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It’s 4:42 a.m., and David Edwards is tired. He’s in Amsterdam, staring at the Syracuse and San Diego State jerseys on his computer screen as the early-morning hours become just morning ones. He’d already watched his middle son, Kai, come off the bench for Castello in a Spain LEB Gold playoff game, scoring five points but losing by one. That game started at 7 p.m. Dutch time.

Nearly eight hours later, David’s youngest son, Jesse, stood near the 3-point arc as a pair of teammates swung their arms in celebration — the game clock’s final seconds ticking down toward SU’s first-round win over San Diego State in the NCAA Tournament on Friday. David stayed awake on Saturday, and throughout the season, for moments like this: the signs of celebration, of a strong finish to the regular season that kept extending into the postseason, of excitement when plays Edwards made directly contributed to SU’s win.

There weren’t many for the first two months. David watched the games that stretched past midnight — recognizing that these were the only four years he could watch Edwards play Division I basketball — even when his son played just 20 total minutes in nine of the Orange’s first 10 games. The starting center was injured, but Edwards still didn’t play. Edwards’ first flash of long-term potential was a 23-minute performance against Miami on Jan. 19, where he set a career-high with seven points and six rebounds.

Sparks like that have since normalized. They’ve stabilized Syracuse’s rotation as other bench options emerge. Edwards played 16 or more minutes in four of Syracuse’s last six games, three of which were wins, and led all players with a plus-27 against the Aztecs — converting his only shot attempt while adding five rebounds and a block. SDSU didn’t score during his nine minutes on the court in the first half. And Edwards’ emergence has allowed the Orange to stretch their rotation eight-deep alongside Robert Braswell and Richmond, depth they didn’t think they had early in the season. 

“Jesse and Robert gave us so much off the bench,” Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. 

The pair created the exact lift the Orange needed to advance and face West Virginia on Sunday for a spot in the Sweet 16. Edwards used to be the center who couldn’t find minutes and wasn’t ready early in the season, but now he’s ready enough. Braswell was the intended bench spark who couldn’t hit a 3-pointer at first, but now he’s made seven of his last 13. Together, they’ve combined to resolve the defensive lapses and lack of interior defense issues that continue to plague the Orange during their games.

With Syracuse up by one midway through the first half, Joe Girard III found Braswell in the corner for a 3-pointer that put it up 22. Then, minutes later, Edwards’ ball screen opened up Girard for a transition 3-pointer. The pair also collaborated defensively on one possession at the 10-minute mark of the second half, with Braswell challenging the first San Diego State shot attempt and Edwards altering Nathan Mensah’s putback attempt.

“Jesse walled up a couple of guys and made them take tough shots,” Boeheim said postgame. “It was the best he’s been there defensively.”

It’s a complete flip from the rhetoric Boeheim sprinkled in at various press conferences throughout the year. Previously, Boeheim said Edwards “worked hard” in the offseason but needed to get stronger to crack the rotation. He was “monstrous” in a win against Miami on Jan. 19 and “showed a lot of promise,” but he needed to grow into everything he’s learned.

That was hard for him, Kai said. Edwards didn’t expect to start after Bourama Sidibe suffered a torn meniscus, but he knew he could contribute more than sporadic minutes off the bench. For the most part, Edwards development was limited to the sample size of pregame warmups.

The 14.3 minutes he’s averaged during Syracuse’s past six games are closer to the vision he had.

“He was really good, and his presence was felt,” Boeheim said. “And that’s important for us.”

The game was won when…

Syracuse went on its second extended run of the game, scoring 16 of 17 points midway through the first half after a Matt Mitchell layup cut its lead to 11. Back-to-back Buddy 3-pointers — one from the corner and one off a curl — propelled the run that included two more 3-pointers from Braswell and Richmond and a basket from Edwards.

That run, paired with an 18-0 spurt to close the first half, helped the Orange’s lead reach as high as 27 as they cruised to an upset against the Aztecs.

Source: KenPom.com

Quote of the night: Jim Boeheim

Boeheim closed his press conference on Friday night by referencing a February piece from The Athletic that contained anonymous ACC head coaches and assistants calling Buddy and Girard “lunchtime YMCA players.”

“There’s always negative people. They’re there now,” Boeheim said. “They’ve been there for three years, that said (Buddy) couldn’t play at Syracuse. And him and Joe couldn’t play at Syracuse. I think somebody said they’re lunchtime players or something. I think that was the word this year, that they should play at the (YMCA) at lunchtime, I think. Must be a heck of a lunch game if they’re playing there.”

