SU Fights Back But Falls Short Against Bryant, 73-72

If there’s one word to describe Syracuse men’s basketball leading up to and during Saturday's game, it’s fight. Could the Orange bounce back from a tough overtime loss last Tuesday to St. John’s in Brooklyn? Would SU overcome a slow start from the field? How would the 'Cuse react with several of its usual starters missing most of the game?

The answer to all of those questions: Syracuse showed its resilience throughout the evening, but just didn’t have enough in the tank in a 73-72 loss to Bryant in the JMA Wireless Dome.

SU certainly didn’t make it easy on itself in the early portion of the game. The Orange opened just 3-15 from the field over the opening eight minutes of the game en route to an early deficit. However, the main event of the first half went down with 7:35 remaining.

Judah Mintz was called for a charge while driving to the hoop. His legs got tangled with Bryant’s Sherif Gross-Bullock afterwards, and Bryant’s Doug Edert lightly pushed Mintz out of the way in clearing a path for his teammate to get up. Mintz took exception, the pair traded blows to the face, and benches cleared. Afterwards, Mintz, Edert, two Bryant players, and multiple assistant coaches from both sides were ejected from the game. Head Coach Jim Boeheim said after the game that Mintz needs to keep his cool better.

“Judah pushed. You can’t do that. He will learn. You have to be able to play your way through that,” Boeheim said.

The expulsions did nothing to take the momentum away from the Bulldogs. Continued physical defense and timely shooting allowed Bryant to build a 40-29 lead at the halftime break.

Out of the locker room, the Orange returned with a fire. Specifically, Justin Taylor. The freshman already scored nine points in the opening frame, but the Charlottesville, VA native caught fire in the second half to the tune of 16 points.

Taylor wasn’t the only non-starter to receive significant playing time as well. John Bol Ajak played 25 minutes after not seeing the floor at all in the past few games. Symir Torrence saw a heavy dose of action, especially after Mintz’s ejection. Peter Carey also got a longer look than he has previously this season. But it was the play of the main guys - or lack thereof - that caught attention.

Benny Williams played just eight minutes, leading to speculation about a benching due to effort, though Boeheim said afterwards that the forward was just sick. Boeheim had stronger words for Chris Bell though. The head coach hasn’t hidden his displeasure for certain parts of Bell’s game in the past, and he didn’t hold back tonight.

@Cuse_MBB on Twitter

“He’s played about 90 minutes and has one rebound," Boeheim said. "Nobody like that has ever played here. Nobody like that should play here.”

Behind Taylor and a standout performance on the boards from Jesse Edwards (the center ended with 21 rebounds), Syracuse clawed its way back in the game as the clock ticked down, eventually taking the lead back on an Edwards layup with 3:20 remaining. The teams traded points down the stretch from there. SU wound up with a 72-71 lead with just seconds left. But Gross–Bullock ended the game on his own terms, floating a shot just over the outstretched fingertips of Peter Carey and in with under a second remaining to give Bryant a stunning 73-72 road win.

So while Syracuse fought back against everything working against it Saturday night, there was ultimately just too much to overcome. Between losing its starting point guard in the first half, sitting its starting center for long stretches with foul trouble and battling cold shooting and turnover-prone stretches throughout the game, SU just couldn’t continue to beat the odds.

Syracuse Men’s Basketball returns to the court Tuesday night in Champaign against number 16 Illinois in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Coverage starts at 7:00 here on WAER with McClurg Team Countdown to Tipoff.