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Syracuse continued its strong stretch of recent form with a 78-73 comeback win over Notre Dame on Saturday night. The Orange trailed by 12 midway through the second half, but after some efficient shooting and an effective full-court press, SU was able to pull out the win. Head coach Jim Boeheim played four freshmen for the final stretch of the second half, and admitted postgame it was the first time he had done that in his 47-year career at SU.

A major test followed that win, with a trip to No. 17 Miami on Monday night. The Hurricanes started the year hot, winning 13 of their first 14 games and beating several top teams, but had lost two of their last three entering the game. Still, it was an important game for the Syracuse team, desperately in need of Quadrant I wins on its NCAA Tournament resume. Entering the night, the Orange had gone 1-4 against quadrant I or II teams, with the only win coming last week against the Hokies.

Miami got out to a strong start, opening the game on an 11-2 run, but SU spent the rest of the first half chipping away at its deficit before ultimately taking a four-point lead into halftime. Jesse Edwards’ career-high 25 points, and Joe Girard III’s additional 21, helped The Orange build up a lead that grew to as big as 11 in the second half. But, the Hurricanes went on a 27-15 run to retake the lead and ultimately escape with a win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 82-78 loss against No. 17 Miami:

Another slow start, and another comeback

The Orange have been plagued by slow starts recently, needing second-half runs to pull away from Notre Dame and Virginia Tech. Against Virginia and Pitt, Syracuse notched impressive comebacks, although its efforts in both contests fell just short.

Monday night was no different, with Syracuse trailing 11-2 four minutes into the game, quickly recording three turnovers and missing four of its first five shots. Two turnovers came trying to get the ball inside to Edwards — one pass from Judah Mintz going just over the center’s outstretched fingertips and another where Bell threw it too low for Edwards, the ball hitting his feet and rolling out of bounds.

On the other end, Nijel Pack drilled two 3-pointers, and guard Jordan Miller converted on shots around the rim and from midrange territory. As a result, the Hurricanes led for most of the first half.

But after missing eight of their first nine shots, the Orange hit five of their next 10. 3-pointers from Bell and Benny Williams helped trim the deficit, while Mintz and Girard each converted and-ones inside to give SU a lead late in the half. Girard hit Edwards on a nice bounce pass after being double-teamed, and the center finished to give Syracuse a 38-34 halftime lead. After those three turnovers on its first four possessions, Syracuse only coughed the ball up once more over the rest of the half.

Bench steps up

For the early part of the season, SU relied mainly on Girard, Edwards and Mintz to produce most, if not all, of its offense. The young bench largely couldn’t get going, and the Orange lost four games before December.

As of late, though, Syracuse has gotten important production from Maliq Brown off the bench — the forward notched double-digit points in three straight games entering Monday. Justin Taylor and Mounir Hima have also played well as of late, making key baskets against Notre Dame. That bench help continued versus Miami, with Taylor hitting a wing 3 that gave SU its first lead of the night, 26-24, with 5:30 left in the first half, and Hima slamming in a big dunk.

While Girard and Edwards did continue to carry the brunt of the load Monday — totaling 46 of the Orange’s 78 points — SU got 14 points and seven rebounds from its bench, with all nine players who entered the game scoring. Syracuse ranks 210th nationally in bench minutes, per KenPom, but with Brown, Taylor and Hima continuing to develop, that ranking should go up.

Girard, Edwards heat up in second half

Syracuse came out of halftime with a clear intention of getting two of its best scorers going. The Orange ran a set lob play for Edwards, who converted on the alley-oop pass from Mintz. Moments later, Girard backed down Pack, then fed an open Edwards for an easy layup that put SU up by nine.

Several other times, Girard took the 6-foot, 184-pound Pack into the paint and used head and ball fakes to generate open looks or fouls. He did that with five minutes left in the game, using a few dribbles to get inside before turning and getting his shot to bounce off the front rim and in, giving Syracuse a 68-63 lead.

Girard and Edwards had 14 of SU’s first 17 points after halftime, helping the Orange to a double-digit lead. Edwards got more defensive attention as the second half progressed, but was still able to turn offensive rebounds — he registered seven in total — into second-chance points. On one play midway through the half, Williams missed a jumper, but Edwards was there to clean it up.

Struggles from beyond the arc

After shooting 42.1% from 3-point range against Notre Dame — and getting a career-high five made 3s and 17 points from Bell — Syracuse cooled off in Florida, finishing just 6-of-20 (30% from beyond the arc) against Miami.

Bell, characteristic of his up-and-down freshman campaign that’s occasionally seen a vast discrepancy in minutes from game-to-game, struggled after his career night, finishing 1-for-6 from the field. The freshman made his only 3-pointer early in the first half, but proceeded to miss his next three shots from deep, and also missed a transition layup opportunity.

It wasn’t just Bell struggling with his 3-pointers, either, with Girard going 1-for-8 from beyond the arc. With 1:23 left, Girard hit his first 3 of the game coming off Edwards’ screen, drilling an open shot from the top of the arc to help Syracuse draw within two late in the game. While Boeheim previously said Syracuse can win without hitting 3-pointers, they failed to do so on Monday.

Published on January 16, 2023 at 9:34 pm

Contact Connor: [email protected] | @csmith17_