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PITTSBURGH, Pa. — After Clemson, it was time for a change. At least one that Jim Boeheim could make before taking the floor at Pittsburgh.

Chris Bell and Maliq Brown have been the usual starters for SU this season. Boeheim hasn’t made many shifts to the lineup, but he informed Benny Williams he would be starting right after the 91-73 loss to the Tigers. Justin Taylor made his first career start against the Panthers as well.

Williams was given the opportunity to take control of the offense, getting the ball on a quick catch-and-shoot during SU’s second possession. He collected at the left elbow, turned and hit the jumper for Syracuse’s first points of the night.

“We need somebody else to score and (Williams) can make shots,” Boeheim said.

Bell was “available,” Boeheim said postgame, but didn’t appear on the floor once. Maliq Brown didn’t score at all in six minutes. Instead, Williams finished with a team-leading and career-high 24 points in 34 minutes. Taylor didn’t do much at all but another forward, Quadir Copeland, added six points to spark Syracuse’s (16-13, 9-9 Atlantic Coast) offense in its 99-82 loss to Pittsburgh (21-8, 14-4 ACC).

The problems for Syracuse’s forwards have been present throughout the year, and have made a significant impact over the last couple games. Teams have figured out how to stop Jesse Edwards with double-teams and monitor Joe Girard’s shooting ability with tough defense. SU’s forwards have had to at least contribute to the offensive production because of that, but haven’t done so.

“We got no help from the 3 position,” head coach Jim Boeheim said after the 77-55 loss. “We tried four different people there, but we could get nothing going from that position.”

The Orange’s forwards combined for 10 points against the Blue Devils with Taylor and Bell missing all five shots they took. Against Clemson, Bell and Brown didn’t improve, combining for seven points. Williams finished with nine.

Williams worked on his shot even more to prepare for the start. Recently, he had been shooting too flat, recording 19 points in the Orange’s previous six games.

Williams said that every shot was falling in for him during the pregame warmups and once that translated to a basket on his first shot, saying he knew he would be “good.”

Pittsburgh’s defense was also not respecting his shot. Williams went 1-for-5 from the field against the Panthers earlier this season and didn’t play meaningful minutes at all last year. Throughout the first half, Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson gave Williams plenty of space to shoot. He was confident in his shot too, immediately firing whenever he was open.

“They were probably just surprised that I could shoot the ball,” Williams said.

Williams nailed a 3-pointer from the right wing to cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 15-10. The Panthers continued to play off him from deep so he positioned himself on the opposite wing a few possessions later. Edwards completed the easy cross-court pass and Williams drained the 3-pointer without hesitation.

“He’s improved his shooting and that’s definitely helped our offense,” Boeheim said.

Copeland made his impact on the other side of the ball, coming into the game for Taylor with eight minutes left in the first half. Unlike Williams, Copeland said he didn’t know he would be in for a whole 24 minutes but was “ready” when Boeheim asked for him.

“Sometimes he puts us out there and gives us a chance,” Copeland said. “He knows what we can do on the court, he knows we can bring up the energy if it’s down.”

Less than a minute after checking into the game, Copeland made his defensive impact. He knocked away a pass that was headed to the left corner, almost grabbing hold of the ball before it sailed out of bounds. With three minutes left in the first half, he also scored on an easy layup from the right block off a feed from Judah Mintz.

Copeland continued to attack the basket in the second half, a skill he’s said has been a part of his game since childhood. He came into the game for Taylor again three minutes into the period, grabbing Jesse Edwards’ missed alley-oop in midair 15 seconds later.

Copeland tried to tip the ball in but missed. He immediately leapt back up to collect the ball, this time going back down the floor. After a pump fake, Copeland had enough space to fall back and lay it in off the glass. But he was immediately called for a personal foul on the other end, one of four fouls he picked up.

“He brought it today and played really hard, made a couple of mistakes but that’s going to happen,” Williams said.

The Panthers continued to score at will though, taking a 10-point lead with 15 minutes left in the game. Copeland immediately stationed himself at the right wing and took on Nike Sibande. He crossed over, spun and flicked his wrist to corral the ball into the basket.

Meanwhile, Williams missed his first shot of the second half and didn’t attempt to shoot again until 11 minutes were left. Williams walked into a 3-pointer from the top of the key, calmly drilling the shot off a hand-off from Mintz.

Brown came in for Williams, but he still couldn’t do much to help Syracuse offensively. With the Orange still down by 10, Williams checked back in with seven minutes remaining. He knocked down his fourth 3-pointer, getting the ball at the top of the key four minutes later. Williams pump-faked and drove down the left side, falling back from five feet to drop in his shot off the glass.

Williams drained his final 3-pointer with a minute left off a behind-the-back pass from Mintz, catching the ball and shooting in one motion. The Panthers still led by 16 but Williams’ performance, along with Copeland’s catalyst, gave the Orange at least some hope that their forwards could aid the offense.

“We’ve got a lot of forwards and everyone can contribute and everybody will be ready to play when the time comes,” Williams said.

Published on February 25, 2023 at 9:56 pm

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