Observations from Syracuse vs. Colgate: Raiders reign from deep, Bell hardly plays

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Syracuse handedly took care of Lehigh in its opening game, beating the Mountain Hawks in part by shooting 54.5% from the field. The Orange then had an eight-day break before welcoming Colgate to the JMA Wireless Dome. For decades, SU could easily overlook the Raiders. 

But brought on by a flurry of 3s from Colgate and a poor shooting performance from the field by the Orange, the Raiders jumped out to an early, double-digit lead. It stayed in command, fending off periodic comeback attempts from SU out of halftime and midway through the second half. It wasn’t enough to stave off a second-straight loss to the Raiders.

Colgate (3-1, 0-0 Patriot League) finished shooting 50% from deep, while Judah Mintz led Syracuse (1-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) with 20 points in its first defeat of the season. Here are some observations from the loss.

Slow start

Jim Boeheim knows Syracuse doesn’t need the 3-point ball to be successful this season. It put up 90 points against Lehigh. So the Orange tried for 3s sparingly early on, instead opting to drive into the paint and pull up from midrange. Mintz and Benny Williams tried this the most, yet neither grabbed a point from the field early on. By the under 16 timeout, Boeheim made the switch to Quadir Copeland and Maliq Brown.

The Orange’s 54.5% shooting percentage from the field that they enjoyed against Lehigh turned into 35.5% in the first half. Joe Girard still got open off of screens and off-ball movement in the shooting guard role, but couldn’t connect on his 3s. Syracuse couldn’t keep up with Colgate as it rained down 3-pointers, and even Jesse Edwards down low struggled with a double team that usually included Jeff Woodward and Keegan Records.

At the start of Colgate’s run, Edwards posted up on the left side of the hoop, backing down Woodward and starting down Mintz. After the pass in, Edwards took two dribbles in and passed it back out, then watched as Mintz drove too far inward and had to make an errant pass back that was stolen by Colgate.

Wide open 3-pointers

Through three games, Colgate ranked eighth in the country in two-point shooting percentage, entering Tuesday night’s game with a 67.1% rate. But when the Raiders jumped out to a lead that at one point stretched to as many as 18 points, they found plenty of space on the perimeter to make shots. As the clock dwindled below six minutes in the second half, Colgate sat in transition ready to strike again. Syracuse left Oliver Lynch-Daniels open, who swished the shot through.

Colgate adjusted, and the Orange didn’t. The Raiders had nearly the same play every time throughout the first half — and it worked. They’d load the right side of the formation with players, forcing Edwards or Mounir Hima away from the left corner. Then, a rotating cast of Lynch-Daniels, Tucker Richardson and Chandler Baker settled down in the corner and awaited a pass. It nearly always came, and Hima always leapt with an outstretched arm hoping to give some contest.

Boeheim switched Syracuse to the 2-3 zone with about six minutes left in the first quarter to help stop the deep shots. It forced the Raiders to instead pass inside to Woodward, who was promptly stood up by Edwards. But toward the end of the half, Richardson capitalized at the top of the key on a wide-open triple that exploited Syracuse’s slow transition defense.

Tucker time

Richardson scored a season-high 22 points in Colgate’s opener against Buffalo, almost matching his career-high. The guard earned All-Patriot League First Team honors last year, leading the Raiders in defensive rebounds (178) and steals (47). He wasn’t the first player to get hot from deep against Syracuse as Lynch-Daniels and Baker went a combined 5-for-9 from deep in the first half. When he wasn’t chucking up prayers that were somehow answered, Richardson was busy collecting six rebounds.

He collected four assists and routinely working on give-and-goes with the other guards to help create space for them on the wings. Even after a missed alley-oop attempt from Keegan Records, Smith grabbed a rebound and found Richardson all alone on the left edge. Richardson forced an 18-point lead and a Syracuse timeout.

Richardson shot 60% from deep and helped the commanding lead balloon out to an insurmountable one during the second half. He didn’t commit a foul and turned the ball over just once while collecting 27 points and forcing four steals. Despite being 6-foot-5, the guard scrambled around underneath the basket, leaking out from the defensive holes created by Syracuse’s guards. Colgate had 18 3-pointers in last year’s win against the Orange. Richardson, to extend Colgate’s lead to 77-63, was wide open for the 18th 3-pointer of the night for the Raiders.

Where are the free throws?

Boeheim was happy with the number of free throws Syracuse had in its two exhibitions and first game. But the Orange hardly got to the line and missed three when it did manage to get there. It wasn’t that Syracuse didn’t try to work the ball inside through Edwards and drive from the 3-point line — though it missed plenty of pull-up shots from just inside the arc. It’s that Woodward and Records stood tall in the paint.

Colgate was willing to give way to an uncontested layup, especially once it built its lead in the first half, by the time Williams knocked down two free throws with just over 12 minutes left in the game, the Orange had missed 15 shots from the field, nine of which came from inside the paint. Records did commit three personal fouls, and Lynch-Daniels’ night was ended early when he picked up his fourth foul just a few minutes into the second half. But a total of eight trips to the charity stripe spread across 40 minutes wouldn’t be enough to slowly bring the Orange within striking distance.

Chris Bell starts, but hardly plays

Chris Bell started for the second time against Colgate for Boeheim. The 6-foot-7 freshman came to the Orange with a promising shot and the ability to leak inside to help Edwards as a stretch-four. After the first exhibition game, though, it was clear Bell was struggling with his shot, going 1-for-9. Boeheim praised Bell’s shooting and said he could go 6-for-9 on another night. That other night wouldn’t come against Colgate. Bell started, but through eight minutes in the first half, missed a 3-pointer and clanked another shot from midrange off the side of the rim. 

Boeheim also said Bell needs to learn to dive on loose balls, or the freshman won’t play. He finished without a rebound or assist, effectively acting as a warm body in SU’s starting five. Just before the under-16 timeout at the start of the first half, the head coach shook his head, signaled to Copeland and Brown, and sat Bell down. The Orange wound up shooting 8-for-25 from deep and staying close with the Raiders on rebound numbers, but Bell gazed off from the middle of the bench. With a paper Gatorade cup in hand, Bell frowned.