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When Benny Williams connected on a free throw to seal off a four-point play midway through the second half, Syracuse shouldn’t have been breathing a sign of relief. By that point in the game, SU likely didn’t even expect its starters to be on the court. Against Monmouth, the Orange’s worst opponent this season per KenPom, Syracuse was supposed to run away with the game early and coast to a fourth-straight win. Instead, it found itself in a battle to regain even a two-possession lead on one of college basketball’s most inexperienced teams.

The Orange struggled early again — just like they did against Georgetown — but didn’t adjust until there were 12 minutes left in the game. Then, it had to go on a 19-4 run that gave it a 14-point lead. The double-digit turnovers, allowing 6-for-11 shooting on 3-pointers in the first half and Williams consistently getting subbed out for John Bol Ajak and Maliq Brown wasn’t supposed to happen. The result, an 86-71 win for Syracuse (7-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) over Monmouth (1-10, 0-0 Colonial Athletic), was supposed to happen — it just took a little longer to get that end result.

But SU’s defense in the paint was spotty at best and true freshman Jack Collins dropped a career-high 20 points. Syracuse still won — connecting on 53.3% of 3s and helped by 24 points from Judah Mintz — but it wasn’t pretty. Here are some takeaways from the Orange’s fourth straight win:

Selective 3-point shooting keeps Syracuse ahead

Syracuse doesn’t have an excess of 3-point shooters. Joe Girard III is the go-to guy to connect from deep — though he was recently in a huge slump — but no one else is really built to connect throughout the season from beyond the arc. The Orange tried to penetrate as much as they could against Monmouth and with relative success, finished the night shooting 50.9% from the field. But on 15 3-point attempts, they were able to connect on 53.3% of them. The rate greatly outpaced SU’s season shooting percentage of 30.9% and likely quelled head coach Jim Boeheim’s pleas that his 47th team at Syracuse wasn’t one that shoots from deep.

Girard paced SU with four 3-pointers as he continued his hot streak. Mintz orchestrated drives and kicks, coupled with screens to get Girard open as a way to extend a lead and help Syracuse come back in both halves. But the 3s mostly came from Girard, who ended with eight more 3-point attempts than the second-most frequent 3-point shooter.

As Monmouth continued to chuck up 3-pointers in the second half, the Orange stayed measured on offense, though its success greatly fell in the second frame as well. The Orange tend to score just 22.5% of their points from beyond the arc, but against the Hawks, they grabbed 27.9% of points off of 3-pointers. Chris Bell connected on both of his 3-pointers in the first half, and Mintz hit a 3 as well.

True freshman Jack Collins isn’t phased

Collins is a true freshman playing his 11th collegiate game against a team that allows opponents to shoot 32.1% from deep. The Orange have struggled to defend the long ball, most notably in their stunning loss to Colgate, but typically don’t have one person, especially not a true freshman, find as much success as Collins did Monday night. Collins finished the evening shooting 5-for-13 from deep, another threat against Syracuse that arose off of open 3s created by picks. The 30% 3-point shooter looked lethal from across the court as he connected on the most shots from long range in his career.

Even when he didn’t have the ball — Myles Ruth tended to be the point guard for Monmouth — Collins acted as a mobile shooting guard, weaving through the top of the SU zone in order to get open for 3-pointers. By the end of the first half, Collins already had 16 points, one short of his career high, off of 4-of-8 shooting from deep. He also added two assists, a rebound and two steals. He tended to have Ajak on him because of the zone, though Girard could slide off at times to defend Collins.

On defense, he gave Mintz fits, stealing two lazy passes from the Syracuse point guard at the top of the arc that both led to transition layups. The Dome’s dimensions, a crowd that stayed in it despite a lackluster performance throughout the majority of the game, didn’t phase Collins. He dropped a career-high 20 points, dished out three assists and ended grabbing three boards despite being just 6-foot-5.

Trap defense…

At its best, Syracuse’s defense became astute when cornering Monmouth guards against the baseline off of passes from the outside. Early on, the Orange had difficulty stopping penetration from Monmouth’s forwards, a trend that led to the Hawks hanging with SU throughout the first half until the 12-minute mark in the second half. But their adjustment to double team whoever came into the zone worked in halting a continued Monmouth takeover in the first half. Jesse Edwards struggled stopping the Hawks down low, but when he leaned outside, helped along by either Ajak or Brown, the Orange typically found success stopping the possession.

That trap defense soon translated into stopping passes inside the lane, though Williams did get called once for a kicked ball violation. The early bounce passes to Klemen Vuga and Tahron Allen that early on led to layups turned into turnovers and Monmouth ended the game coughing up the ball 14 times. The shot clock violations Monmouth committed also persisted throughout the game, caused by a healthy dose of Edwards locking down the Hawks as they drove in with a touch of Ajak to eliminate kick-out options for Monmouth.

…becomes rare

Monmouth wasn’t supposed to shoot as well as it did against the Orange. Despite SU eventually managing to pull away with 12 minutes left in the game, the Hawks kept it close longer than KenPom’s 329th-rated team was supposed to. The Hawks finished shooting 48.2% from the field and kept pace with the much taller Syracuse lineup on offensive rebounds, allowing extended possessions that led to points. Monmouth stopped having success from deep like it did throughout the first 25 minutes of the game and opted to drive more, taking on Edwards, Brown and Williams underneath the basket.

Benny Williams’s poor start, hot finish

Jim Boeheim doesn’t have much patience for giving up layups or watching shots fall from opponents permeating the 2-3 zone. His fuse goes especially short when all the shots are coming from the same player on the same side of the court. Throughout another bad start from Syracuse, Williams became the recipient of that scrutiny and a short leash. He let Monmouth forward Vuga get four points off of five shots — all of which came from inside the paint on Williams’ side.

He was subbed out quickly before coming back in for a few possessions. That lasted until Collins gained inside position on Williams, but missed a layup and Williams finally got a stop simply because Collins couldn’t connect on a close shot. On the ensuing possession, Williams drove from the left edge and put up a midrange fadeaway that he airballed.

The second half was a different story, as Williams played smarter, more reserved and stood taller down low. With the Orange down 51-48 midway through the second half, Edwards collected a pass inside from Girard and missed the close-range contested layup. But Williams was right there, corralling the layup as he went to the ground before putting it in through the contact for the and-one, putting the Orange back on top by two points.

Published on December 12, 2022 at 10:28 pm

Contact Anthony: [email protected] | @anthonyalandt