Syracuse’s 2nd-half defense, Cornell’s missed shots lead to 5th-straight win
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Judah Mintz sidestepped and turned around, reaching out with both arms to grab an errant Cornell pass from the baseline six minutes into the second half. He took off, finding Joe Girard III, who eventually heaved an overhead cross-court pass to Chris Bell for a 3.
The Big Red attempted the same play two minutes later as Nazir Williams drove down the baseline and faked a reverse layup before passing out the wing. Mintz wasn’t in position to steal the ball, so Girard sprinted to the spot instead, almost tripping as he lurched his right hand forward to intercept the ball.
A few steps later, Girard lofted the ball high into the air. He placed it perfectly near the right side of the basket, inviting Mintz to grab it and slam the ball to extend the Orange’s lead to 11.
The Orange’s defense was in shambles through the first half, but more intensity in the zone and 21-of-22 straight shots missed by Cornell (7-3, 0-0 Ivy League) gave Syracuse (8-4, 1-0 Atlantic Coast) enough of a cushion in the second half to win 78-63.
“Cornell was a better team than us today,” Jim Boeheim said postgame. “The only reason we won is because they missed shots.”
Cornell led for all but 54 seconds of the first half, threatening Syracuse’s 41-game winning streak over its Ivy League neighbor. Despite a 37-37 tie at halftime, the Orange took their first lead of the afternoon on their first possession of the second half. Girard led the charge with 19 points in the game.
The Orange have dealt with plenty of opponents this year who love to shoot the deep ball, but Cornell’s infatuation is No. 1 nationally. The Big Red average 11.9 3-pointers per game, tied with Utah State for the most in the country. They finished with a program record 48 3-point attempts on Saturday.
Cornell fired from deep on its first possession of the game after Greg Dolan couldn’t find any space in the lane. Dolan kicked the ball out to Nazir Williams at the top of the key, who nailed his shot from beyond the arc. The same play developed on Cornell’s next possession as Keller Boothby found Isaiah Gray for another wide open 3. And again two minutes later after Benny Williams was pulled away from his spot on the right side of the zone — Boeheim even walked onto the floor after a timeout to instruct Benny Williams on what he was doing wrong defensively.
SU’s offense was ineffective throughout the first half as Mintz tried to create too much, too early on multiple possessions. He charged into the lane with 14 minutes left in the half, clanking an attempt off the rim. He turned the ball over on SU’s next possession after he was surrounded by Cornell’s entire defense and couldn’t pass over anyone. Eventually, Mintz realized he couldn’t do it on his own and handed the ball to Benny Williams, who nailed a 3 from the top of the key.
The Big Red’s success from deep momentarily stopped as they went 0-for-6 before Nazir Williams scored from beyond the arc with 3:46 left in the half. But Cornell found other ways to score, specifically by dominating the offensive glass with 22 on the afternoon, constantly getting behind Jesse Edwards in the zone to create second-chance opportunities. Edwards wasn’t successful on the other end as well, scoring just one point in the first half. Boeheim said he was sick and didn’t practice all week postgame.
For Cornell’s seventh offensive rebound, Sean Hansen collected a missed deep heave from Boothby with Edwards directly under the basket. Edwards moved toward Hansen, who scooped the ball around Edwards and dished it to Max Watson to give Cornell a 29-23 lead. Boothby made his imprint on the glass too with a minute left in the first half, grabbing another missed 3-pointer and laying it back in.
Jesse Edwards notched 11 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Cornell. Emily Steinberger | Senior Staff Photographer
Despite Syracuse’s struggles, it never trailed by more than 11 to the Big Red. Girard’s 15 points in the first half kept it close and Chris Bell, who had a monstrous block early in the game, scored some key baskets as well. Bell nailed a contested shot from deep to cut Cornell’s lead to two, scoring the final point of the half by going 1-for-2 at the free-throw line following Girard’s second 3-pointer.
Bell’s shot from the charity stripe tied the game up at 37-37, the first time since tipoff that Syracuse didn’t trail. He gave Syracuse its first lead of the night after it moved fast in transition to open the second half, using a eurostep to score from the right side of the basket.
The offense started to click in the second half, but the biggest difference for Syracuse was its defense, forcing seven turnovers throughout the second half. Edwards made a loud return to play, hammering Hansen’s layup attempt off the backboard to kickstart the Orange’s offense in transition. Girard missed on the other end of the floor, but SU gave Edwards enough space to work alone on the ensuing possession, giving him the ball near the top of the paint. Edwards backed down Hansen and scored down low, flicking the ball in with his right hand.
The Big Red then clanked shot after shot, allowing Edwards and the rest of Syracuse’s offense to take turns contributing offensively. The Orange also got the ball moving a lot more as Edwards drew a few defenders to free up space for Benny Williams to dunk it with 15:58 left in the game. Edwards was also on the receiving end of a lob from Mintz, which he threw down with ease.
Cornell continued to fight back though, living and dying by the 3. Some shots started to fall in, though the Big Red only got as close as 10 points away from Syracuse’s lead.
Nazir Williams was quiet throughout the second half despite having four 3-pointers in the game. With Cornell’s struggles from deep, Nazir Williams sprinted down the right baseline, pulling up from midrange. But Edwards was right there, sending his shot into the stands with his right palm to halt another second half possession from the Big Red.
“Once we started defending, Jesse did a good job … blocking it or making a difficult shot,” Boeheim said.
