Syracuse, N.Y. — Syracuse played a Miami team Saturday in the JMA Wireless Dome that was without one of its big threats.
Norchad Omier, the 6-foot-7 “center” for the Hurricanes, did not play in the matinee because of a lower extremity injury. That erased his 17.3 points and 9.3 rebounds per game from the Miami lineup.
The Hurricanes had lost three of their last four coming into the Dome. Syracuse was 2-2 during that same stretch. The Orange, too, was 8-0 at home this season.
Miami led 31-30 at halftime. Final score: Syracuse 72, Miami 69.
This turned out to be a thrilling game that went down to the wire. It ended on a made Quadir Copeland 3 at the buzzer. And then JMA Wireless Dome bedlam.
Here’s what happened:
Judah Mintz was a point guard Saturday. He did a lot of everything.
He nearly achieved a triple-double.
His 13 assists were the most he’s recorded this season. And in his Orange career.
Late in the game, he found JJ Starling on a corner 3, then found Chris Bell on another corner 3. Both players made those shots. Then he drove and found Quadir Copeland at the rim. He finished the game by finding Copeland on the perimeter. Copeland drained that 3-point shot to win the game.
And Mintz, too, has been terrific on the boards. He had nine against Pittsburgh. He had eight against Miami.
Final stat line: 10 points, eight rebounds, 13 assists.
JJ Starling continues to play well.
He was electric on Saturday, sinking 3-point shots and his beloved midrange.
He made a pull-up jumper off the dribble over Pack to get SU within 37-34. Then, he drained a corner 3 off a pass from Mintz to tie the game at 39.
That shot got the crowd up.
At that point, Syracuse was 7-of-26 from the 3-point line. Starling was 4-for-7.
He made another huge 3, this one of the corner variety, to tie the game at 59. Then sank another corner 3 to get SU to 69-66.
Starling finished with a game-high 22 on 8-of-13 shooting. He was 6-of-10 from the 3-point line.
Whew!
Syracuse had trouble containing the ball in the first half. And that issue continued after intermission.
The Hurricanes outscored 24-8 in the paint in the first half. Most of those points were on straight drives by Miami’s plethora of guards. SU did a nice job of preventing the Hurricanes from taking or making 3s (they were 1-for-9). Miami is one of the ACC’s more dangerous teams in that area.
But the buckets came too easily for the Hurricanes. Miami shot 14-of-27 overall in that half. They scored by successfully driving their guards and either finishing at the rim or finding a teammate at the rim.
And on an ominous note, gifted shooter/scorer Wooga Poplar spent 16 minutes on the bench in that first half because he picked up two quick fouls.
In the second half, Miami made 3s.
The Hurricanes started the second half making 5-of-7 from the 3-point line. Pack, who is such a dangerous shooter/scorer with deeeep range, ignited in the second half.
Then, toward the end of the game, Miami drove the ball with Kyshawn George at Chris Bell.
George, who is an NBA prospect, scored seven-straight points down the stretch of this game. He banked in a 3 when SU subbed in Kyle Cuffe for Bell.
Miami was 7-of-14 from the 3-point line in that second half.
But Starling, Bell and ultimately Copeland shot 6-of-15 from that distance and made them when it really mattered.
SU could not score in the first half.
The Orange had moments in the first half where it moved the ball, found the open teammate. But more often, SU settled for jump shots. Long jump shots. Or contested jump shots.
Miami assigned big guards to cover SU point guard Judah Mintz in the first half. First, they put 6-foot-8 Kyshawn George on him. George picked up two relatively early fouls and then the Hurricanes guarded him with 6-7 Matthew Cleveland. By the second half, Poplar guarded Mintz.
The SU point guard did not get much shooting space. But he had five assists and five rebounds in the first half.
Syracuse played with three and sometimes four guards in the first half because Miami plays small. Without Omier, a guy who was making 62% of his field goals, the Hurricanes relied on their guards to initiate offense and score, too.
But even with three potential playmakers in the game, the Orange struggled to get good shots near the rim.
Miami essentially packed it in and dared the Orange to shoot from the perimeter.
SU took 17 shots from the 3-point line in the first half. There have been games when SU hasn’t taken that many 3s for an entire game. The Orange was 6-of-17 there.
Miami does not put opposing teams on the free-throw line.
The Hurricanes rank fourth nationally in the percentage of free throws they allow each game. And that is an area Syracuse has thrived in this season.
The Orange was 2-for-5 from the line in the first half.
But Syracuse finished the game 10-of-15 from the line. That greatly helped on an afternoon when Miami went 3-for-5 there.
Copeland did not have a great shooting day Saturday, but he was 6-of-8 from the free-throw line.
NOTES: Former Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf was a late substitution for Cory Alexander on the mic for ESPN2. He worked the game with another SU alum, Kevin Brown. Devendorf’s foundation was presented with a $10,000 check from Athletes Who Care at halftime. His mom and his sister were in the Dome. ... Points off turnovers 12-5 SU. .... Maliq Brown recorded a solid double-double. It might be missed in the thrill of this game, but he had 10 points and 11 rebounds.
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