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Jesse Edwards was an issue for Notre Dame on Saturday. After scoring 16 points in the first half on 7-of-9 shooting, the Fighting Irish had no choice but to double Edwards out of halftime. But they still couldn’t stop him in transition.
Edwards leapt over two Notre Dame players to grab the ball off a missed layup from Dane Goodwin, quickly passing to Joe Girard III before sprinting to his spot. He sat in the paint, back faced to the basket, and got the ball back. Edwards spun and missed on a lefty heave, but quickly collected the ball again off the glass and dunked it.
“I’m confident in myself and my team is confident in me to finish when I get it inside,” Edwards said.
Edwards finished with 22 points in the afternoon, including 14 rebounds in Syracuse’s (4-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) 62-61 win over Notre Dame (6-2, 0-1 ACC). It was his seventh double-digit point game this season, but the first time he’s eclipsed more than 20. Edwards was also the only SU player to stay on the floor for the entirety of the game.
“Their defense was a good defense for me to play against, we knew that coming in,” Edwards said. “They got me the ball really well and I got good opportunities.”
Edwards knows he can make an impact offensively, especially when he has a mismatch, like he did against Notre Dame. He spent the majority of the offseason working on it, needing to use his body more offensively playing for the Netherlands in Eurobasket against NBA centers Nikola Jokić and Jonas Valančiūnas.
“It shows you what is top of the top,” Edwards said. “There’s nobody better than that. So it gives a lot of confidence knowing that if you can do it there, you can do it anywhere.”
Edwards saw an uptick in scoring last year, and head coach Jim Boeheim said SU needs to get him the ball more in certain situations. On Saturday, Edwards routinely set picks for Mintz and Girard, immediately putting a hand up after finishing the screen for another offensive option. Mintz found him once for an alley-oop, and with 11 minutes left in the first, Girard dished the ball to Edwards again.
Edwards collected the ball with his right hand, which had just signaled for the pass, though he could only get control of it after he was directly under the basket. He leaped up, leaning his body to have enough space to bounce the ball off the backboard and in.
“They didn’t double him and he was getting the ball in space,” Boeheim said.
Edwards has continued to do what he did last season too as a shot blocker and rebounder, recording 38 rebounds and five blocks in SU’s last two games. Boeheim added that Syracuse’s forwards needed to help Edwards on the glass, not leave the majority of the responsibilities with him.
Girard had the second-most rebounds with five, while Benny Williams had none. Edwards said it’s hard for his teammates to help out because of the zone, making it easiest for him to grab the boards from his spot.
“You can’t play 21 minutes and not get a rebound in college basketball,” Boeheim said. “I don’t know what to do about it, but we can’t rebound like that and win.”
Edwards recorded five offensive boards as well, his first coming after Girard missed from the top of the key. Edwards said he spends practices going over where to position off certain attempts he knows his teammates are going to fire, sitting directly in front of the basket as Girard went up for his shot. The ball rattled off the front of the rim, and Edwards was already in midair to put it back in the basket.
“I’m going to get ready for a possible rebound and get positioning,” Edwards said.
The biggest thing holding back Edwards this season has been foul trouble as he’s had five fouls in Syracuse’s last two games. But he didn’t deal with any of that on Saturday, allowing him to be more aggressive offensively even after Notre Dame doubled him after halftime.
With 16 minutes left in the game, Edwards scored his first points of the second half. He received the ball in the lane, missing on his first attempt. But he quickly repositioned his feet and got the ball back over a Notre Dame defender before laying it in. Two minutes later, he jumped over two Notre Dame defenders to catch a pass, slamming it down again to give SU a 48-45 lead.
Edwards didn’t score for the rest of the game, but he continued to run pick-and-rolls and kick the ball out to his teammates to try and get ahead of Notre Dame. Still, neither team could get much of a lead and Notre Dame took a one-point advantage in the final minute after Marcus Hammond eventually got inside and finished off a 3-point play, nailing a floater while Girard touched a part of his hand from behind.
Mintz wanted that final shot, Boeheim said, and Edwards would be an integral part to set one up. In the final 20 seconds, Edwards came out of the paint to set Mintz a screen near the left wing. Mintz read it perfectly, using the space on the baseline from Edwards’ pick to attack the rim. All Mintz had to do was finish, and he did.
“I knew when I gave him the ball they were going to probably pull off on me and he would have the opportunity to drive,” Edwards said. “He doesn’t even think twice, he just goes. He’ll go take the important shot and make it.”
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