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Syracuse picked up a key win in Brooklyn Monday night over Richmond, last year’s Atlantic 10 champion, beating the Spiders by three in overtime to advance to the Empire Classic championship. That set the Orange up for a matchup with former Big East rival St. John’s, which SU hadn’t met since December 2016.  

The Red Storm entered with a perfect 5-0 record after beating Temple on Monday. St. John’s is one of the country’s fastest teams, but its high-octane offense led to 16 turnovers against SU. Judah Mintz continued his hot start to his freshman season, finishing with 20 points, but struggled throughout the second half and overtime. And after notching a career-high 31 points against Richmond, Joe Girard III couldn’t find his shot, recording just four points. Jesse Edwards and Mounir Hima both battled foul trouble, and St. John’s got strong performances from Andre Curbelo (23 points) and Joel Soriano (19 points, 14 rebounds).

Symir Torrence missed a contested jump shot with time expiring in regulation, and St. John’s ran away in overtime behind a flurry of SU turnovers and clutch shots from David Jones. 

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s 76-69 loss in the Empire Classic title game against St. John’s:

Curbelo and Soriano lead St. John’s

At the start, Syracuse’s 2-3 zone gave Curbelo plenty of room when he caught the ball around the perimeter. But then he hit three first-half 3s, forcing the Orange to stop ignoring him. From there, Curbelo looked inside more, getting into the lane to hit floaters. On one shot early in the second half, Curbelo put up a one-handed prayer with the shot clock expiring that dropped. His critical steal late in overtime led to a layup that put the Red Storm up six. 

With Jones, St. John’s leading scorer, struggling to find his shot, St. John’s found additional production from Soriano, who had several dunks from the right block, with teammates cutting to the basket, receiving passes and dishing to the center for easy dunks as Edwards and Hima were forced to rotate. 

On one play, Posh Alexander cut toward the basket and caught the pass before quickly dishing it to Soriano, stationed on the right block. Edwards was caught trying to stop the slashing Alexander, leaving Soriano with space to finish for a four-point Red Storm lead. 

Girard, Edwards go cold

Girard finished with a career-high 31 points against Richmond behind four made 3-pointers. But Girard’s hot touch disappeared against St. John’s and he finished 1-of-10, missing all four 3-point attempts. Girard had open looks throughout, including multiple floaters and jumpers in the lane, but didn’t notch his first field goal until early in the second half on a transition 3. On one look, Girard had a clean look at the basket, but air balled his right-handed floater by several feet. He also missed the crucial front end of a one-and-one with SU down two and 1:40 left in overtime. 

For the second straight game, Edwards got into quick foul trouble, leading to Hima playing a combined 33 minutes in the tournament. Hima played well defensively in Edwards’ place, blocking seven shots and registering eight rebounds. He finished 2-for-6 from the field, missing tap-in layups and wide-open jumpers. 

Without offensive production from two of its three top scorers, Syracuse turned to Benny Williams, who recorded just 11 total points in his last two games. But Tuesday, Williams looked comfortable with his mid-range jump shots, finishing with 11 points, only two of which came in the second half. He added 10 rebounds, too. 

St. John’s records 16 turnovers

The Red Storm entered the game with the fourth-fastest adjusted tempo in the country, per KenPom, but also ranked 218th in turnover percentage, giving the ball up on nearly 20% of their possessions. Against Syracuse, SJU had many turnovers on bad passes in the half-court or on outlet passes while generating quick fast breaks. It was the third straight game the Orange forced at least 16 turnovers. 

Midway through the first half, Dylan Addae-Wusu looked for Jones on the perimeter, but instead threw it right to Mintz, who took the steal for an easy right-handed breakaway dunk and a 19-8 Syracuse lead. The Red Storm tried to push the pace after the inbounds pass, but they threw the ball out of bounds for another turnover. 

Later in the half, Curbelo dished a beautiful behind-the-back pass to Soriano, who took a dribble but was quickly surrounded by Williams, Edwards and Hima. Williams came out with the ball after one of SJU’s nine first half-turnovers.

Mintz continues aggressive play

Mintz’s aggressive drives in both transition and the half court sets drew repeated foul calls and earned him nine free-throw attempts. Mintz settled for few jump shots, instead using his speed, ball-handling and size to get inside. He had 11 of Syracuse’s first 20 points. 

On one play early in the first half, Mintz, in isolation on the right wing, drove by Curbelo and finished with a reverse right-handed layup. Mintz looked toward the Barclays Center crowd with a smile as he ran back down the court. 

After Curbelo hit a 3 with time winding down in the first half, Syracuse quickly passed to Mintz, sprinting up the court, and the point guard used two steps to go right past Curbelo in transition before laying it in with the right hand with contact. Mintz completed the three-point play with a perfect swish at the free-throw line to give Syracuse a 35-29 halftime lead. 

Minutes into the second half, Edwards set a screen for Mintz, who drove right and used another contested right-handed reverse layup to drop it in. The bucket gave the freshman 20 points. But Mintz wouldn’t score again, even as the Red Storm used a 16-2 run to gain a lead in the second half. He turned the ball over several times in overtime, overdribbling and throwing lazy passes that cost the Orange a chance at avoiding their second loss.

Published on November 23, 2022 at 12:05 am

Contact Connor: csmith49@syr.edu | @csmith17_