Observations from SU’s exhibition against Saint Rose: Benny Williams suspended, Mintz makes 1st start
Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox. Subscribe to our sports newsletter here.
While Syracuse returned star guard Judah Mintz to its lineup against The College of Saint Rose, forward Benny Williams sat out. Mintz notched a game-high 20 points and led the team in assists with seven. But Williams received a suspension, according to SU Athletics, right before tipoff for a “violation of team rules.”
In addition to losing Williams, Maliq Brown was ruled out in the same announcement dealing with a mild groin issue per syracuse.com’s Donna Ditota.
The absences of Williams and Brown were the prelude to a night where the Orange’s started the first 17 minutes of the game shooting 38% overall and 22% from beyond the arc. But, in the last 10 minutes of the opening half, SU caught fire to outscore the Golden Knights by 13 points.
Here are observations from Syracuse’s exhibition against The College of Saint Rose:
Justin Taylor steps up in place of Williams
Ninety minutes before tipoff, Williams’ suspension was announced on X. The post did not specify what team rules Williams broke, or how long he would be out, but it noted that he will “rejoin the program soon.” Fellow forward Justin Taylor started in Williams’ place.
In the starting position, Taylor scored 10 points in 30 minutes of playing time. In the second quarter, Taylor nailed a fadeaway jumper from the right side of the floor and followed by making a 3-pointer. And since Taylor was taller than all but four of Saint Rose’s players, he notched a team-high 12 rebounds.
Taylor said he anticipated a start these past few days. Once news of Williams and Brown broke, he knew he would have to play at the power forward position.
“So it was my job to kind of step in and fill that role and rebound the ball and just fill that void,” Taylor said.
Mintz’s preseason debut
After sitting out during SU’s contest with Daemen, due to a minor lower body injury suffered in practice, Mintz got his first start of the season. Against Saint Rose, he converted a powerful transition dunk with just over two minutes remaining in the first half.
While Mintz missed his first two shots, he started his scoring output with two made free throws. Five minutes into the contest, Mintz drove down the center of the lane for a go-ahead layup. He finished with 14 of his 20 points coming off free throws and went just 3-for-10 from the field.
Even though Mintz will take 3s when he gets the chance, the guard doesn’t seem too concerned since he believes there are shooters on the team who can “carry the load.”
“Obviously I could shoot better, I didn’t make all my shots,” Mintz said. “…I’m not really worried about shooting.”
The first half ended with Mintz pulling up as time expired, but a Golden Knight player interfered with the attempt near the rim. After review, a goaltending call was issued, awarding Mintz two points. Though he sat out for much of the second half, he executed one of the game’s highlight plays, sacrificing his body near half court to provide an assist to Chris Bell.
Mintz also flashed his passing abilities as well. Midway through the first half, he swung a cross-court pass to Taylor, who sunk his first 3-pointer of the night. After the Golden Knights hit from range later in the half, Mintz hurled an outlet assist for a Naheem McLeod slam dunk which ignited the home crowd.
Chris Bell finds his groove
While Taylor started in the now-suspended Williams’ place, Bell impressed with a team-high 19 points — all of which came in the first half. He also went a perfect 9-of-9 at the charity stripe. After missing his first 3-point attempt of the game, Bell made up for the miss by stealing the ball and dunking it. His ensuing 3-pointer gave SU an early 9-4 advantage. Teammate Quadir Copeland added that shooting is the best aspect of Bell’s game.
The forward also displayed his defensive prowess, coming up with three steals, which translated into transition points. On one play, Bell jumped the passing lanes before providing an assist to Kyle Cuffe Jr. for an easy layup. And, with just under 12 and a half minutes left in the first half, Bell met Saint Rose guard, Christian Pierre-Louis, at the rim for an emphatic rejection.
“Chris is like an amazing shot-blocker and I don’t think people know that,” Copeland said.
Improved-ish 3-point defense
After allowing Daemen to make 43% of its shots from range, the Orange featured their second look of the new man-to-man defense against Saint Rose. For the most part, SU used double teams to limit the Golden Knights’ 3-point attempts.
“In three point attempts, I thought we did a good job of getting back and locating the guy stopping the ball a little bit earlier today,” Autry said.
While Saint Rose finished 31% from 3-point range, opposing forward Ata Turgut made three 3-pointers. Turgut made his first shot from beyond the arc with just over nine minutes in the first half from the top of the key. Then, on a corner 3, Turgut nailed the shot as the Syracuse fans stood, waiting for their team to make its first field goal of the second half. His last make from long range came at the right wing.
Other than that, though, Syracuse only allowed one other 3-point field goal for the rest of the night, signifying an improvement.
“It was way better,” SU guard J.J. Starling said of the 3-point defense. “…today, we did a better job with that, you know, keeping the ball in front and locating shooters and I’m proud of that.”
