Judah Mintz and Benny Williams led a second-half run, as the Syracuse Orange won its fourth game in a row.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (CBB REVIEW) – A second half that includes a big run, helped the Syracuse Orange take down Monmouth, 86-71. The Orange improve to 7-4 (1-0) after the win.
Freshman Judah Mintz set a new career-high with 24 points, pacing the ‘Cuse in scoring. He added 5 assists, 4 steals, and only turned the ball over once.
Joe Girard III (16 points), Benny Williams (13 points), Jesse Edwards (12 points), and Maliq Brown (11 points) all finished with double figures in scoring for Syracuse.
Monmouth was led by Jack Collins, who had 20 points in the game. Collins was hot out of the gate, scoring 8 points in the first six minutes and 16 points in the first half. He cooled down in the second half, going just 1-of-5 from deep, after hitting 4-of-8 threes in the first half.
Takeaway #1: Second-half adjustments
After an ugly first half on the defensive side, Jim Boeheim made some second-half adjustments.
One of those was not starting Benny Williams.
“I only had 2 points and 1 rebound at the half. That’s not good. I need to do more,” said Williams.
He woke up in the second half, finishing with 13 points and 5 rebounds. Williams also contributed well to an Orange defense that held the Hawks to only 16 points in the first 13 minutes of the second half.
“It may be annoying sometimes, but he (Coach Boeheim) expects the best out of me and I expect the best out of myself too,” said Williams.
Takeaway #2: To play for Jim Boeheim, you need to rebound
“We didn’t want to play tonight. Our forwards haven’t wanted to play all year,” said Boeheim.
Boeheim said that and A LOT more about the lack of rebounds that Syracuse’s forwards have been able to come up with all season.
“You have to understand, we’re going to be playing teams that are 6-8 or 6-9, not 6-2 or 6-3,” said Boeheim.
One positive on the glass was Maliq Brown. Although Boeheim has said the freshman forward still has some things to learn, Brown put together a nice game of 11 points and 7 rebounds in 23 minutes.
Overall, Syracuse led in the rebounding category, 33 to 28. But as Boeheim has noted, a minimal advantage against a mid-major in Monmouth doesn’t bode well for the North Carolinas and Virginia Techs of the ACC.
Takeaway #3: Defending the three
Monmouth stayed in the game for a while, thanks to some ridiculously hot shooting right from the gates. Jack Collins did most of the damage, and it continued early on into the second half, as Monmouth held a 52-51 lead at the 15:27 mark in the second half.
Defensive adjustments paved the way for a better finish. After going 6-of-11 from three in the first 20 minutes, the Orange cracked down on defense. The Hawks would only hit three more shots from deep the rest of the way.
On the season, the Hawks have been dismal from downtown, but in their only win, went 7-of-14 from long-range against Manhattan. For a while, it looked like some of that game was taking place again, before Syracuse shut it down to close out the win.
Next game for the Syracuse Orange: Cornell (Dec. 17 – 3 p.m.)