career-highSyracuse men’s basketball (2-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) hosts in-state foe Colgate (1-0, 0-0 Patriot League) on Tuesday.
Last week, SU opened its regular season with wins over New Hampshire (1-1, 0-0 America East Conference) and Canisius (0-1, 0-0 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference).
Both games had highs and lows, but one consistent peak was the backcourt duo of Judah Mintz and J.J Starling. Against Canisius, Mintz tallied a career-high 26 points and Starling dropped in 17 of his own. Through the first two games, SU head coach Adrian Autry remains positive about the future of the squad.
“This team is just scratching the surface,” Autry said.
LITSEN: @Cuse_MBB beat @Griffs_MBB thanks to a huge performance from Judah Mintz last night. @RealLiamGriffin was on the call for one of the point guard's incredible moments. pic.twitter.com/O33klFXdpR
— WAER Sports (@WAERSports) November 9, 2023
Syracuse has its first big test this week against Colgate. In past years, the Raiders may not have been seen as a test, but that is no longer the case. The Orange had won 54 straight meetings, but the past two seasons have been a different story. Colgate entered the dome as underdogs in each of the last two years but came out with road victories that stunned Orange fans, nonetheless.
Both losses had one common theme: Colgate's three-point shooting shredding the SU zone defense. In 2021, the Raiders knocked down 18 shots from beyond the arc which tied the record for most by an SU opponent in the Dome set by Virginia in 2019. The following year, Colgate came for the top spot. The Raiders drilled 19 triples to claim the sole lead in an 80-68 win over the Orange.
The ‘Cuse tried to match the long-range shots with some of their own and it just didn’t match the hot hand of Colgate.
“Our offense was horrendous you know we started the game out shooting threes…and we can't play that way we're not good enough shooters from there we were 8/25 from the three and we're not good enough to shoot that many threes” former SU head coach Jim Boeheim said after the loss.
Colgate forward Tucker Richardson torched the “Cuse on that fateful November evening with 30 points and eight triples. Luckily for SU, Richardson graduated and is playing professional basketball in Finland.
The Orange on the other hand are expected to return a star from last year’s game. Forward Benny Williams scored 17 points and grabbed 8 rebounds against Colgate in 2022 but has been unavailable to start the new campaign. The former five-star recruit was suspended for a violation of team rules and missed SU’s wins over New Hampshire and Canisius. It was announced Friday by Syracuse men’s basketball that the junior has returned to all team activities.
Despite the loss of Richardson, Colgate returns its fair share of production from last year’s team that made the NCAA tournament. The three-time defending Patriot League champions welcome back four starters from last year’s game including 5th-year forwards Keegan Records and Ryan Moffatt. Records is named 2023-2024 Patriot League Preseason Player and Defensive Player of the Year. His partner in crime Ryan Moffatt was elected to the Patriot League Men’s Basketball Preseason All-League Team and his 44.2% career 3-point field-goal percentage is third in Patriot League history.
Colgate has won the Patriot League title in four of the last five years and is projected to claim the top spot in March again this season.
But before it gets there it must make a trip up from Hamilton, NY to the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday. Opening tip between Syracuse and Colgate is at 7 p.m. WAER's coverage begins at 6:30 p.m. with McClurg Remodeling Countdown to Tipoff.