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Syracuse didn’t look like a team that lost three-straight games before Saturday. The offense, which disappeared during a 44-point showing in Champaign this week, came out aggressive, immediately getting the ball to Jesse Edwards inside. The Fighting Irish found as much success as the Orange though, nailing eight 3-pointers in the first half and keeping the game close throughout the afternoon.

Judah Mintz gave Syracuse a 62-61 lead with 13.3 seconds left. From there, Syracuse slowed down the Fighting Irish offense with fouls to give. Dane Goodwin missed on a contested 3-pointer from the right corner and SU secured its first ACC win of the year.

Edwards and Joe Girard III made up for most of SU’s offensive production, combining for 42 points. Edwards also played the entire 40 minutes, finishing with 14 rebounds and a season-high 22 points.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 62-61 win over Notre Dame:

Edwards is unstoppable

Edwards knows he can make an impact offensively because he spent the majority of the offseason working on it. He’s only shown flashes of that this year but has continued his growth as a shot blocker and rebounder, 38 rebounds and five blocks in SU’s last two games.

On Saturday, Edwards was an issue for Notre Dame. He routinely set picks for Mintz and Girard, immediately putting a hand up after finishing the screen for another offensive option. Mintz found him once for an alley-oop, and with 11 minutes left in the first, Girard dished the ball to Edwards again.

Edwards collected the ball with his right hand, which had just signaled for the pass, though he could only get control of it after he was directly under the basket. He leaped up, leaning his body to have enough space to bounce the ball off the backboard and in.

Throughout the rest of the game, Edwards stayed active on the defensive boards, grabbing the ball over a few ND players with 15 minutes left in the game. He sprinted down to the other end, quickly getting the ball in the post before chucking up an attempt with his left hand. He missed, but quickly collected the ball again off the glass and dunked it.

Notre Dame doubled Edwards out of halftime, which led to some late issues with Edwards coughing the ball up. But without any foul trouble, Edwards had free-range to be aggressive back, leaping over two SU defenders to catch a pass a minute after his earlier dunk, slamming it down again to give SU a 48-45 lead.

3-point defense, again

Notre Dame likes to score from the corners specifically, making Syracuse, who ranks 199th in the country in defending 3-pointers, according to KenPom, the perfect matchup. Early, Notre Dame positioned Goodwin in the right corner, getting the ball to him late in the possessions — the Fighting Irish averaged nearly 20 seconds each possession.

Benny Williams was tasked with stopping Goodwin on the left edge of Syracuse’s zone. Jim Boeheim has said Williams and Chris Bell have been too stagnant at times, not reacting fast enough to swing passes. Goodwin nailed his first 3 after a turnover from Bell on the other end, sprinting to the corner again on Notre Dame’s next possession.

Goodwin received the ball after two passes around the arc, drilling the shot to give Notre Dame a 10-6 lead. A minute later, Goodwin moved to the left side of the arc, pump faking as Bell closed out on him. Goodwin turned to his left, quickly dishing it to the new corner man, Cormac Ryan, who scored over the outstretched hands of Edwards.

In the first five minutes, the Fighting Irish were 3-for-5 from deep.

Starling nailed a 3-pointer over Girard on the Fighting Irish’s first possession of the half, not hesitating despite Mintz being a split-second away from blocking his shot. Wertz went to the same spot where Starling scored from at the right wing, receiving the ball from Ryan at the top of the key. This time, Mintz couldn’t get there in time to contest, and Williams couldn’t make it from the back of the zone.

Signs of the old Joe

Yes, Girard has been in a slump. Yes, it’s concerning for Syracuse’s offense, who has relied on him for the last few seasons. He’s been 2-for-25 from the field in the Orange’s last three games, combining for nine points.

He missed his first shot, a 3 from the top of the key off a pick from Edwards, though the center put the ball back in after it rattled off the front rim. But Girard nailed a deep heave later in the first half after his defender, Ryan, slipped onto the floor in front of the right wing. It was his first make from beyond the arc since the opening four minutes of SU’s loss to Bryant.

Girard had Ryan in front of him again with 27 seconds left in the first. He brought the ball up and caused Ryan to jump before readjusting. Girard lowered his right shoulder before firing, grazing Ryan’s back throughout his shooting motion.

One of Boeheim’s knocks on Girard’s recent play has been his inability to do ‘the other things right.’ He wasn’t just missing, he was failing defensively and not helping the offense in other ways. Today, Girard did make an impact on the defensive end of the floor despite there not being much transition play from both sides. He stole the ball and scored at the basket in the first half, poking the ball out again three minutes into the last period.

After scoring on a baseline jumper, Girard got his hand on the ball following a lazy pass from Nate Laszewski near the top of the key. He took it all the way down and dropped in the layup to give the Orange a one-point advantage.

Late-game play

Prior to a blowout loss to Illinois, the Orange had three close games, including two overtime finishes. They only won one of those matchups, needing an extra period to fend off Richmond in Brooklyn. Saturday’s matchup went down to the end, like most SU games, and was tied 11 times.

With three-and-a-half minutes left, following a scoring drought from both teams of about two minutes, Syracuse led 58-55. The Orange had a different lineup than usual with Mintz, Girard, Edwards, Justin Taylor and John Bol Ajak. Edwards tried to create on his own, but airballed. He made up for it on the other end, closing out on Laszewski as he missed at the shot clock buzzer.

The Orange forced two long possessions from the Fighting Irish, something that they’ve done repeatedly late in games. Notre Dame found a way past that though as it moved its offense into the paint before kicking out to Ryan for a wide-open 3 from the left wing, cutting SU’s lead to two.

Mintz airballed after working into the paint, and Goodwin quickly brought the ball down for ND. He hesitated with an open 3, eventually misfiring. But Marcus Hammond eventually got inside and finished off a 3-point play, nailing a floater while Girard touched a part of his hand from behind to give Notre Dame a one-point lead.

Boeheim trusted Mintz again in the final 20 seconds of the game, having Edwards set a screen for him so he could drive down the left baseline. Mintz attacked hard, sprinting to the left block before elevating. He slowed down in midair, readjusting his hand before laying it in to grant Syracuse the final advantage.

Published on December 3, 2022 at 2:32 pm

Contact Anish: asvasude@syr.edu | @anish_vasu