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Joe Girard III drove into the paint hoping to get something going for Syracuse. The Orange couldn’t do much against Notre Dame’s 3-point barrage, or generate consistent points from inside the paint on their own. That’s when Girard lost the ball near the free-throw line.

Not only was he pick-pocketed before he could get into the lane, but as Girard spun around and attempted to reach for the ball back, he slipped and bounced his chin off of the hardwood at the JMA Wireless Dome. It was the Orange’s third-straight turnover which led to a corner 3 from Trey Wertz to give Notre Dame an 11-point lead. The turnover also forced the Orange to call a timeout as Girard slowly gathered himself and climbed to his feet before slowly walking off toward an athletic trainer holding a bleeding chin.

“Obviously the whole game swung when Joe (Girard) got hurt,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “Justin (Taylor) came in, made a really tough corner jumper, then a three. Judah (Mintz) really set him up nicely.”

But what happened next, a complete reversal of Syracuse’s performance in a comeback win led by four freshmen, and without Girard, that gave the Orange their fifth conference win. Syracuse’s (12-6, 5-2 Atlantic Coast) bench contributed 22 points, including a career-high 15 from Maliq Brown and an additional five points from Justin Taylor. A run that lasted for the next six and a half minutes, ended with a Judah Mintz jumper, to catapult the Orange to a 78-73 win over Notre Dame (9-9, 1-6 ACC).

The late-game run, full of a flurry of 3-pointers and physical play underneath the basket, came without the man the Orange thought they needed in order to win this season: Girard. Earlier in the season, against opponents like St. John’s, Bryant and Illinois, a bad shooting night from Girard meant Syracuse was likely behind late in the game and tended to come out with a loss.

This time around, on another night where Girard just couldn’t get going, the Orange were forced to lean on their inexperienced forwards. Chris Bell’s 17 points and Brown’s 15 were supplied by Mintz and Jesse Edwards as SU’s point guard finished with eight assists and its center added four.

It seemed that the Orange didn’t need Girard’s 3-point shooting either to mount a second-half comeback. With under 10 minutes left in the second half, two 3-pointers helped catapult a late-game run for the Orange that ultimately led to the win. First, Mounir Hima kicked out to Bell off a missed 3 from Mintz and Bell swished through a shot from range. Then, after JJ Starling missed a corner 3-pointer on the other end, Justin Taylor came back in transition and banged through a 3 of his own to put Syracuse within three.

“Judah really played a really, really smart game when (Notre Dame) switched to the zone, finding people and getting them the ball,” Boeheim said.

Boeheim said that at this point in the season, he’s comfortable with the rotation of guys that are playing consistent minutes. Though he cycles in a few bench players — Jon Bol Ajak, Hima, Quadir Copeland and Peter Carey — to play a couple of minutes, there are a set of seven guys that consistently play each game. Yet, despite the consistency of Boeheim’s rotations, the bigger issue has always been with the squad’s inability to control a game when veterans Girard or Edwards can’t produce. With little to no experience at the collegiate level circulating through a large portion of this year’s roster, Boeheim even considers Benny Williams a freshman because of how little playing time he got last season.

So when Girard went down, and the Orange looked for anything to provide a spark, Boeheim only had freshmen at his disposal in order to take down Notre Dame and close the book on a fifth ACC win. First, he went with Brown with just under 12 minutes left in the first half and Brown exploded. Then Taylor came in, knocked in two quick shots, and added two rebounds and an assist. Even Hima, who played just four minutes, grabbed a dunk, a rebound and an assist in limited playing time down the stretch.

Although Girard will likely continue to be Syracuse’s determinator on how far the Orange will make it in the postseason this year, Boeheim had reason in rolling with Edwards and four freshmen with the game on the line. It wasn’t that Girard isn’t a vital part of this SU squad, but rather that Boeheim found new confidence in his young core. If Syracuse’s physicality remains and multiple people can contribute, the offensive hole, left by a cold Girard, can be filled.

“We came back with four freshmen on the floor and Jesse. That’s against a senior team. The game was in serious jeopardy, and these guys just made some plays,” Boeheim said.

Published on January 14, 2023 at 11:33 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt