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SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Syracuse needed a hero Saturday afternoon. And a struggling freshman came through.
The Orange had the ball trailing by one with less than 20 seconds remaining. Jesse Edwards caught the inbounds pass and gave Judah Mintz the ball and a screen, carving him an easy lane for a right-handed layup and an SU lead. And after Notre Dame’s final chance came up just short — Dane Goodwin missed a corner 3 that bounced high off the front rim as time expired — Syracuse’s three-game losing streak came to an end.
Mintz finished with just nine points Saturday, playing second fiddle to Edwards (22 points, 14 rebounds) and Joe Girard III (20 points), but made the basket that mattered the most. The Orange (4-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) needed a win at Notre Dame (6-2, 0-1) after three deflating losses, the last of which by 29 at Illinois on Tuesday. A combination of Edwards’ inside dominance, Girard regaining his stroke and a boatload of missed ND 3s allowed SU to avoid making that four straight with a 62-61 win.
Mintz hadn’t performed well when Syracuse needed him early this season. He went cold late against St. John’s, got ejected in a one-point loss to Bryant and shot 18.75% against Illinois on the road. But for the freshman, confidence is clearly not a problem when the game’s on the line.
“He doesn’t even think twice, he just goes,” Edwards said of Mintz. “He’ll go take the important shot and make it.”
SU looked like it might pull away with just over two minutes left in the second half when John Bol Ajak hit Girard on a backdoor cut for an easy layup. The Orange led 60-55 at that point, but the Fighting Irish, assisted by some bad SU shots, had a comeback in them.
Girard bricked a 3-pointer from the right wing a minute later, and Cormac Ryan answered with a transition triple. Mintz then airballed a mid range jumper, giving Notre Dame a chance to tie or take the lead. The Irish, seemingly, had their own unlikely hero when Marcus Hammond flashed to the free throw line, hit his jumper and earned a whistle after Girard hit him from behind. Hammond’s free throw gave Notre Dame the lead.
Boeheim said Syracuse had a few different options on the final play, but wanted to get the ball to Edwards. The screen Edwards set was actually improvised, the center said. ND didn’t want to leave Edwards, who said he knew Mintz would have the chance or kick it out. Mintz chose the former, and Syracuse won the game.
The win wouldn’t have happened without a bounce-back performance from Girard, too. After nine total points over his last three games, Girard’s touch returned seven minutes in. He caught a pass and drilled the wide-open 3, giving Syracuse a 15-13 lead. After the next media timeout, Girard stole the ball and took it all the way for an easy layup. He made 50% of his first-half shots, finishing with 10 points, his most since that Richmond game.
The second half went similarly for Girard — he had another breakaway layup off a steal, and
Edwards set him several screens that led to open shots. One came off an inbounds as Girard curled around Edwards and used his quick release to drop the ball in. Midway through the half, the shot clock wound down as Girard attacked his defender, spinning for an off-balance elbow jumper that swished through the net, giving the Orange a 54-52 lead.
“We needed Joe to bounce back,” Boeheim said. “That was the difference in the game.”
While Girard was the player SU had to get rolling again, Edwards was the one who had been rolling — the Orange just needed to keep feeding him. They did, frequently running their offense through Edwards from the opening tip. The center had 16 first-half points, leading to double-teams after halftime. He responded by passing more, opening up 3s, cuts and drives, he said.
But sometimes, Edwards just created his own offense. Minutes into the second half, Edwards sped up the floor, missed a tough shot in traffic but gathered it and slammed the putback down with two hands.
“Obviously Jesse is playing at a high level right now,” Boeheim said.
Notre Dame opted to stay outside offensively. The Fighting Irish repeatedly attacked the corner, hitting four of their first 3s from that spot. JJ Starling drove on one play early in the first half, and with Chris Bell out of position, hit Goodwin wide-open for a 3. The Fighting Irish shot 8-for-18 (44.4%) from beyond the arc in the first 20 minutes, with the shots open, rarely contested.
But SU fixed things in the second half, when the Irish shot only 20% from 3-point range. Starling and Trey Wertz were the main culprits, combining to miss 9-of-11 second-half attempts. Notre Dame struggled to generate offense inside, with its leading scorer, forward Nate Laszewski, finishing with just two points on 1-for-6 shooting. Syracuse moved Edwards up in the 2-3 zone to take away the high post, a spot where Illinois’ Coleman Hawkins carved up the Orange on Tuesday en route to a triple double. It was an effective move, Boeheim said.
Syracuse had offensive woes of its own, namely a 17% 3-point shooting performance, but the Orange did something they’ve rarely done this year: make a big play late. After Girard’s backdoor layup, SU went through a crucial two-minute, 14-second stretch where it didn’t score. That was until Mintz adjusted in mid air, Hammond forced to watch from underneath as the ball dropped through the basket.
Mintz shot 4-for-10 on Saturday, but only one of his attempts from this game will be remembered. And thankfully for his sake — and for Syracuse’s — Mintz still had that confidence in the final seconds. He, not Girard, Edwards or anyone else, was the hero in this win.
“He wants to take that shot,” Boeheim said.
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