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Jim Boeheim stood with his arms crossed and paced back and forth along his bench. With a minute-and-a-half a minute remaining, he was still yelling out instructions to the five players on the floor, waiting to shake hands with Northeastern head coach Bill Coen at the end of the blowout win.

As Boeheim made his way back into the locker room, a Syracuse fan roared with approval. In his hands was a sign reading “1101 wins” in black, bold font. Another right next to him had a poster with the number “1000” crossed out in red ink, replaced by “1101.”

To everyone in Syracuse, Saturday’s 76-48 win over Northeastern was Jim Boeheim’s 1101st. Officially, following the NCAA’s decision to vacate 101 wins from Boeheim’s coaching record on March 6, 2015, it was his 1000th. Boeheim joins former Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski as the only men’s college basketball coaches to pass the mark.

After jumping out to a 9-0 lead with less than three minutes gone in the game, Syracuse (2-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) coasted to a victory over Northeastern (0-4, 0-0 Colonial Athletic). Aggressive drives to the basket and a dominant inside presence were the difference makers for Syracuse as Jesse Edwards finished with 19 points and SU scored 44 points in the paint.

On Tuesday, the Orange fell at home to Colgate, 80-68, its second straight double-digit loss to the Raiders in back-to-back seasons. Allowing 100 points last year and 19 threes this year, SU looked depleted on defense and struggled to find any sort of offensive flow.

This time around, things were different. Against the Huskies, Syracuse’s staple 2-3 zone was far from perfect, but it was enough to contain a trigger-happy Northeastern squad. After the first half, the Huskies were 7-for-19 from deep. By the end of the game, SU held Northeastern to just 25% from the perimeter.

SU’s guards at the top of the zone successfully forced the Huskie offense into a corner where a guard and forward tandem would attempt to trap. Flustered and unable to get a clean look for many of its possessions, Northeastern would run deep into their shot clock before an attempt at the basket.

On the last play of the first half, Mintz brought the ball up the floor, waiting for the clock to tick down before heading toward the right wing. He passed to Girard, who immediately attacked and spun, looking for an opening. He couldn’t find one.

Jesse Edwards matched his point total from Syracuse’s loss to Colgate (10) in the first half alone against Northeastern. Anshul Roy | Staff Photographer

Girard retreated and gave the ball back to Mintz, who had now relocated to the right corner. Mintz caught the pass and drove hard at his defender, beating him and forcing Northeastern’s help defense to shift over. This left Edwards wide open under the basket. Mintz found Edwards and all the big man had to do was lay the ball up, uncontested. Edwards rose and dunked the ball with authority to give Syracuse a 39-25 lead going into the half.

With about 13 minutes left in the second half, Mintz drove down the middle of the lane and dumped it off at the last second to Edwards. Edwards kept it high above his head after catching the ball, laying it up and over three Northeastern players that had converged on him in the paint.

“He’s going to do that a lot,” Girard said. “He’s a big asset and he’s really skilled with both hands and is great at catching the basketball so he’s going to have a lot of games like those and we’re going to need him to.”

The ensuing offensive possession for Syracuse began with a Maliq Brown rebound. Brown then delivered a quick outlet pass to Girard, who pushed down the court. Glen McClintock was the only player in front of him, and Edwards trailed behind him.

Girard, who had repeatedly attacked from outside, opted to take it to the hoop himself this time, gathering the ball a step inside the free throw line before creating contact with McClintock as he put up the ball. Girard’s attempt dropped through the basket as the referee whistled for a foul.

Edwards finished with a game-high seven rebounds, seemingly getting whatever he wanted near the basket. Shooting 80% from the field and going perfect from the charity stripe, his 6-foot-11’ frame created enough space to operate with ease and proved to be too much for the Northeastern players to handle.

With 11:28 remaining in the second half, Edwards caught the ball near the free-throw line and took a dribble toward the hoop. Northeastern’s tallest player, 6-foot-9’ Collin Metcalf, stood between Edwards and the basket. Edwards rose, shifting his body toward the hoop and tossed up a floater. His attempt flew high above the outstretched arm of Metcalf and nestled into the net for his final points of the game.

“(Edwards is) getting more comfortable down there,” Boeheim said. “He’s finishing better and I think we’re looking for him a little better. He’s playing at a high level.”

Published on November 19, 2022 at 7:28 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff