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It was a three-minute, 36-second stretch midway through the second half that sealed Syracuse’s fate Tuesday night at No. 16 Illinois. 

The Fighting Illini, already up 11 with eight minutes left, hit a 3-pointer and made three free throws and 2-pointers before Chris Bell finally answered with a 3. The 12-0 Illinois run extended its lead to 23 and forced a Syracuse timeout. The lead only expanded from there, and what had been a game within reach for the Orange quickly turned into a messy blowout, a 73-44 loss. 

During Illinois’ run, it was both Syracuse’s top scorer, Judah Mintz, and secondary options like Justin Taylor struggling to hit shots. Mintz missed an easy layup and recorded a turnover, while Taylor air balled a fadeaway jump shot. Jesse Edwards and Chris Bell also turned it over. With Mintz finishing 3-for-16 from the field and Joe Girard III held scoreless for just the second time in his career (the last in February 2021 against Duke), the Orange needed production from their other options. 

The problem was, nobody stepped up. No SU player hit double-digit points, with Bell, Taylor and Benny Williams combining to shoot 7-for-22. Syracuse finished an abysmal 27.8% from the field in its worst loss — yet — in an already disappointing season. 

“We’ve got some young guys who are trying to figure out what they have to do, and they didn’t figure it out very well tonight,” head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. 

If there was any consistent part of Tuesday night’s game, it was a lack of SU scoring. The Orange’s offense was sluggish from the start, making only one of their first seven attempts. There were several stretches without any points, including one that lasted nearly seven minutes between the end of the first half and start of the second. Syracuse finished the game with no points in the last 3:19, too. 

With Mintz not converting on anything near the rim or away from it, and Girard clamped by tight man-to-man defense, SU needed something — anything — from its other contributors. Jesse Edwards had nine points and collected 17 rebounds, including a few offensive ones that set up good second-chance looks. But nobody else found anything close to a rhythm. 

Bell hit a 2-point jumper and a 3 on back-to-back possessions early in the first half, but wouldn’t score again until the game’s outcome was already decided. The freshman had some wide-open attempts at various points, including one minute into the game after Mintz missed his transition shot, Williams secured an offensive rebound and kicked out to Bell along the left wing. The shot was a brick, and part of a combined 0-for-8 shooting start to the game by both teams. 

Williams had the most efficient night of any SU player, making two of his six attempts. Both makes came on mid-range jumpers, where the 6-foot-9 wing used his height and vertical to shoot over defenders. It’s a shot the sophomore has shown confidence in so far this season, using it to reach 11 points against St. John’s in last week’s Empire Classic. But Williams was sick against Bryant, playing only nine minutes and finishing without a point. Boeheim said Williams played “terribly” against Illinois, still frustrated from Saturday’s performance. Williams was ejected late in the second half for arguing a non-call on one of his attempts. 

Meanwhile Taylor, a freshman with a well-regarded shooting stroke, was coming off a career-high 25 points versus Bryant, and tried, unsuccessfully, to find some resemblance of that throughout his 23 minutes on the court Tuesday. Midway through the second half, in the midst of the Fighting Illini’s 12-0 run, Taylor had the ball in isolation on the left wing, choosing to drive and back down his defender. But his turnaround shot was wide by a good margin, leading to a layup for Coleman Hawkins. Illinois led 58-37 at that point. 

On an earlier play, Jayden Epps smothered Girard, who still tried to hunt his shot. He dribbled from the right wing toward the free-throw line, but the tight defense forced him to pick up the ball. He kicked it out to Taylor, who was oblivious to the shot clock running out. The freshman was still dribbling around the arc as the buzzer sounded, one of the season-high 17 turnovers Syracuse committed Tuesday. It was that in-your-face defense on Girard that led to the senior’s third straight poor performance. He now has just nine points in his last three games. 

“He’s just not playing well and he’s not really stepping up to do other things besides shooting,” Boeheim said of Girard. “He’s not doing the other things, so that’s a problem.”

Illinois shut Girard off by switching on off-ball screens SU set, and Boeheim said the Fighting Illini still did a good job of rotating down low to prevent easy looks. Even with strong shooters in Girard, Bell and Taylor, Syracuse has still struggled on 3-pointers, making 32.5% — good for 206th nationally — through seven games. The Orange’s 2-point rate (42.7%, 245th nationally) is even worse, with those numbers taking a big dip with Tuesday night’s performance. 

Two Mintz misses perhaps summed up Tuesday’s offensive woes the best. Mounir Hima set the point guard a screen, and Mintz used it to drive right, with plenty of space to finish an easy right-handed layup. Instead he missed, the ball falling off the side of the rim, kickstarting an Illinois’ fastbreak that ended with Ty Rodgers knocking down a jumper. Later in the half, Mintz tried to push the ball up the court quickly, and ran himself into a sea of Fighting Illini defenders. His attempt — a weak toss just sent toward the general vicinity of the basket — only grazed the bottom of the net. No rim, no backboard. Just another miss. 

And worse for Syracuse, there was nobody else out there Tuesday night to help him. 

“Judah got the driving lanes he needs to get, and didn’t finish. He’s important to us — if he’s going to do that, 3-for-16…” Boeheim said. 

“We’re struggling offensively.”

Published on November 30, 2022 at 12:05 am

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_