Syracuse Basketball: Highs and Lows from Orange's Season

The Syracuse basketball season has mercifully ended. The team ended the 2014-15 campaign with a 71-57 loss on the road at North Carolina State. It was the team's third loss in a row and its fourth in five games.

There was a lot about this season that had fans shaking their heads. Chris McCullough and DaJuan Coleman both missed significant time due to knee injuries. Trevor Cooney underperformed again. And Syracuse couldn't make it two in a row against Duke in front of a record crowd.

But there were certainly some high points as well. Now that the season is over, let's have a look at a few of the high points (as well as the lowest points) from this year.

High: Rakeem Christmas

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Where would this team have been without Rakeem Christmas? He shouldered the scoring burden night in and night out and also doubled as the team's only viable center after Chris McCullough tore his ACL. Christmas was the Orange's most indispensable player, and whenever he had to sit, the team was in trouble.

Christmas was recognized for his outstanding season with numerous awards. The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association put Christmas on the All-ACC first team and All-Defensive team. And head coach Jim Boeheim's prediction came true because Christmas was also the conference's most improved player.

It's hard to argue with any of those designations. Christmas averaged 17.5 points, 9.1 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game in his final season on campus. Those numbers are up from 5.8 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.9 blocks last year.

Christmas was everything for the Orange this season. As Boeheim said himself, the team wouldn't have won 10 games without their senior center.

Considering the patience Christmas displayed waiting his turn to be The Man for this team and all the hard work he put in to deliver, it is a shame to see his career end without a trip to the postseason. Speaking of which...

Low: Postseason Ban

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The lowest point of the season had to be when fans found out Syracuse had self-imposed a ban on its basketball team, keeping it out of the postseason this year.

The ban was in response to a then-ongoing NCAA investigation (more on that later). Despite the fact that this team didn't seem to have much postseason hope at the time anyway, it was still disheartening to find out in early February that there would be no late March for the Orange.

And hey, they could have gotten hot in the ACC tournament and made a run. Was it likely? No, but there was at least the possibility before the ban.

Sure, it may be easier for Orange fans to fill out their brackets and not have to worry about when to pick their team to lose. But it will surely be a little bit harder to watch the Big Dance without Syracuse in it. But if anyone thought the team would mail it in, they quickly found out they were wrong.

High: Wins vs. Ranked Opponents

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Even though the Orange players knew they weren't playing for a postseason berth, they continued to give it their all in every game.

Syracuse gave Duke a run in the Carrier Dome and played Pittsburgh tough twice, but those games ended in losses. However, Syracuse did notch a few signature wins against quality opponents.

In a matter of a week, the Orange knocked off two ranked teams. Syracuse bested Louisville at home and then went on the road to Notre Dame, where the Irish are notoriously tough to beat, and shut down one of the best offenses in the country.

Against Louisville, Syracuse rode its horse to a victory. Rakeem Christmas dropped 29 points and grabbed eight rebounds while shooting 9-of-10 from the field and 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. He out-dueled Montrezl Harrell, who is a formidable matchup inside, and the Orange got enough from Michael Gbinije and Tyler Roberson to get a 10-point victory.

The win at Notre Dame has to be the biggest win of the year. Syracuse had to play the last five-plus minutes without Christmas, who had fouled out. Syracuse tapped an unexpected source in B.J. Johnson, who netted a career-high 19 points off the bench. Trevor Cooney struggled for most of the game but then found his Irish-killing form to hit some big shots down the stretch.

These were certainly the two most impressive wins of Syracuse's season. But they could have had more...

Low: Close Losses vs. Good Teams

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Before the Orange were banned from postseason play, when they still had a resume to build, the team let a few wins slip away that could have been a big confidence boost.

During the nonconference portion of the schedule, Syracuse gave away two victories on the road against ranked opponents. The first was against Michigan, which isn't looking as good now but was ranked at the time, and the second was at Villanova, which is still ranked in the Top Five.

In both games, Syracuse was in position to win but gave away opportunities. The Orange committed two turnovers in the final seconds against Michigan, and against Villanova the Orange couldn't inbound the ball and blew a five-point lead with 17.2 seconds left.

Because the Orange aren't going to the postseason, the losses don't hurt their resume. But at the time, the final moments of the games were difficult to watch, and getting wins could have given the team more confidence going forward.

Low: NCAA Sanctions

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It's too bad that we have to end with multiple low points, but such is the nature of the 2014-15 Syracuse basketball season.

The lowest of the low has to be when the NCAA (finally) released its report of findings into misconduct by the Syracuse basketball program. The NCAA gave out several penalties, the most serious of which include a nine-game ACC suspension for Jim Boeheim for next season and the loss of 12 scholarships over four years.

One of the most serious transgressions the NCAA found had to do with a basketball staffer illegally assisting a player (Fab Melo) with coursework to help improve his grades and make him eligible.

Fortunately for the Orange, the NCAA did not hand down any additional postseason bans. Therefore, the Orange can play in next year's tournament, which shouldn't affect the incoming recruiting class at all.

It was a sad day for Syracuse basketball, and it was one that had some calling for Boeheim's head. But according to Andy Katz of ESPN via an ESPN.com news service, Boeheim will appeal his suspension.

Even though the NCAA report brought a dark end to a tumultuous season, the team will persevere. Chris McCullough will be back, and next year's recruiting class should bolster the team's depth. We will have to see what happens with the appeals process before we decide how much these sanctions will affect the program.