Even without the efforts of former Syracuse basketball player Benny Williams, the Orange were able to come out victorious against a tough Louisville squad.
Syracuse basketball fought hard through 18 lead changes and 13 ties to come out victors at the end of a 94-92 contest with Louisville. After several days of drama on and off the court, this win was a real morale boost for not only the player but the coaching staff as well.
“It’s been emotional the past couple of days for not only our player but our staff,” said Syracuse basketball head coach Adrian Autry.
Two tough road losses and the dismissal of veteran player Benny Williams have been a lesson in adversity to the whole program. Autry commented on Williams’ departure from the team in his postgame presser.
“We spend a lot of time with these guys, and we just want the best for them. Sometimes things just don’t work out… I wish him the best,” said Autry.
All things aside, the Orange pulled off a nice win regardless of the circumstances.
Takeaway #1: Chris Bell shot the lights out
It seldom seemed that anything Bell threw up wasn’t going to go in. He started hot from the get-go go and nothing stopped him.
Bell went 8-for-10 from three and 11-for-15 from the field, scoring a career-high 30 points. The leading scorer also managed to snag six rebounds and a crucial block in the final minute of the game.
Autry said he let Bell do his thing and didn’t tell him much during timeouts.
“I left him alone. I thought our guys did a good job of trying to get him some shots, my job is to get him shots when he’s going like that. We came out of timeouts and executed some plays to give him a couple of pin downs, but when a guy is in the zone like that you don’t have to say much,” said Autry.
The sophomore forward has really started to find a place on this young team and shows a lot of promise for not just the rest of the season, but for seasons to come as well.
Takeaway #2: Judah Mintz needs to do a better job of finishing at the rim
Mintz’s whole game is taking the ball to the hoop and getting fouled. While this is all well and good, it doesn’t make much difference if he fails to make those free throws.
Mintz went 9-for-15 from the free throw line in this game. He finished the game with 21 total points, but he could’ve easily had 27 points had he just made his free throws.
It appears at times that he doesn’t attempt to make the bucket when he drives the ball and is more worried about getting the call to go to the line. A specific play on Wednesday night where he got an and-one, he didn’t try to sell the foul and instead went up and made the shot. We need to see more of this out of Mintz.
There have been times when he’s tried selling the foul and didn’t get the call or the bucket. He comes off the floor angry, leaving a bad taste in the mouths of fans. If he were to focus more on making the bucket, everyone would be happier.
Takeaway #3: Quadir Copeland continues to make plays that change the course of the game
This is the second time this season where the game is on the line and Copeland is the man left standing to finish the game. While he didn’t score a game-winning three in this one, he drove to the bucket and Louisville was called for goaltending when they tried blocking his shot.
Most would shy away from the pressure of being the hero, but Copeland says it’s not that deep for him.
“I wouldn’t even call them big moments. At the end of the day, it’s still in the regulation of the game, it’s 40 minutes. It looks like the last 30 seconds, but until that buzzer rings, it doesn’t really matter,” said Copeland.
This wasn’t the only instance in the game where Copeland was a crucial figure though. Coach Autry gave him a lot of credit for giving the team a boost in the first half.
“The way Quadir played, I thought that was really big. I thought Quadir came in and gave us a big lift in the first half until Judah got going,” said Autry.
Copeland, like Bell, is also a young player who is finding his role and perfecting it to give his team the best chance to win every game.
Next up for Syracuse: vs. Clemson (Sat., Feb. 10 – Noon)
Next up for Louisville: vs Georgia Tech (Sat., Feb. 10 – 6:30 p.m.)