Syracuse edged Louisville on Wednesday, 94-92, to stop a two-game skid.
Here are the key takeaways from the win.
Tightened rotation emerges after Williams dismissal
In the first Orange game after Benny Williams was dismissed from the program, head coach Adrian Autry actually tightened up his rotation even further. Kyle Cuffe Jr. did not see any action as only seven players saw action in an up-and-down game.
In fact, almost all of the playing time was soaked up by six players as Peter Carey had only 5:14 of floor time. Most noteworthy of those sparse minutes was that Maliq Brown got his first minutes at forward this season, playing next to Carey for 3:17 in the middle of the second half, as well as the final Louisville possession when Carey came in to defend the inbound passer.
Plenty of mistakes down the stretch
Make no mistake about it, SU was fortunate to escape with the game. And the Orange tried to give it away, as well. Going back to when Syracuse led, 84-81, and got the ball out of bounds under their own basket with 2:53 remaining, both teams made a litany of mistakes:
• Louisville’s Ty-Laur fouled J.J. Starling on 3-pointer late in the shot clock and the Orange guard made all three shots to push the lead to 87-81.
• Maliq Brown fouled Skyy Clark on a made jumper above the left elbow, giving the Cards a three-point-play to halve the lead.
• Mike James fouled out when he tripped Quadir Copeland from behind while chasing him in the full-court press.
• Chris Bell failed to help out when Starling got screened for a Clark 3 that pulled Louisville within 88-87 with 1:06 to play.
• Brown did not close out on a corner three with the Orange up, 91-87, but came out far enough outside the paint that Tre White got an easy putback to halve the SU lead.
• Judah Mintz forced the issue on the ensuing play, driving into the paint with a two-point lead and under 25 seconds remaining instead of trying to eat up clock. He then threw a pass that went through Brown’s hands for an easy Louisville steal.
• Copeland also had two trips to the foul line during this time where he only made one of two shots.
In short, neither team covered themselves in glory during the final minutes of play.
Louisville exceeds expectations from 3
Louisville came into the game averaging 5.45 3-pointers per game, but made a half dozen treys in the first 16 minutes of the game and finished with a season high 11 in the game.
In fact, the last time the Cards made 11 3’s in a game was when they played Syracuse last season and lost by a single point when they could not get a final shot off.
The Orange have allowed their last three opponents to shoot 59.5 percent from the field and 51.6 percent from 3-point range.
Syracuse gets inside with success
As expected, Syracuse was able to make hay against the weak Cardinal interior defense. The Orange shot 21-of-29 on 2-point field goal attempts, including a 14-of-16 mark in the first half, a mark inflated by 14 layups and three dunks. Their 72.4 percent mark inside the arc is far and away their best of the season, surpassing their 66.7 percent mark against Division II Chaminade in the Maui Invitational.
Bell and Starling star
Bell’s 8-of-10 performance from 3-point-range has lifted his season shooting percentage to 39.6 percent.
Starling has reached double figures in the last seven games averaging 18.1 points per outing in that time on 56.1 percent field goal shooting, including 38.4 percent on 3-pointers. 20 of his 31 treys on the season have come in that span.
What’s next
This homestand continues on Saturday, as the Orange (14-8, 5-6 ACC) will welcome former teammate Joe Girard III and his current Clemson teammates to the JMA Wireless Dome for a game. The Tigers (15-7, 5-6) have alternated wins and losses in their last seven outings, but upset #3 North Carolina on the road on Tuesday night, 80-76.
Center P.J. Hall is an inside-outside threat at center, leading Clemson with 20.1 points per game while posting 7.1 rebounds, 1.8 blocks, and 1.5 3-pointers per contest. Girard comes into the game averaging 15.0 points per contest while posting career-high shooting percentages across the board, including 42.8 percent on 3’s while making almost three per game.
Chase Hunter also scores in double figures at 11.8 points per game while Ian Schieffelin nearly averages a double-double at 9.7 points and 9.6 rebounds.
The action will get underway at 12:00pm Eastern Saturday with ESPN2 handling television responsibilities.
—-
Chat about this story and all things Syracuse and Syracuse recruiting on our premium message board, Cuse Classified!
Follow us on Twitter @TheJuiceOnline, like us on Facebook, follow us on Instagram @SUJuiceOnline and listen to our podcast.
Tips/questions/concerns? E-mail Recruiting Analyst Charles Kang here.
Not a subscriber to The Juice Online? Join today for access to all our premium content and message board community.
