Syracuse hoops conquers Cornell in fifth straight win, 78-63
Syracuse hoops conquers Cornell in fifth straight win, 78-63
Syracuse basketball picked up their fifth straight win after defeating Cornell today 78-63. Head coach Jim Boeheim and the team honored SU basketball star Louis Orr ‘80, who passed away from pancreatic cancer on Thursday, with a moment of silence before tip-off.
“Louis Orr was a great player, make no mistake about it,” Boeheim said teary-eyed. “He’s the best player of them all [players he’s coached], and it was really hard coaching today.”
After Syracuse trailed Cornell for most of the first half, the two teams went into halftime, tied at 37 apiece. But in the second half, the Orange played better offensively and defensively, and the Big Red missed a lot of shots, ending the game shooting under 30% from the three and making 32.9% of their field goals.
“I thought Cornell was better than us today,” Boeheim said. “The only reason we won the game is (because) they missed shots.”
Senior shooting guard Joseph Girard III stepped up his game once again, leading Syracuse with 19 total points, 15 coming in the first half. Nine of those points came from three 3-pointers, tallying half of Cuse’s three-point shots in the first half.
Going into the matchup against the Big Red, 6’11” center Jesse Edwards was Syracuse’s leading scorer, averaging 15.3 points a game. But Edwards had a rough start in the first half.
He had just one field goal attempt, which he missed. His only point of the first half came from a shot on the free-throw line.
Edwards had a bloody nose in the second half, which sidelined him for a bit. But, shortly after Edwards returned to the court, he slammed back-to-back dunks in the span of 33 seconds with just over nine minutes left on the clock.
Edwards ended the game recording his sixth double-double of the season with 11 points and 12 rebounds, 11 of which were defensive.
“[The second half] was mostly just pushing for the team to get the win,” Edwards said.
Freshman forward Chris Bell upped his efforts in today’s game, recording 13 total points and a career-high in rebounds with five.
“I’m getting a little bit more comfortable just getting out there and playing against everybody,” Bell said.
With less than 10 seconds until halftime, Bell swished one of two free throws and tied the game.
Freshman point guard Judah Mintz played his part and tacked on 14 points and three steals. He said that winning this game was big for him and his teammates but also for Boeheim.
“[Boeheim] made a point of emphasis that we couldn’t lose this one,” Mintz said. “We made sure that we got the job done.”
Cornell's Max Watson, right, tries to drive the baseline against Syracuse's Mounir Hima.
Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim talks with Benny Williams while his team shoots free throws.
Syracuse struggled with rebounding on both ends of the court, making it such a close game in the first half. The Orange grabbed just 10 defensive rebounds, and the Big Red scored 12 second-chance points.
Leading SU rebounder Edwards snagged just four total rebounds in the first half, with the remaining 11 rebounds coming from a combination of Bell, Girard, Benny Williams, and Symir Torrence.
In terms of what Syracuse did well, the squad mitigated fouling Cornell players and only sent the Big Red to the foul line twice in the entirety of the game. Both free throws were missed.
Looking ahead, the Orange will begin conference play on Tuesday against Pittsburgh (8-4) at 9 p.m. at the JMA Wireless Dome.
“We’re confident and ready to play (Pittsburgh),” Mintz said.
is a magazine, news and digital journalism graduate student and the Sports co-lead producer for The NewsHouse.
is a photographer for The NewsHouse.
