Syracuse Cruises to Impressive Win Over Oregon
Trailing 14-4 early, SU stormed back with efficient offense and shutdown defense
In their first game in eight days, the Syracuse Men’s Basketball program secured its third-straight victory against the Oregon Ducks 83-63 Sunday afternoon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Early on it appeared that the week off for finals was a cause for early shooting woes. Syracuse began 1-10 from the field, but the Orange shot 29-43 (67.4%) for the remainder of the contest. SU felt offensive contributions from regulars Judah Mintz and J.J. Starling but also experienced impressive performances off the bench. Quadir Copeland, Maliq Brown, Kyle Cuffe Jr., and Benny Williams combined for 44 points, outsourcing Oregon’s reserves by 26.
Mintz netted 14 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, including five assists and four steals in 36 minutes. Starling finished with 14 points shooting 6-9 and 2-3 from beyond the arc. Copeland (15) and Brown (13) both set new season-highs for points in the win.
Syracuse feasted inside with a 50-28 advantage in points in the paint, including 34 in the second half. As it has all season long for head coach Red Autry’s squad, a win in the rebound battle correlates to a victory (36-31 in favor of SU).
The Ducks were held to their lowest point total of the season which was previously 67 points in a victory against Florida A&M last month. Coming into the day, Oregon was an incredibly efficient shooting team as one of 16 programs in the nation to be top 50 in field goal percentage and top 25 in three point percentage. Against Cuse, The Ducks went 4-27 (14.8%) from three point land and 22-61 from the field (36.1%), well under their season averages.
Coming out of the first TV timeout up 4-3, Oregon went on a spurt to take a 14-4 lead with 12:24 remaining in the first half. Mintz stayed in the contest as coach Autry subbed in Copeland, Brown, Williams, and Cuffe Jr. The reserves ignited a 10-1 run in the following 3:48 and took their first lead on a fastbreak slam by Williams for the 20-19 lead.
With less than four minutes left before the break, Syracuse got out on the fast break for more efficiency opportunities while also making things extremely difficult for Oregon on the other end. While everyone was contributing for the Orange, Oregon relied heavily on Jackson Shelstad. The freshman guard was the entire Duck offense early scoring 10 of their first 14 points, but didn’t get another bucket until nine minutes into the second half.
Oregon center Mahamadou Diawara was limited to just 12 minutes on the floor scoring just two points, fouling out with 16:49 left in regulation. The Ducks were limited in size heading into the matchup with their two leading scorers N’Faly Dante and Nate Bittle unable to play due to injury. Marquis “Mookie” Cook, a McDonald’s All-American was inching towards his return from ankle surgery but still couldn’t suit up.
The Orange took advantage of the Duck’s lack of depth in the second half, shooting over 73 percent in the frame. High percentage looks seemed to be the result of nearly every possession with Syracuse converting on 11 of 12 shot attempts midway through the second half.
Syracuse increases their record to 8-3 on the season heading into their final non-conference matchup of the season against the Niagara Purple Eagles (3-6) Thursday night at the JMA Dome. Niagara is led by head coach Greg Paulus, the former SU quarterback who also played four years of basketball at Duke. Tip-off is slated for 5 p.m. so fans can watch the Football program play in the Boca Ration Bowl at 8 p.m. versus USF.
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