Syracuse defeated Northeastern on Saturday, 76-48. Here are some quick hits from the game:
- The Orange enjoyed an extremely productive night from their starting backcourt. Joe Girard III and Judah Mintz combined for 39 points, each making eight field goals in the game. Both Girard and Mintz made sure SU got off on the right foot, as each posted 11 points and three assists in the first half.
- Jesse Edwards needs to be a focal point of the offense for a very simple reason. In the 15 games during the last two seasons where Edwards has gotten at least seven field goal attempts, he has scored 11 or more points on all but one occasion and 15 or more points on nine occasions. When your big man is skilled enough to shoot 70 percent from the floor (and 78.9 percent from the free throw line this season), use him.
- Quadir Copeland can do a lot of special things on the court. Quadir Copeland should focus on doing the simple things on the court. He has one assist and five turnovers through three games. While looking to set up his teammates is great, Copeland often gets himself in trouble by trying to do too much.
- Girard has 13 three-pointers through three games, good for a 4.3 per game average and putting him among the national leaders.
- The rest of the team, however, has seven treys at a 29.2 percent clip. Both of those figures need to come up. Perhaps Justin Taylor, who had five points (including a triple), three rebounds, a steal, and a block, will start to get a little more of a look on the floor.
- With any luck, Benny Williams’ late flurry will give him a confidence boost. Williams went scoreless for the 17-plus minutes he was on the floor, but made his last three shots and a free throw for seven points in a five-minute span.
- Maliq Brown is playing his way into a bigger role. While his box score line is not particularly eye-popping (four points, four rebounds, an assist, a block, and a steal), Brown’s most impressive number was 22:12, his playing time. That number was fifth among SU players in the game and Brown checked out for good with 9:01 to play.
» Related: Syracuse needs to feature Jesse Edwards more on offense
NEXT UP
SU will play its first game away from home this season on Monday when they take on Richmond in the Empire Classic at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The Spiders (2-2) are on a two-game slide, dropping an overtime game at Charleston Monday night and getting clipped at home by Wichita State on Thursday.
Senior forward Tyler Burton leads three Richmond players in double figures, averaging 19.0 points to go with 8.5 rebounds per game while making a team-high ten triples on the campaign. Jason Nelson (12.8 pts/game) and Isaiah Bigelow (10.5 pts/game) support Burton.
Tip off between the Orange and Spiders will be at 7:00pm Eastern and the game will be televised by ESPN2. Monday’s other game in the Empire Classic is between St. John’s and Temple. The championship and consolation games of the event will be played on Tuesday.
POSTGAME
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Coach Boeheim’s opening during his press conference pic.twitter.com/aFOb4VpPVa
— SUJuice.com (@TheJuiceOnline) November 20, 2022
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