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In order to avoid a shocking loss against inferior Canisius, Syracuse needed a scoring run.

The game-ending scoring run didn’t come until Judah Mintz started getting to the free-throw line. With just over 13 minutes left in the game, Mintz made a layup to make the score 54-45 in favor of the Orange. With the Golden Griffins still holding on, Mintz scored the next 10 points, all on plays where he made a bucket or drew a foul. J.J. Starling added a layup and SU was now on a 14-3 run in three-and-a-half minutes. Mintz finished with 19 points in the second half alone as part of a career-high 26 points.

Aside from the scoring, the Orange improved their shooting, finishing the game 53.8% from the field and 36.8% from beyond the arc.

Here are some observations of Syracuse’s (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 89-77 win over Canisius (0-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference):

Starling thrives at everything, including shooting

In the season-opener against New Hampshire, Starling struggled mightily from the field, finishing 3-for-13 and missing all four of his 3-point attempts. During his second game, Starling’s shooting was improved. He finished 8-for-15 with 17 points, second-best on the Orange. The two makes of Starling’s first six field goal attempts came on and-ones near the hoop. Starling missed both of the free throw attempts after the foul.

Starling really thrived as a ball-handler and distributor. When Kyle Cuffe Jr. came in for Mintz, Starling typically ran the point. Midway through the first half, Chris Bell got a pass from Starling, which helped the forward drive down the left side, holding onto the ball for an extra second and scoring.

With the game out of reach late in the second half, Starling threw up a pass from near the top of the key and Maliq Brown completed the alley-oop. Starling finished the game with a team-high seven assists.

Defensively, Starling even played the role of a big man down low when Naheem McLeod wasn’t on the floor. Starling consistently stood right under the rim when the Orange ran man defense.

Left side of the 3-point arc

Throughout the first half, the Orange showed a habit of shooting 3-pointers from the left corner. In the first 20 minutes of play, nearly half of Syracuse’s 11 3-point attempts came from the left corner.

Bell started this trend on SU’s first 3-point try of the night but airballed the shot. He air-balled the same shot again six minutes later, eventually converting one 3-pointer in the half from the wing. After a McLeod block on Tahj Staveskie, Justin Taylor made an open corner 3 on the counter to make the score 9-4. Taylor had a second 3-pointer from the left side, but that came more from the wing. Once Cuffe Jr. subbed in, he tried his hand from that supposed sweet spot, nailing the shot to make the score 35-26 with just under four minutes left in the half.

The Orange put away this theory of the left corner being a sweet spot, yet still had 10 of their 19 3-point attempts be taken from the left side of the arc. There were no attempts from the right side of the floor for the whole game as Mintz made two 3-pointers from the top of the key.

Mintz forces Syracuse to the line

Mintz scored 11 of his 20 points against New Hampshire by consistently driving to the hoop to draw contact in order to make up for his poor shooting from the floor (5-for-15).

Starling started the game with two chances to complete his and-ones, but missed both free throws. Those were the only two free-throw attempts of the entire first half. Oddly enough, McLeod was responsible for the Orange’s first made free throw of the night, going 1-for-2 in the second half.

But Mintz’s efforts in getting Syracuse back to the line sparked a necessary offensive run.

With 12:30 remaining, Mintz made a 3-pointer from the wing and drew the foul. Mintz completed the four-point play to make the score 58-48. Mintz continued with a 3-point play after going coast-to-coast off a steal. Not even a minute later, Mintz did it again, this time drawing contact against Frank Mitchell. Mintz’s efforts in getting SU to the line caused the run to put the game out of reach for Canisius. Mintz’s free throw heroics came as part of an improved shooting night, where he finished 8-for-15.

While the Orange improved at getting to the line, the Golden Griffins struggled to make any free throws. Canisius converted 29.4% of its shots from the charity stripe, vindicating any basketball fan out there who has a “Make Your Free Throws” t-shirt.

McLeod can block. But can he rebound?

McLeod may not have rebounded as proficiently as people would expect from being 7-foot-4, but he showed off his defensive presence with five blocks after making none in the season opener.

McLeod’s first block eventually led to the Taylor corner 3. With a minute left in the first, McLeod used his length to block Staveskie. The rejections led to Adrian Autry showing a preference for the center.

Immediately after Mitchell made a spin move on Brown to score a layup midway through the first half, Autry got up from his chair and tapped McLeod to sub in along with Cuffe Jr.

But a duality of McLeod emerged considering he made just three defensive rebounds against the Golden Griffins. The tallest player in program history got six offensive boards but was less of a presence defensively, letting shorter forwards like Mitchell get nine rebounds.

Defensively, opposing players like Bryce Okpoh would make moves down low to skirt around McLeod’s big frame for easy layups, showing his limited movement at times.

McLeod did have some success, though. A little over four minutes in the second half, McLeod used his height to tip the ball up to himself after a missed Bell jumper. Starling then converted on the ensuing layup.

Published on November 8, 2023 at 9:37 pm

Contact Henry: henrywobrien1123@gmail.com