Judah Mintz Dominant in Syracuse’s Win Over LSU
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For their fifth win of the season, the Syracuse Orange had a dominant 80-57 victory over the LSU Tigers as part of the first ACC/SEC Challenge. Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry proclaimed Tuesday night to be their “best game of the year,” and the performance checks all the boxes. A second-half surge with improved rebounding, passing, and shooting were crucial in the win.
Oh, and sophomore Judah Mintz was pretty good too.
The star guard finished with a career-high 33 points, shooting 9-16 from the floor, 2-2 from three, and 13-15 at the free throw line in 37 minutes of action. Mintz netted 17 of the Orange’s 33 points in the opening frame, and the first 12 minutes for Syracuse coming out of halftime. He beat his previous career-high of 26 points against the Canisius Golden Griffins earlier this month. Coach Autry knows that Tuesday was just the beginning for the Naismith Award Watch List member.
“Well, it’s the best for now. That’s the best I’ve seen since he’s been here in his two years, this is by far his best game. He really kept us in that first half by getting to the free throw line, attacking, and being aggressive. I thought defensively today he didn’t gamble, he kept people in front, and when he does that he sets the tone for our defense,” Autry said.
Mintz got to the free throw line with ease, drawing 11 fouls over the contest. Whether it was acrobatic and-1 layups or his highlight reel contact dunk over LSU’s Mwani Wilkinson, Mintz had the Orange crowd engaged all night long.
“To be honest, I was having fun. My teammates and the fans were rooting me on so it’s obviously fun to go out there and have a big performance in front of my fans and family,” Mintz said.
“I haven’t seen many guys that can move like Judah does. He’s kind of like a Barry Sanders with the Detroit Lions where he can go really fast and stop accelerating on a dime. He has great control of his body,” Autry said.
The matchup started off slow for both offenses due to low shooting percentages, but Syracuse came out with a plan of attack in the second half. The Orange took advanatge of LSU backing defenders off the parimeter to protect the paint for the driving Mintz, who had 11 free throw attempts in the first 20 minutes. The Tigers adjustment defensively created more shooting opportunities on the dribble-drive into the lane. Syracuse’s ball movement resulted in open shots for Chris Bell and Justin Taylor.
The Orange went on a 14-1 run in 2:17 ignited by Bell’s three three-pointers in straight pocessions. SU caught fire for the remainder of the second half and outscored the Tigers 47-29 in the final frame. Cuse shot 61.5 percent (8-13) from three in comparison to 10 percent (1-10) for the Tigers while Syracuse outrebounded LSU 23-10.
“That’s how we wanna play like we did in the second half. Obviously, not every game you’re going to stop teams like that, but still our goal. To get stops so we can make our offense easier because of our defense,” Mintz said.
Bell stepped as the second scoring option for Syracuse, scoring 17 of his 20 points in the second half. The sophomore was efficient going six of nine on his shot attempts, in comparison to one of six in the first. It’s now the second time this season that Bell has eclipsed 20 points, doing so in his last game inside the Dome versus Colgate.
“I feel like everyone is getting their chemistry. We have guys coming off the bench and are providing something, so that always helps us. I think tonight the ball movement was kinda crazy being out there and finding people. Everybody was in their spots… it felt good, it felt really good,” Bell said.
Quadir Copeland, Maliq Brown, and Benny Williams played meaningful minutes in reserve roles during their time on the floor. It might not have translated to numbers jumping off the stat sheet, but Coach Autry complimented their play.
I think every team wants a guy that can bring energy in any type of team sport. [Quadir], Maliq Brown, and Benny [Williams] when he’s in there… I think we have two units, so to speak. When you have a guy like Quadir, he’s just so versatile. He can guard one through four, and then offensively, he can get in the lane and he can make passes. So it's important to have a guy like that,” Autry said.
Syracuse looks to ride that momentum into their first conference matchup of the season against Virginia. The Cavaliers were ranked 24th in the country, but dropped out following a 65-41 loss to Wisconsin in the Fort Myers Tip-Off. Virginia plays #14 Texas A&M before hosting Syracuse in Charlottesville at noon on Saturday.
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