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BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Barely over a minute remained in overtime as Judah Mintz dribbled the ball up the court. Syracuse were down by four and had to get a quick bucket to stay in the game. Jesse Edwards came to set a screen and Mintz used it. However, as Mintz peeled away, he stumbled, losing control of his dribble.

Andre Curbelo came in to scoop up the loose ball. Curbelo went coast to coast flying toward the hoop and glanced backward for a slight second, finding a trailing Chris Bell. As Curbelo laid the ball up, Bell slapped it off of the backboard, however his defensive effort was called a goaltend. Curbelo’s attempt counted to increase St. John’s lead to 73-67.

From that point onward, Syracuse completely fell apart. Although Edwards would score in close just seconds after Mintz’s turnover, St. John’s David Jones hit a three-pointer in the right corner to put the Red Storm up by seven with around 40 seconds left to play, icing the contest. The Red Storm’s second half defense was too big of an obstacle to overcome down the stretch for Syracuse (3-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) in their 76-69 loss to St. John’s (6-0, 0-0 Big East) on Tuesday night at the Barclays Center.

Against Richmond, Syracuse were firing on all cylinders offensively in a 74-71 overtime victory. Tonight, SU shot a measly 18.8% from behind the arc and were unable to convert when it mattered most. 

“I think they’re a really good team,” head coach Jim Boeheim said about St. John’s. “They were really physical. ButI thought we played really well here in New York. And I think that this will help our team.”

After his 31-point explosion on Monday night, Joe Girard III went scoreless until the 16:02 mark in the second half. Stepping up for the Orange in Girard’s offensive absence, Mintz totaled 16 first half points.

Midway through the first half, Dylan Addae-Wusu looked for Jones on the perimeter but Mintz read his eyes perfectly. Cutting in front of the intended target, Mintz stole the ball and went the length of the floor, throwing an uncontested right-hand dunk with authority. The bucket gave Syracuse a 19-8 lead.

Fast forward to the end of the half and Curbelo bided his time near half court. Under 30 seconds remained and St. John’s had control of the final possession. With time running out, Curbelo, positioned several steps behind the three point line, let fly a long-range shot that hit the bottom of the net. 

The guard trotted back on defense, high-fiving head coach Mike Anderson as Mintz streaked down the court. Curbelo tried to catch up to Mintz but he had no chance. Slashing to the basket with Joel Soriano trailing him, Mintz went from left to right and laid the basket up with one second left and drew the foul. He converted the free-throw to put Syracuse up going into the break, 35-29.

Chris Bell both had his best performances of the season, finishing with 12, and Benny Williams added 11. The starting forward duo excelled mostly in the first half, with Williams’ baskets coming off of face-ups near the free-throw line and at both the right and left elbows. Bell found success off of catch-and-shoot three-pointers across the floor.

However, in the second half, although Bell saw a couple of his shots fall, the two underclassmen seemed unprepared for St. John’s suffocating defense.

“It’s tough anytime you play two games in a row, especially in physical games,” Girard said. “Everybody fought hard to the best of their ability. I think we did a pretty good job against a press-heavy team like that.”

In the second half, even Mintz’s production started to falter. After a sluggish opening half and difficulty in stopping an aggressive Mintz slashing to the basket, the Red Storm picked up the pace in the second. Curbelo recorded a career-high of 23 points combined with six assists and a perfect percentage from 3-point territory.

Soriano provided a dominant inside presence, recording his fifth double-double of the season with 19 points and 14 rebounds. Jones, who entered the matchup with Syracuse as St. John’s top scorer, never shied away from shooting the long ball despite his inefficiency from downtown.

St. John’s full-court pressure off of made baskets and its unrelenting defense were too much for a disorganized Orange offense to overcome in the second half. After SU experienced success with Mintz bringing the ball up the court against Alexander and Curbelo in the first half,  the second half forced Mintz to share the ball in the backcourt instead of taking on the Red Storm by himself. SU set up their half court offense as usual, but St. John’s continued to deny passing lanes and force deflections.

“We had some crucial turnovers and they made plays,” Bell said. “We didn’t make the winning play. They were big, physical, and played with a lot of energy. Basketball is a game of runs and at the end, our turnovers led to some quick buckets (for them).” 

At the end of regulation, Syracuse’s inability to properly run through its sets for clean looks resulted in costly turnovers. With one minute remaining, Mintz was pestered throughout the entire play. Struggling to get the ball from Edwards, who uncharacteristically brought the ball up the court, Mintz finally regained possession and found space as the shot clock wound down, but threw up an air ball as the shot clock expired.

Even after a clutch defensive stop and an immediate timeout call to draw up a final play for the contest’s penultimate possession, the Orange couldn’t execute. Given just nine seconds to operate, Boeheim concocted a plan to get Girard the final shot despite his poor shooting tonight.

However, as the seconds ticked away, Symir Torrence attempted the game’s final shot in regulation, falling away from the basket, positioned at the right corner. His attempt hit the back of the rim and fell out, sending the game into overtime.

“Nine seconds left and you can’t do a lot,” Boeheim said. “We really wanted to go to Benny (Williams) on the inbound pass but Joe (Girard) didn’t get it to him. That’s what we wanted to do but Joe didn’t find him.”

In the extra period, the Orange committed four turnovers while St. John’s recorded 11 points. With SU down by two after Jones made a jumper in the paint, Addae-Wusu fouled Girard with a little under two minutes left. Already in the bonus, the foul put Girard at the charity stripe to shoot a free-throw. However, he missed the front end of the one-and-one opportunity, gifting the Red Storm back possession. 

“I mean all my teammates really did a great job, tonight it was me just letting them down,” Girard said. “I’ll take responsibility for that for sure and it’s going to be a night that I’m not going to want to remember and wish I could have back.”

Published on November 23, 2022 at 12:25 am

Contact Tyler: [email protected] | @theTylerSchiff