Observations from SU’s win over Northeastern: Mintz mayhem, Girard from deep

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Jim Boeheim clinched his 1000th official NCAA win with a victory over Northeastern on Saturday night. After being stagnant on the offense and allowing too many deep shots on defense against Colgate, Syracuse looked like a completely different team against Northeastern. 

SU dominated on the glass and finished with 44 points in the paint — Jesse Edwards scored 19 points. Judah Mintz and Joe Girard III combined for 39 and the Orange only allowed eight 3-pointers from the Huskies.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 76-48 win over Northeastern:

Mintz mayhem

Mintz entered the season touted as one of the best freshman guards to enter Boeheim’s program. In Syracuse’s exhibitions matchups and first two games, he’s shown his ability to create his own creative shot, use his length to be aggressive on the defensive end as well as his ability to hit from deep.

But he’s a “really good passer too,” former Oak Hill Academy head coach Steve Smith said. On Saturday, he showcased that ability early, driving into the lane and faking a shot to instead set up Edwards with an easy alley-oop. Then, he sent a timely bounce pass to Maliq Brown to give SU a 19-14 lead. For the final points of the half, Mintz drew a defender towards him while driving into the lane from the right baseline before handing off the ball to Edwards for the dunk while his defender was still airborne.

Still, Mintz showed his ability to put the ball in the basket, becoming especially dangerous in transition because of his ability to simply outrun the Huskies’ players. After a steal from Girard, Mintz threw it down from the right side of the basket. Edwards then poked the ball out and quickly passed to Girard, who found Mintz sprinting down the lane unguarded for another easy dunk.

Mintz continued to be a problem for Northeastern in the final period, going coast-to-coast practically untouched to extend the Orange’s lead to 17. Two minutes later, he received a pass and screen from Quadir Copeland, sprinting into the lane from the right wing and finishing on the opposite side of the basket.

3-point defense improves

Boeheim opted for a man-to-man defense early against Colgate, but he said the Raiders were better against that set than the zone. The move to the zone didn’t help much either, opening up even more looks at the corners, leading Colgate to drain 19 from deep.

The Orange started with the zone against the Huskies, and the result was the same as last Tuesday. In its first three games, Northeastern was tied for 44th in the country in 3-point attempts this season with 82. The Huskies shot at a 31.7% clip.

After Syracuse opened up the game with a 9-0 run, Coleman Stucke drilled two straight 3-pointers — one from the left corner and another from the right wing. Girard answered back on the other end from the top of the key, but Chase Cormier came back and scored over Mintz from the left wing.

But Syracuse started to play its defense a little higher, having Mintz and Girard defend near or at the 3-point line whenever Northeastern brought the ball up. The approach forced the Huskies to heave even deeper 3-pointers late in the shot clock, which mostly bounced off the iron. They went 1-for-13 from beyond the arc in the second half.

Girard from deep

Girard finished with four 3s against Colgate, taking a total of 12 attempts. The next closest player was Mintz with four. The clip was okay, but not enough to help an offense Boeheim referred to as “terrible” throughout the night. On Tuesday, Girard again took most of the Orange’s shots from deep, but this time he was a lot more successful, using set pieces and deception to tear apart Northeastern’s defense.

Girard received a screen from Edwards at the top of the key just two minutes into the game, faking as if he was going to use it before crossing back to his left and firing from four steps behind the arc. He drilled it, using an off-ball screen from Edwards to score from the same spot a few possessions later.

To go 3-for-3, Girard faked cutting into the lane, planting hard and turning back to the corner. Mounir Hima screened his defender and stopped Girard’s as well, opening up an easy look. Girard shot high, dropping it in to give SU a 24-17 lead.

In the second half, before making a layup and foul for three points, Mintz fired the ball to Girard at the right wing. Girard was free off another off-ball screen from Edwards, finding the bottom of the net.

Jesse’s jump

Northeastern entered the game without forward Chris Doherty, who was out with a concussion. That left Edwards with even more of a reason to try and punish the Huskies down low, which he did on possession after possession.

With under four minutes left in the first half, Girard lofted a high ball inside to a cutting Edwards. Edwards, with two defenders on him, reached up and grabbed the ball in between both before turning to the basket. He took two large steps and dropped the ball into the basket, earning a foul in the process.

Edwards matched his total from last game (10) in roughly 15 minutes against the Huskies.

In the second half, Edwards continued to be a threat on the glass, getting his second offensive rebound on Syracuse’s first possession of the period. Edwards sat directly under the basket, leaping to grab the ball before elevating and putting into the basket with his right hand.

But instead of just playing clean-up, Syracuse’s guards continued to feed Edwards inside as well. Mintz drove down the right side of the lane and then contorted his body to pass behind his right shoulder to Edwards, who immediately dunked it. Then, Symir Torrence gained some separation off a spin move, lofting it into the paint to Edwards. He caught it and calmly raised his right arm to drill the floater.