(AP Photo/Jim Prisching)

Someone wake me up from this nightmare.  Once again, Syracuse could not figure it out defensively and dropped their fourth straight contest, and first to Marquette since the Golden Eagles joined the Big East.  While Syracuse looked sharper than it did during last Tuesday’s drubbing at the hands of Seton Hall, they are still a long way from the team that took down Cincinatti on January 15.  The loss to Marquette, which finally pulled out a close game and helped put itself back on the right side of the bubble, was all the more confusing by the fact that both Dion Waiters and James Southerland did not play.  We’re well aware of Waiters-gate which is likely at the core of his absence, but Southerland’s disappearance is a mystery.  More on that throughout the week.  For now, let’s take a look at what went wrong in Milwaukee.

Yesterday, I posed several questions about the SU/Marquette matchup, which would affect the outcome of the game:

Does Waiters play?
Does Scoop snap out of it?
Can Syracuse slow down the highest-scoring offense in the Big East?
Will Syracuse’s size advantage loom large?
Decided at the line?
Will Syracuse continue to surrender the three-ball?
Was this a must-win?

Let’s take these one at a time.

Does Waiters play?

Nope.

Does Scoop snap out of it?

Scoop arguably had his best game in a couple weeks.  He distributed the ball well, racking up 13 assists to compliment his 13 points.  But he also had five turnovers, including two under eight minutes when Syracuse was working to stay even.

Can Syracuse slow down the highest-scoring offense in the Big East?

While Syracuse kept Marquette under its average, the pace of the game was clearly in Marquette’s favor.  Marquette was extremely active under the basket and earned 33 free throws, making 24 (more on that below).  And once again, Syracuse allowed a team to shoot over 50 percent.  Jimmy Butler hit two of the biggest three’s I’ve seen in quite some time, both with shot clock about to expire.  Can’t do that and expect to win.

Will Syracuse’s size advantage loom large?

Perhaps the biggest key to Marquette’s win was their ability to keep Rick Jackson in check, often with double teams.  They boxed him out and held him to a season-low 4 rebounds.  Overall, Marquette out rebounded Syracuse 24-22.  What I was most impressed with was the play of C.J. Fair – perhaps not for what he did but for the potential I saw.  He’s got a nice step to the basket, which could be a great tool down the road.  But he still gets pushed around.  If he adds some size over the summer, he could be a nice force.

Fab played 14 minutes, which was the second most he’s played in conference season (15 against Cincy).  At points, he battled, maintained his position and secured the middle.  But on a couple occasions he lost his composure, including when he got called for the intentional foul.  Baye Moussa Keita nabbed seven boards and got some quality minutes but was a non-factor offensively.

Decided at the line?

Yep.  If you were to tell me that Syracuse would outshoot Marquette 57-52 percent, make five more shots and still lose, I would have called you crazy. Crazy, I say!  Yet Marquette made more free throws than Syracuse attempted, going 24-33 from the line.  Syracuse went a measly 8-14.  This game was clearly decided at the line.

Will Syracuse continue to surrender the three-ball?

Neither team spent a lot of time behind the arc.  Both teams went 6-13.  But as I mentioned, the two three’s that Jimmy Butler did take were bigger than huge. They were at critical moments and blew the roof off the place.  After the one he hit with a tick left on the shot clock, you could see that Coach Boeheim was upset with Kris Joseph for allowing him to get the shot off.  Darius Johnson-Odom iced the game with his three pointer with 1:02 left.

Was this a must-win?

While we have moved from “swoon” to “slump” (or vice versa – whichever is worse coming second), the fact is it wasn’t a “must-win” by any functional measure.  This was a road game in a hostile environment against a good team.  But Syracuse needs to get another couple wins over a team in the RPI top 50 if they are going get a good seed come tournament time.  The Michigan State win is the UNC win of last year.  And man cannot feast on Notre Dame alone.

Other observations:

• Transition baskets – the fruit of the zone defense’s labor – are becoming more and more scarce.
• ‘Cuse is still missing a ton of bunny shots around the rim.
• Gerry Macnamara sat between Dion Waiters and James Southerland throughout the entire game.
• During time outs, Waiters and Southerland were on the outside of the huddle.  Through their body language, it was clear from early on that neither would be getting any playing time.
• Melo still isn’t playing smart basketball and you could see the veins in Coach B’s forehead bulging from 30 rows up.  At one point, Melo was called for a foul and tried to make his case to the ref with play stopped for a time out. Rick Jackson tried to usher him back to the bench and Boeheim just about threw him there.