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Pittsburgh ousted a year-long issue for the Orange this year — without Joe Girard III or Jesse Edwards heavily contributing to the box score, it’s practically impossible for SU to win a game. Jim Boeheim knows it. And more importantly, opposing teams know it.

“When they take Joe out, and really make it hard for Jesse — which people are gonna do — then we’ve gotta get some other options there,” Boeheim said after the Pitt game.

Those tertiary players, besides Judah Mintz, that could step up for SU haven’t in-game. But that potential has flashed itself in practice.

“Benny is the best player in practice. Every day, at the forward position,” Boeheim said.

At the end of the first half, Benny Williams made an impact on the glass first, something Boeheim said he doesn’t usually do, collecting a missed floater from Edwards midair and tipping it into the basket. Then, Mintz dished it to Williams near the free-throw line for another 2. And on the Orange’s following possession, Mintz passed to an uncovered Williams at the top of the key, where he easily nailed from deep to give SU a nine-point halftime lead.

In the waning hours of 2022, Syracuse’s year-long struggles resurfaced. It fell behind early, couldn’t find those third, fourth options offensively and lost the battle at the glass. But like the majority of the season, those issues vanished. Syracuse (9-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) found secondary scorers in stretches, forced Boston College (7-7, 1-2 ACC) to turn the ball over and helped Edwards on the glass to defeat the Eagles 79-65. Girard led all players with 24 points while Williams finished third on Syracuse with 16.

Since scoring a season-high 17 points against Colgate, Williams had only cracked double-digits in scoring once before Syracuse’s most recent five-game stretch. He’s improved from averaging less than two points last year, but Boeheim said the 2021-22 season was a nonfactor and that Williams is capable of being a double-double player for SU.

To mitigate Syracuse’s rebounding struggles, Boeheim opted to plug Maliq Brown into the lineup earlier than usual, putting him in for Williams just three minutes into the contest. He immediately collected an offensive and defensive rebound within a minute, though he couldn’t finish on the former right under the basket. Williams improved on his rebounding later in the game but Boeheim has been critical of his play on the glass all season. He finished with five offensive rebounds.

“Benny got on the boards, that’s something he can do whether he makes shots or not and he hasn’t been doing that,” Boeheim said.

Boeheim has been critical of his lack of help to Edwards on the boards throughout this year with Syracuse’s guards rebounding more than its forwards.

BC found some success directly under the rim, finding the omnipresent hole when Edwards moved up in the zone. It scored its first points from that spot, on the first possession of the afternoon, when T.J. Bickerstaff penetrated inside. Makai Ashton-Langford located DeMarr Langford Jr. in the same spot three minutes later, bouncing it to him as Edwards tried to close out.

The likely hero for Syracuse still emerged with Girard taking control of the offense. Before Quinten Post scored over Edwards inside, John Bol Ajak threw the ball inside to Girard, who used his body to get space on the right side of the basket and score. Then, Girard utilized a screen from Edwards, draining an attempt from the top of the key with plenty of space.

With exactly 10 minutes left in the half, Girard drove down the right side of the lane, drawing two defenders onto him. The movement free’d up Symir Torrence on the other end of the basket and Girard bulleted the ball over his head and both defenders. Torrence caught it and laid it in to put Syracuse ahead for the first time in the night.

SU built up a comfortable lead with Girard’s help, one that lasted until near the midway point of the second half. With Syracuse leading 46-36, Prince Aligbe received the ball at the left corner, pump faking before draining a contested 3 over Mintz. Aligbe then stole the ball after Girard tried to get the ball inside to Mounir Hima, eventually leading to an easy layup for Bickerstaff in transition.

Williams collected an offensive board approaching the 13-minute mark, but he forced an untimely pass to Quadir Copeland, who was right under the basket. The Eagles again took off in transition and Ashton-Langford finished on a backdoor layup to bring Boston College within 3. Edwards had left following his fourth foul, which was an explanation for some of the issues, allowing Boston College to continuously hurt SU in transition.

Syracuse’s lead was completely erased after another turnover and a missed Mintz jumper, which led to a transition 3 from Devin McGlockton. Williams answered back from deep but Jaeden Zackery gave BC a 50-49 advantage after splitting the gap between Williams and Hima in Syracuse’s defense.

Again, Girard couldn’t get anything to fall and Mintz could only come up empty on his own inside. This time around, Justin Taylor emerged as a weapon, getting the ball from Mintz and nailing a 3 from the right wing. With nine minutes left in the game, Taylor got the ball at the same spot, letting his defender fly by him before dribbling and scoring from deep.

“Justin hit two big shots which we arguably needed really badly to win the game,” Boeheim said.

Williams continued his strong play too, making a play on the other end after sending a Zackery floater in the other direction, which led to Mintz slamming it down on the other end. Williams worked in isolation a few minutes later, crossing to his left and pulling up for a short jumper from the left side.

Taylor stole the ball from Aligbe directly after the inbound pass with five minutes left in the game and Syracuse’s offense quickly sprinted back into position. Girard got the ball off a handoff from Taylor, but he missed on a contested layup. Williams was there, like he was most of Saturday afternoon, corralling his left hand onto the ball and placing it back into the basket.

“He is our best forward and I’m going to stick with him,” Boeheim said.

Published on December 31, 2022 at 4:18 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu