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After Jay Heath drained two free throws to cut Syracuse’s lead to 12, Arizona State began a full-court pressing. Syracuse inbounded the ball to Cole Swider, who dribbled toward his own basket and into two ASU players.

Swider was trapped and began to frantically look for a pass before jumping up and throwing a deep one to Buddy Boeheim on the other side of half court. Buddy caught the ball and jumped away from two defenders before hitting a wide-open Jesse Edwards in stride. Edwards rose high in the air and slammed the ball into the basket for an emphatic two-handed dunk.

ASU tried to come back with a quick bucket on the other end, but as Jalen Graham found space for an open layup, Edwards came from behind to swat the shot out of bounds.

“The key is Jesse is in there at the end — (he) blocked a couple of shots, finished a couple plays down there. We needed to have him in the game,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He was smarter tonight and was a big factor in the game for us.”

After two losses against Colgate and VCU, Swider and Edwards led Syracuse (3-2) to a bounce-back 92-84 win over Arizona State (2-4). Swider hit his first 3-pointer in three games and finished with four total. Edwards scored a career-high 21 points and was serenaded with chants of “MVP” by the traveling Syracuse fans.

In the loss to VCU, Edwards fell into foul trouble quickly, picking up two in the first nine minutes of the game. It forced Boeheim to turn to Frank Anselem, who also picked up a couple of fouls, and eventually to Jimmy Boeheim at center.

Without a rotating cast of centers, the Orange struggled on offense and defense, finishing with just 55 points. VCU came into the game having never topped 60 points this season but managed to score 67 on Syracuse’s smaller lineup. Edwards was limited to just 16 total minutes after he fouled out in the second half.

Thursday, Edwards played 15 minutes in the first half alone and played the entire second half. In his 35 minutes, Edwards managed to score 21 points, the first time he’s ever scored more than 20 at SU.

“I just tried to stay down more when they would try to fake,” Edwards said. “I know it’s important in that late situation to not be giving away stupid fouls or easy points or just racking up too many fouls.”

Boeheim said that Arizona State’s smaller lineup benefitted Edwards. With the Sun Devils spread out to key on Syracuse’s shooters, Edwards often had one-on-one matchups down low to either drive or post up. He also had an easier time grabbing rebounds over smaller defenders.

As Edwards began to garner more defensive attention down low, it opened up more space for Syracuse’s shooters — especially Swider. Swider entered Thursday 1-for-15 in his last three games, with his last made 3 coming against Drexel weeks ago. Boeheim has said all season that teams will never give Swider open 3s and that it is important to get Swider going. Against ASU, Swider’s shots finally began to fall from deep, as he made four of his five attempts.

“We’re a different team when he’s shooting,” Boeheim said. “We’re up 18 in the first half. He’s got nine or 10 and before, without him shooting, we’d be up eight.”

Joe Girard and Syracuse beat Arizona State after losses to Colgate and VCU. Tim Aylen | Courtesy of Battle 4 Atlantis

Swider’s first make came after he grabbed a defensive rebound and passed it out to Joe Girard III. Girard carried the ball up as the Arizona State defense set up. But Swider trailed the play and came into the half court late. Girard immediately swung the ball to Swider, who caught the ball in stride and rose up to swish the 3.

Girard would dish another assist to Swider in the second half when Girard used a dribble move to get by his defender and drive into the lane. But instead of shooting, Girard turned his head back and passed to an open Swider on the left wing. Swider again just had to rise up and knock down the 3.

“(I’m) just trying to take the shots that I get, trying to shoot open shots, trying to make plays and everything in between,” Swider said.

After Thursday’s win, the Orange now turn their attention to Auburn for their final game in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. Swider and Edwards were key players against the Sun Devils, but they and the rest of Syracuse’s starters played almost the entire game. Boeheim said that due to ASU’s press, he didn’t want to sub in inexperienced players who might have made mistakes.

Fatigue, though, could play a factor against the Tigers — a strong defensive team who like to press.

“I think Auburn is as good as anybody here,” Boeheim said. “We’re glad to get this win and hopefully learn a little bit from it.”

Published on November 26, 2021 at 12:10 am

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