina Tar Heels, I decided to look at how slow these starts have been. Going back to the start of the regular season, I’ve charted the score at the first media timeout because you’ve got at least four minutes of action and each team will have had multiple possessions.
Here’s what it looks like:
Score at 1st Media Timeout
| Game | Opponent | Syracuse | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lehigh | 9 | 7 | -2 |
| Colgate | 8 | 5 | -3 |
| Northeastern | 9 | 12 | 3 |
| Richmond (N) | 2 | 10 | 8 |
| St John's (N) | 7 | 8 | 1 |
| Bryant | 8 | 6 | -2 |
| @ Illinois | 7 | 3 | -4 |
| Notre Dame | 13 | 10 | -3 |
| Oakland | 10 | 13 | 3 |
| Georgetown | 17 | 6 | -11 |
| Monmouth | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Cornell | 11 | 7 | -4 |
| Pittsburgh | 9 | 10 | 1 |
| Boston College | 5 | 4 | -1 |
| @ Louisville | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| @ Virginia | 13 | 9 | -4 |
| Virginia Tech | 10 | 7 | -3 |
| Notre Dame | 16 | 13 | -3 |
| @ Miami | 11 | 2 | -9 |
| @ Georgia Tech | 15 | 8 | -7 |
| UNC | 15 | 6 | -9 |
| Total | 210 | 164 | -46 |
Through 21 games, Syracuse has had the lead at this first media time-out on only six occasions, they have been tied once, and trailed during the rest.