Syracuse men’s basketball got its mojo back on New Year’s Eve to close out 2022. The Orange defeated Boston College 79-65 Saturday afternoon. SU has now won six of its last seven matchups, including a five game win streak prior to a loss to Pitt.
A huge key for SU getting back into the win column was senior Joe Girard III. The guard tallied 24 points, and hit four of five three point opportunities. This was his highest-scoring performance since a 31-point game against Richmond on November 21.
The senior wasn’t the only contributor to the team’s win. Syracuse showed some depth on the court with freshman Judah Mintz and sophomore Benny Williams recording 18 and 16 points, respectively. Williams also led the team with 11 rebounds.
LISTEN: Syracuse guard Judah Mintz hit the skies for another bucket in the paint. @EzeirCameron had the call.
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) December 31, 2022
🎙️@waer883, https://t.co/BG0Q3sGq3P pic.twitter.com/IiJvGLYHRh
“I think it’s just a tribute to my work and my effort over the past week, just trying to turn things around,” Williams said. “Just knowing I can do these things and just have to do them in the game, not just practice.”
Starting off 2023 on a good note is something this team needs. At this time last season, Syracuse’s first contest of the new year was against Virginia. The Cavaliers took down the Orange 74-69, and SU lost its following two conference matchups.
While the ACC is still the ACC, Syracuse has a slightly easier conference opponent this go around. SU and Louisville go head-to-head on Tuesday night in Kentucky. The Cardinals are 2-12 heading into the contest. Louisville is coming off of an 86-63 loss to No. 19 Kentucky on New Year’s Eve.
There’s no doubt that the Cards are having a very different start to 2023 than the Orange.
If Louisville continues on this path, it would be its worst season in program history and there’s a chance for the first time recording just single digit victories. The Cardinals have been declining for the last three seasons.
They finished the 2020-21 season with just 13 wins and an 8-5 record in the ACC. Last season, Louisville secured 13 overall wins again, but could not hold on to a winning season in conference play (6-14 ACC). This year, the team has only snagged wins against Western Kentucky and Florida A&M.
One of the biggest struggles the team has is simply keeping the ball. The Cardinals have committed 60 more turnovers than their opponents this year. In terms of shooting the ball, the Cards hold the worst three point shooting percentage in the conference, with nearly 31 percent.
Louisville head coach Kenny Payne just took his role this season. Before that, he was an assistant coach for the New York Knicks. It’s going to take a lot for Payne to turn the team around in 2023, especially with the bulk of ACC play just beginning.
On the other hand, this is a good opponent to ease into conference action for the Orange. However, there’s some pressure to not lose to a 2-12 team. Tuesday could be either a good and expected start to 2023 for Syracuse, or an extremely rough one.
“We never lost confidence in ourselves and we’re all pushing for each other playing together, so that’s when we’re at our best and we know we’re going to have to do that going forward,” Girard said.
Tipoff between the two ACC foes is Tuesday night at 7:00. Our coverage begins with McClurg Team Countdown to tipoff at 6:30.