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Judah Mintz made the extra pass. With three seconds left and the game tied 69-69 Mintz could’ve pulled up for a contested midrange jumper. Instead, he dished a crosscourt pass to set up Quadir Copeland’s buzzer-beater 3-pointer.

The pass was Mintz’s 13th assist of the game — a career high — and the final of 19 for Syracuse (13-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), which recorded its most assists in a conference game this season as it beat Miami (12-6, 3-4 ACC) 72-69. The Orange moved the ball efficiently, making the smart passes and recording the most assists in a conference game since posting 20 versus Notre Dame over a year ago.

“Judah, again, just impacted the game,” head coach Adrian Autry said, adding that these recent two games have been Mintz’s best — he was two rebounds away from a triple-double. “He just controlled the game. He made the right plays. He got our shooter shots.”

Mintz knew that Copeland was open. Mintz had driven right, drawing defenders. Maliq Brown had briefly opened up in the paint, which forced Brown’s defender, Bensley Joseph to come help, allowing Copeland to relocate to the wing for the 3. In the timeout called by Syracuse with 18.6 seconds left, the play was for Mintz to get a gap to make a play.

“That’s the play that happened,” Mintz said.

The Orange consistently knocked down 3-pointers, which has been a struggle at times this season. Syracuse finished 12-of-32 from deep — five of the Orange’s final seven field goals came from beyond the arc.

Down the stretch, Chris Bell made a couple important triples of his four total. He set up shop in the corner, where he tends to take most of his 3s. Mintz had the ball at the right wing, dishing the ball to the corner, where Bell swished a 3 to tie the game at 62.

“He was passing the ball a lot today,” Bell said. “Definitely moving the ball a crazy amount. I missed a couple shots so I definitely owed him.”

Mintz said he’s been focusing on being more patient, wrapping around ball screens and keeping the ball moving, the latter of which was preached by Autry after the Pittsburgh game. Mintz’s previous career high was 10 versus Georgetown last season.

A minute and half earlier, Mintz brought the ball up the floor, dribbling to the right side into the lane. Mintz’s move forced Bell’s defender to gravitate toward him, allowing Bell to receive the quick catch-and-shoot from Mintz.

Similarly, JJ Starling was also the recipient of many passes that turned into 3-point baskets. He notched six 3-pointers — a single-game career high — and all of them were assisted.

“They’re helping me build my confidence, especially today, they gave me open shots and I didn’t really have to do too much,” Starling said of his teammates. “The ball started moving more. We found the open man, we made simpler plays, and we just started knocking on shots.”

Early in the second half, Copeland had missed a three in the right corner. Brown fought for the offensive rebound, tipping the ball back out to the top of the key to Mintz. Miami was out of place, and Mintz could’ve driven to the lane, but instead, dished it to a wide-open Starling in the other corner as he tied the game at 39. The 3 capped off a personal run of seven consecutive points for Starling, who had a couple deep 2s on the right side.

To start the game, Syracuse had been taking low-percentage shots, most of which did not come off passes — the Orange were 2-of-12 to start the game from the field. Eventually, Syracuse found a rhythm.

Justin Taylor received the ball at the top of the key, immediately passing the ball to Bell in the left corner for the 3. Then, on the next 3, Bell made the extra pass. Copeland, after securing a rebound on the defensive glass, pushed the pace in transition. He drove into the lane, getting double teamed, before kicking the ball out to Bell.

Bell could’ve taken the shot, but with a defender closing out, he opted for the much smarter additional pass to the wing, where Starling drilled a wide-open 3.

Later in the frame, the Orange countered a 9-0 Miami late first-half run with two 3-pointers that were assisted by Justin Taylor and Bell. Benny Williams scored the final basket of the first half for the Orange, receiving a pass from Mintz and scoring the left-wing triple with a friendly roll off the rim.

Syracuse also had plenty of assists for buckets in the paint. Mintz found Copeland down low for a basket inside to give Syracuse a 66-64 lead with a couple minutes remaining. Maliq Brown found Benny Williams for a layup in the first half. Mintz was responsible for most of the assists, but five others recorded at least one in the stat sheet.

“He took what the defense gave him,” Autry said of Mintz. “That’s how he can impact the game. He doesn’t always have to score 20, but he can generate more than 20 (points) by his passing ability.”

Published on January 20, 2024 at 5:09 pm

Contact Cole: [email protected] | @ColeBambini