Syracuse men’s basketball (10-5, 3-1 ACC) won for the seventh time in its last eight games with a one-point victory against Louisville (2-13, 0-4 ACC). SU improved to 2-0 in conference road contests behind a 28-point outburst from guard Joe Girard III. The senior also collected a season-best seven rebounds and canned four shots from beyond the arc. In the process, JG3 moved into fifth all-time on the Orange’s three-pointers made list with 253.
“I’m just very thankful that Joe Girard didn't want to lose the game,” head coach Jim Boeheim said to begin his postgame press conference. “He gets seven rebounds and we got three forwards that can’t get seven altogether. We really put ourselves in an awful situation, but at the end, Joe made two threes and made his free throws.”
The Cardinals; owners of the worst record in the ACC, had lost their previous three conference meetups by an average north of 20 points. Solid performances from center Jesse Edwards (12 points, 11 rebounds) and ACC Rookie of the Week Judah Mintz (16 points, 4 assists) helped the ‘Cuse stave off an upset. Despite his opponent’s dismal start to the year, Syracuse’s bench boss praised head coach Kenny Payne’s squad.
“Louisville’s pretty good,” Boeheim said postgame. “They’ve had some bad shooting nights, they shot well tonight [43% FG, 41% 3P]. They make mistakes, too. That’s what teams that lose do. But their personnel’s pretty good.”
SU got off to a strong start, taking a six-point lead after the first three minutes. SU connected on its first two triples while benefiting from three Louisville turnovers. The Cards played sloppy all night, turning it over 21 times. Louisville used a pair of trifectas to cut the deficit to one just over five minutes in. The Cardinals took their first lead a minute later off an alley-oop feed from guard El Ellis, who finished with a game-high nine assists. Louisville’s advantage swelled to as high as nine before Boeheim called a timeout at the 12:29 mark. The Orange responded to the Cards 14-2 run by scoring 12 unanswered points. Neither team led by more than five the rest of the half as Louisville took a one-point lead into the break.
Louisville scored the first six points of the second half thanks to an Ellis three-ball and a Mike James and-one. Syracuse freshman Chris Bell countered by scoring five points in under two minutes to help tie the game at 43. Both foes cooled off after a media timeout at the 15:05 mark. The two combined to score eight points across the next five minutes until Cards forward Jae’Lyn Withers canned a three to put Louisville ahead. The Cardinals held the edge until a Girard steal turned into a Mintz transition dunk with 3:39 remaining.
‘Cuse wouldn’t snatch the lead for good until Mintz sank a free throw with under 50 seconds to go. Girard and Ellis exchanged 2-2 trips at the charity stripe to make the score 70-69 with eight seconds on the clock. The game’s final possession encapsulated the night perfectly. Mintz raced up the floor, slipped on the hardwood and turned it over with four seconds left. Ellis secured the loose ball and committed a turnover himself as the senior scrambled to the hoop. SU and U of L together committed 36 turnovers in the contest, four each from Mintz and Ellis.
Syracuse has a chance to keep it cleaner at No. 11 Virginia (10-3, 2-2 ACC) on Saturday. The Orange and Cavaliers do battle from Charlottesville at 5:00 p.m. WAER’s coverage starts at 4:30 p.m. with McClurg Team Countdown to Tipoff.