Jim Boeheim has been the coach of Syracuse since 1976. And since 1976, the Orange have never had a losing season. That’s 45 years without a losing record.
However, that streak will likely come to an end after Syracuse’s loss to Duke in the ACC Tournament quarterfinals on Thursday. The loss dropped the Orange to 16-17 overall, and they aren’t projected to make the NCAA Tournament or NIT. Their season is probably over.
That doesn’t mean Syracuse went down without a fight. Playing the tournament’s top seed, and without Jim’s son and leading scorer Buddy Boeheim, Syracuse covered a 14.5-point spread and gave Duke a serious scare. Buddy got himself suspended for the game by punching an opponent on Wednesday, but his older brother Jimmy Boeheim picked up the slack and played the game of his life. In a performance more reminiscent of Buddy, who leads the ACC in scoring, Jimmy scored a season-high 28 points while making six-of-nine three-pointers.
In the end, he wasn’t able to save his dad’s incredible streak in an 88-79 loss, but that was just one layer of a game that was much more than the sum of its parts.
Great game and incredible effort from the Orange without Buddy, but it’s not enough as Duke advances 88-79. Syracuse’s (16-17) season is likely done with its first losing season since 1969. pic.twitter.com/5OniyO1MfX
— Matt Park (@MattPark1) March 10, 2022