Syracuse Bounces Back, Routes Northeastern

The Orange gets back in the win column on Saturday.

After a tough loss to Colgate on Tuesday, Coach Jim Boeheim clinched his 1,000th official win (he actually has 1,101 but the NCAA has vacated 101 of those), beating Northeastern 76-48. With the win, Syracuse improved to 2-1 on the season. 

Tuesday’s loss exposed some problems with Syracuse’s “horrendous” offense as Coach Boeheim called it, but the Orange dominated against the Huskies. Syracuse led the entire game and even while struggling to execute their zone defense, their offense kept them on their feet.

Joe Girard III led the team with 21 points making five of nine shots from beyond the arc. The only other three point shot made in the game came from Justin Taylor, his first of the season.

Jesse Edwards also made an impact on the game with 19 points followed by Judah Mintz with 18. Edwards shot 80% in the paint and had four offensive rebounds. It looked like Edwards found his stride tonight and was able to use his size to his advantage on the inside.

When talking about the presence of Jesse Edwards, Coach Boeheim said, “He’s 7-foot, that helps.”

Judah Mintz was the third highest scorer for the Orange shooting 62% from the paint and racking five assists. His ability to attack the rim while also assisting his teammates impressed Coach Boeheim and showed the immense talent and potential that he has for the Orange.

“He’s just scratching the surface, he can get a lot better, I think he will get a lot better,” said Coach Boeheim.

The Orange also worked well running the court and were able to get 13 points off of fastbreaks.

While the offense looked to be corrected in the matchup against Northeastern, the defense took some time to adjust to Northeastern’s offense with the Huskies shooting about 50% from beyond the arc before Coach Boeheim called a timeout and adjusted. In the second half the Orange improved immensely, holding Northeastern to 1-13 from beyond the arc. Coach Boeheim said that the reason for running the zone was because of the complexity of a man to man defense.

“I think we have to simplify things, it's a lot more complex for young players to try to learn two defenses in a game,” said Coach Boeheim, “I think our zone will get better if we work on it more.”

Syracuse will play against Richmond on Monday in the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York in the Empire Classic. 

SUPPORT ALL SYRACUSE

SUBSCRIBE TO ALLSYRACUSE.COM NOW TO GET ACCESS TO EXCLUSIVE INSIDER CONTENT

CLICK HERE TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE FREE ALL SYRACUSE NEWSLETTER TO GET THE LATEST ORANGE UPDATES SENT TO YOUR INBOX

JOIN THE ALL SYRACUSE FORUMS FOR FREE AND DISCUSS THE ORANGE WITH OTHER FANS AND OUR STAFF