Number to know: 17.6

Girard finished with six rebounds, one short of his season-high, for the second consecutive game — grabbing 17.6% of the Orange’s total rebounds, his best percentage since grabbing 24% against Florida State in 2019. Part of that success was due to the 40 3-pointers that San Diego State settled for against the 2-3 zone. It made just 11 of them, and long rebounds resulted.

Girard’s career-high in rebounds is nine, which he set on Jan. 22, 2020 against Notre Dame. The only Syracuse player with lower defensive rebounding percentage than Girard’s 10.0 is Buddy, with 5.5, per KenPom. But Girard’s presence against the Aztecs helped create transition opportunities — like when he grabbed a defensive rebound with 2:55 remaining in the first half.

The ball ended up in Dolezaj’s hands just past the elbow, and he flipped the ball back to Girard. He rose for his shot, fell backward after a foul from Terrell Gomez and watched between his legs as the shot fell through the net.

Jim Boeheim used Robert Braswell and Jesse Edwards to add more depth to his team. Courtesy of C. Morgan Engel | Getty Photos

Game ball: Buddy Boeheim (again)

Syracuse’s junior guard continued his historic scoring pace in March by leading all scorers with 30 points on 11-for-15 shooting. He used a screen from Marek to hit his first shot in front of the SDSU bench, and proceeded to score Syracuse’s next 13 points in the first half until Braswell hit a 3. 

Buddy’s 39.1% shooting from 3 this season now ranks 295th in the country, per KenPom, and he raised his scoring average this month to 26.2 points per game. 

“They got me in a groove early, and it’s a lot of fun when you can see shots go down,” Buddy said. “I think that’s been the biggest difference in our team, making more shots. I think we’re dangers when we can do that.”

Three final points

Girard mitigating Buddy’s early foul trouble

When Buddy picked up his second foul with 5:37 left in the first half, Girard jogged over to the scorer’s table and checked in for the Syracuse guard. Girard had checked out for Richmond six minutes earlier but helped keep the Orange’s offense afloat while their top scorer spent most of the half’s final minutes on the bench.

He dished the pass to Braswell in the corner on Syracuse’s first offensive possession. He hit a 3 in transition after Edwards forced Mitchell into a poor shot at the other end. In the four minutes with Buddy on the bench, Girard scored seven of his 12 points.

“I wasn’t even in there when we broke the game away,” Buddy said. “I came out, maybe we were up 1. Next thing you know, we’re up nine, with Joe making big shots, Kadary making plays, Rob hitting a big 3. It’s not just me, it’s everyone.”

The zone in March

The way San Diego State’s first possession ended — with Jordan Schakel receiving the ball in the corner, elevating for a wide-open 3 and missing it — previewed how many of their other 66 possessions ending in shots went.

After allowing those early uncontested 3s, Syracuse did a good job tightening their defense, Buddy said. SDSU still took its most 3-point attempts in a game since November 2018 against Savannah State, and Syracuse’s zone forced the Aztecs to settle for 3-pointers one or two steps beyond the arc. Its 11 makes, four of which came in the final two minutes, sunk the group that entered with a top-50 3-point shooting team nationally.

“It’s a little bit more difficult to play against a zone when you don’t see one all year,” Boeheim said. “That’s one thing that’s probably helped us as we get into the tournaments the last few years. Most teams don’t see a zone all year.”

Richmond hitting … 3-pointers?

All season long, Boeheim has reiterated that Richmond’s jump shot is a weakness in his game. He said after a loss to Rutgers in December that he didn’t anticipate Richmond becoming a big scorer. Two weeks later, he said “he gets into the lane better than anybody we’ve had in a while.” Opponents gave him the extra step behind the arc because he wouldn’t consistently connect, hitting just 4-of-18 attempts during the regular season and ACC Tournament. 

But on Friday, Richmond went 2-for-2 on 3-pointers, flashing another element to his downhill offensive game that could open up more options for SU going forward if those makes keep stringing together.

“Kadary can make that jump shot if he gets time,” Boeheim said. “He’s perfectly capable to make that shot out there.”

Next up

The Orange will now face No. 3-seed West Virginia on Sunday at 5:15 p.m. for a spot in the Sweet 16. Boeheim has won five of six meetings against Mountaineers head coach Bob Huggins, who coached his team to a 17-point victory over Morehead State.

WVU has the 10th-highest adjusted offensive efficiency in the country, per KenPom, and its 35.6 offensive rebounding percentage ranks 12th in the country. While it has one of the worst zone offenses in the country, the Mountaineers have the ability to exploit Syracuse’s rebounding and defensive problems that’s plagued it throughout the year — despite a late surge defensively with the 2-3 zone.

Published on March 20, 2021 at 7:15 pm

Contact Andrew: [email protected] | @CraneAndrew