Judah Mintz leads Syracuse to Senior Night win

Syracuse men’s basketball defeated Virginia Tech 84-71 on Tuesday night to close out their home schedule.

Head coach Adrian Autry’s team backed up Saturday’s win over Notre Dame in style, sprinting out to an eighteen-point lead by the halftime break. While Mike Young’s Hokie side battled back in the second frame, the deficit was far too great to overcome.

It was the Judah Mintz show in the Dome. The sophomore guard scored 29 points, dished out six assists and had two steals.

On what was Senior Night for center Mounir Hima, Mintz was aggressive right from the tip, doing what he does best: taking the ball to the rim.

One highlight from the sophomore was near the end of the first half, when he stole the ball and took it coast-to-coast for one of his six layups of the night.

The Maryland native has taken up more of a leadership role this season and continues to take better care of the basketball since ACC play started.

“(Mintz) comes to play every game regardless of the last performance or scoreline,” Autry said postgame.

Another Orange who came out firing was sophomore guard Quadir Copeland. The 6-foot-6 guard was once again a boost of energy off the bench, scoring four of his five baskets in the opening twenty minutes. Syracuse scored 45 points in the period, shooting 60% from the field in the process.

One question that has been looming over Autry’s squad of recent has been playing a full 40 minutes. The first-year head coach spoke highly of his team in response to that topic.

“We finally put together a complete game of basketball,” he said.

That they did.

Photo by Diana Valdivia

Kyle Cuffe Jr. (#0) breaks through a Virginia Tech defensive player during Tuesday night’s game in the JMA Wireless Dome.

The Orange responded to each Virginia Tech run in the second half with a run of their own. The home team was also able to keep up a respectable defensive effort in the final twenty minutes of play, limiting a high potent offense in the Hokies to just 30% from three-point range.

Syracuse now looks forward to two tough tests away from the 315 over the next week at Louisville and Clemson.

With an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament in the cards for the first time in three seasons, the Orange will need to be near perfect from here until the ACC tournament for a chance to win the conference championship.

Syracuse plays Louisville on Saturday. Tip-off is at 8 p.m.