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INDIANAPOLIS – Jesse Edwards checked into the game for the first time Saturday night with Syracuse trailing Houston 12-5 and 12:25 remaining in the first half.

The Orange had struggled to get stops, the zone had surrendered open looks, and Houston had found some success from the players flashing to the high-post area. Edwards came in and improved the interior defense. He grabbed rebounds against one of the nation’s elite rebounding teams. He also presented extra shooting opportunities and possessions for the Orange on a night when Syracuse offense was held to a season-low 46 points.

It’s the fewest Syracuse has ever scored in an NCAA Tournament game. In a game that Syracuse lost by 16, Edwards was plus-10.

The center position has befuddled the Orange more than any other since the departure of Rakeem Christmas in 2015, but Edwards’ five points, six rebounds and two blocks in 19 minutes against the Cougars showed a future for the position that could be promising. There are options available in the transfer portal, and the future of Bourama Sidibe and Marek Dolezaj due to injury and potential departure is uncertain. But if neither come back, Edwards would be the first in line for minutes next season unless Syracuse finds a transfer to leap him.

“I’m really happy with Jesse’s development,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said.

On the first possession of the game, Houston managed three shot attempts on two straight offensive rebounds. They’d dominate the glass the entire night, as the teams’ underlying numbers suggested they might have.

But Edwards’ entry into the game frustrated the Cougars’ offensive rebounding contingent, as he could use his long wingspan to reach over the smaller Houston players even when he wasn’t in ideal positioning for the rebound. He drew multiple fouls on the interior fighting for loose balls. Edwards’ presence in the middle helped turn a 12-5 deficit into a 20-20 tie. He was fouled twice, made one of two free throws and banked in a layup opportunity on the interior.

Syracuse lost the rebounding battle 23-18 in the opening 20 minutes. At the under-eight-minute media timeout of the second half, the Orange were down by just one on the glass in total. Ineffective offense was why Syracuse’s season ended on Saturday night, but Edwards was the reason one of the nation’s worst defensive rebounding teams held up against Houston’s second-ranked offensive rebounding unit.

But the sophomore center hasn’t always been used this season, and when he’s used, he hasn’t always been effective. Edwards followed up one of his best performances of the year, a win against North Carolina on March 1, with a subpar outing against Clemson two days later. He followed an excellent showing against San Diego State in round one with a poor game against West Virginia in round two.

“I think he’s got a great chance to be good someday,” Boeheim said after the West Virginia game. “But he’s just not ready for these physical guys. But it’s good experience for him, and he’ll learn from this.”

The Cougars weren’t as big as the Mountaineers, but they were just as physical, if not more so, on the glass. Boeheim has said all year that he’s “not ready” to contribute big minutes on a consistent basis for the Orange. While the consistency has lacked in spots, he also hadn’t been forced to extend significant minutes in one stretch until Saturday night.

Coming out of the final media timeout of the opening half, Syracuse trailed 23-20. The Orange’s defense had improved since Kadary Richmond entered at the top of the 2-3 zone and Edwards emerged in the middle. Boeheim pulled Edwards with 2:20 to go in the half after a 10-minute spell by the sophomore and said he was “tired.”

The Cougars ended the half on a 7-0 run. The first basket was a drive-to-the-lane and-1 by Justin Gorham on Quincy Guerrier. The final basket of the half was an alley-oop from DeJon Jarreau to Brison Gresham. Edwards blocked two shots in his 10-minute stretch, which coincided with Syracuse’s best 10 all-around minutes of the evening.

Boeheim almost never switches his lineup game-to-game, much less from half-to-half. The Orange began the second half as they began the first. But after an Alan Griffin turnover led to a Quentin Grimes 3 to push the Cougars lead back to 12, Boeheim pulled Griffin again. He wanted to go big, and he went back to Edwards at the five. Out of the timeout, Buddy Boeheim hit two straight baskets off assists. Joe Girard III had back-to-back open 3-point looks with a chance to cut it to four, all because of Edwards’ offensive rebound and kick-out.

“Jesse is getting experience, and I think he’s learning what he has to do to play at this level,” Boeheim said after the West Virginia win.

Edwards committed a foul to prevent a slam dunk when SU’s zone was busted on one possession. He grabbed another offensive rebound off a Buddy 3-point miss and made both free throws after being fouled. Syracuse’s offense had gone completely cold, but Edwards’ defense and rebounding helped keep the Orange around and within reach for most of the second half.

Syracuse pulled within four points in part because of Edwards in the middle of the zone, even if the Orange never reached closer than that. Once Edwards left the game with five minutes remaining, Houston ended the game on an 11-3 run.

Edwards’s brother Kai told The Daily Orange he felt Edwards was making progress in practice all season.

“And then to just hear ‘You’re not ready,’ especially when there’s no real other option, that one’s kind of hard for him, just because he felt like he was ready,” Kai said.

Once Boeheim figures out the status of Dolezaj and Sidibe for next season, he has to decide if the Orange will be looking to the biggest summer of transfers to bolster the center position. Or if Edwards is finally ready for a bigger role next season.

Published on March 28, 2021 at 3:19 am

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @AnthonyDabbundo