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Syracuse entered the Allstate Maui Invitational with an opportunity to make waves within the college basketball landscape. Matching up against a slew of top 15 opponents, the Orange had a tall task ahead of them. But on the final day of its trip to Hawaii, SU was left facing Chaminade — a D-II school.

Two consecutive losses by 15 or more points to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 11 Gonzaga put the Orange into the seventh-place game against Chaminade, the host school of the Maui Invitational each year. The Silverswords ended up taking their first lead of this year’s tournament at 3-2. From there, though, they stood no chance.

After 20 minutes, SU held an insurmountable 52-18 lead. It shot 57.5% from the floor, while Chaminade started off at a far lower 16.7% clip. The Orange thoroughly dominated the Silverswords in every facet of the game, finishing with triple digits on the scoreboard and ultimately winning by 49 points to earn a seventh-place finish at the tournament.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s (4-2, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) 105-56 victory over D-II Chaminade (1-5, 0-1 Pacific West Conference) Wednesday:

McLeod gets a confidence boost

SU starting center and Florida State transfer Naheem McLeod has had an underwhelming start to his 2023-24 season. Through five games, the 7-foot-4 big man had only grabbed nine defensive rebounds. Tennessee’s Jonas Aidoo and Gonzaga’s Graham Ike had their way with McLeod, despite being five inches shorter than him.

Though, Chaminade provided him the chance to show out on the glass. Wednesday evening, he did just that. Through one half of play, McLeod’s height was too much for the Silverswords to overcome, leading Syracuse with 11 points and seven boards through 20 minutes.

After winning the opening tip, McLeod received a feed inside from Justin Taylor and backed down Wyatt Lowell in the paint. McLeod pounded the ball a few times and then spun right for an easy, turnaround jumper for SU’s first points.

McLeod soared over Chaminade’s roster, getting a litany of putback chances by cleaning the offensive glass. With five seconds left in the first half, Chris Bell hit the back rim on a 3-point attempt from the top of the key. Flying in from the perimeter, McLeod corralled the miss and converted an easy lay-in at the rim to give the Orange a 52-18 lead heading into the break.

In his best game in a Syracuse uniform, McLeod finished the win over Chaminade with 13 points on 6-of-8 shooting and nine rebounds.

Bell bounces back

In a 76-57 loss to Gonzaga, Bell had an abysmal shooting performance. After scoring a team-high 16 points against Tennessee, Bell went 2-for-18 from the field versus the Bulldogs with just six points. SU head coach Adrian Autry has pinpointed Bell as one of his team’s top shooters, and said Tuesday that those kinds of outings can happen sometimes.

En route to blowing out Chaminade, Bell turned his game around. After the Silverswords took a brief lead, Bell went on a personal 5-0 run, beginning with a 3-pointer from the left wing off a pass from Judah Mintz and followed by a wide-open layup after dribbling along the right baseline.

With the Orange up 37-16, Bell nailed his second 3 of the first half coming off a feed from J.J. Starling, giving SU a 24-point advantage. He closed the first 20 minutes with 10 points on a much-improved 4-for-7 performance from the floor.

Bell was quiet for much of the second half, sitting on the bench until the 8:56 mark. Once he came in, though, Bell regained his first-half form. He drained a contested 3 from the left corner and then made a pull-up jumper on his next shot, scoring five straight again which gave Syracuse an 89-44 advantage.

Bell finished 7-of-13 from the field against Chaminade, racking up a team-high 18 points and responding to his rough outing against Gonzaga.

Williams returns again

Syracuse forward Benny Williams has had a turbulent junior season. He was suspended for its first two games of the season due to a violation of team rules that the program announced on Nov. 1. He went on to debut in the comeback victory over Colgate, but scored zero points in 10 minutes of playing time.

Williams then shined in 16 minutes off the bench during SU’s loss to Tennessee, shooting 3-for-4 from the floor with eight points. Then, he didn’t see the floor throughout the 19-point defeat to Gonzaga. Autry offered no comment as to why Williams didn’t play, raising more questions about the Syracuse forward.

Wednesday, Williams made another return to the court. He had a similar impact off the bench as he did against the Volunteers, scoring six points in a six-minute span off 3-for-5 shooting.

After missing a contested 3-pointer on his first shot of the game, Williams responded well. On defense, Williams successfully contested two straight missed jumpers from Chaminade’s Chris Bready. Then in transition, Quadir Copeland heaved a pass upcourt to Williams inside the arc, who muscled by Bready for an easy layup.

Williams then made back-to-back mid-range jumpers near the 9:00 mark of the first half. He hit a contested shot from the left wing inside the arc, then on Syracuse’s next possession, Williams converted a pull-up jumper in transition for his third make of the half.

With 11:54 remaining in the contest, Williams rose up for a thunderous block on Chaminade’s Isaac Amaral-Artharee as SU led 74-37. After the whistle blew, Williams stared Amaral-Artharee down, which warranted officials to give the forward a technical foul.

A far inferior opponent

After dropping two straight games by double digits to start the Maui Invitational, SU was given an opportunity at a blowout versus D-II Chaminade. While it delivered and avoided a massive upset, it was clear from the get-go that the Silverswords were outmatched in every way.

Down 42-16, McLeod was caught out of position going for a rebound which left Chaminade’s Lowell wide-open for what should have been a routine lay-in. But Lowell’s shot fell short and off the front rim. The Silverswords couldn’t even get the easy looks to fall.

Chaminade did start the second half on a 6-0 run as Autry called a timeout in frustration. The Orange swiftly put an end to the Silverswords’ hot stretch. Taylor hit a 3 from the left corner on an assist from Copeland, scoring Syracuse’s first points of the second half. It outscored Chaminade 53-38 in the final 20 minutes while mostly rotating in its bench players.

The Silverswords shot 30% from the floor and were outrebounded by 25. The 105-56 loss was Chaminade’s worst defeat of the tournament. While Syracuse took advantage of the opportunity to end its time in Hawaii on a high note, its performance came too little, too late.

Published on November 23, 2023 at 12:04 am

Contact Cooper at: ccandrew@syr.edu | @cooper_andrews