Ailing Jesse Edwards dominates second half in Syracuse’s comeback win

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Jesse Edwards has made a living inside the paint against Syracuse’s nonconference opponents. He stops players from driving at the hoop and — if they manage to get off a close-range shot — there’s a good chance it could get blocked as one of Edwards’ 36 swats this season. However, despite the center also grabbing double-digit rebounds on seven separate occasions this year, Edwards has had early season struggles.

Edwards struggled through Syracuse’s first half against Cornell, routinely getting beaten out on defense for rebounds and totaling just one point. Early on, in the midst of Cornell’s quick start, Sean Hansen received a pass just inside the free throw line from the outer arc and drove toward the basket. Edwards was in position to defend a potential turnaround jumper, but didn’t readjust in enough time to stay in front of Hansen.

Now off balance, Edwards jumped with Hansen, who went up and under Edwards to put the Big Red up 8-4. Hansen finished the game with 11 points to go along with seven boards, allowing Cornell to extend plays.

“He couldn’t do anything in the first half,”Jim Boeheim said.

In the second half, Edwards ultimately finished with a double-double, his sixth of the season, in SU’s 78-63 win over Cornell. However, the senior was so apparently sick and so ineffective early on, according to Boeheim. In response, Boeheim pulled his starting center and opted to go with Chris Bell and Benny Williams in his place.

Boeheim said sickness kept Edwards out of practice on Thursday and the big man participated only a little on Friday. The center thought he could go early on, but his poor play and a lack of presence on the boards showed that he wasn’t.

Cornell came into the matchup with Syracuse averaging 11.9 3-pointers per game, tied with Utah State for the most in the country. The Big Red converts 33.5% of those attempts from range. There were going to be plenty of missed shots from long range — the grand total ended up being 35 missed 3s — and Syracuse needed Edwards down low to keep grabbing rebounds like he’s been doing over the last few games.

But Edwrads struggled. And without much help from SU’s forwards, Cornell outrebounded the Orange 45-39, grabbing 22 offensive rebounds in the process.

“I think sometimes our forwards think that Jesse is going to get every rebound, so they just watch him,” Boeheim said. “That’s not a good solution.”

After the break, Edwards was a changed player. Tied at 37 apiece to begin the second half, he helped the Orange take their first lead of the afternoon. Then, early into the final 20 minutes of play, Edwards received a pass from the top of the key and squared up against his defender in the paint. The rest of SU’s players spaced out and watched Edwards spin around his defender to lay in a hook shot over the head of Hansen. For the first time Saturday afternoon, Edwards used his size advantage and finally looked like himself.

In the midst of an 18-2 run throughout the middle of the second half, Edwards readjusted to his left when Nazir Williams grabbed a pass deep in the right corner and dribbled in to try a long 2-pointer. Usually, Williams would have stayed beyond the arc, and Edwards’ outstretched arm wouldn’t have made much of a difference. But the Big Red were cold from everywhere on the floor, so Williams stepped in to try something new. Instead, Edwards smothered Williams’ shot attempt, sending the shot into the second row.

On the other end, Edwards grabbed a lob pass in from Joe Girard III and slammed down a dunk, a sequence he repeated just one possession later when Judah Mintz threw up a pass that Edwards once again converted with authority. Having undergone a rough week of missed practices and sickness, by the midpoint of the second half, Edwards was back to his high-powered self. During the final possession of the game, another dunk secured his double-double.

“In the second half, he must’ve felt better because he was the difference,” Boeheim said.