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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — For Quadir Copeland, J.J. Starling and Syracuse basketball, the last four weeks have been about staying the course. Following the first game of February, the Orange had a 5-6 record in ACC play and put up one of their worst performances of the season against Wake Forest.

Nearly a month later, SU, fresh off an 82-76 victory over Louisville, is, for now, in fourth place in the ACC, meaning it would get a double bye in the conference tournament.

“Sh*t crazy,” Copeland said with a smirk in the locker room following the win.

Even with all the smiles and excitement in the tiny visiting locker room, there have been plenty of bumps in the road to get here: the dismissal of Benny Williams, a road loss where it only scored 60 points versus Georgia Tech and the continuing absence of a true center.

Syracuse (20-10, 11-8 Atlantic Coast Conference) felt mostly in control during its second-to-last game of the regular season, shooting 57% from the field and 63% from 3 in its 82-76 win over Louisville (8-21, 3-15 ACC). While it defeated the Cardinals, SU’s win also had its warts, as it couldn’t fully break the game open. Through the efforts of Mintz, who finished with 21 points, and Chris Bell, who had a team-high 23 points, SU generated enough second-half runs to close out the contest.

The up-and-down performance reflects an up-and-down season. But Syracuse now has its first 20-win season since 2019. And with a Clemson loss to Notre Dame, SU is near the top of the standings.

“It’s crazy how fast the tables can turn,” Copeland said. “But I feel like we are a team that’s prepared for it.”

Justin Taylor and Bell were the early scorers for the Orange, with the two combining for 11 of the team’s first 12 points. Taylor disrupted the Cardinals’ half-court offense with back-to-back steals that turned into points. In the second instance, he tipped the ball away and ran down the floor for the dunk, also drawing a foul.

SU’s man defense forced bad passes and turnovers that led to plenty of fast break attempts. By halftime, the Orange scored 10 fast break points, including an emphatic dunk from Copeland, who received a long cross-court pass from Judah Mintz and finished off the slam.

With five seconds remaining in the first half, the Orange had an inbounds play to draw up. Maliq Brown was the inbounder, while the Cardinals were executing a full-court press. All Brown needed to do was pass to an already sprinting Mintz, who easily beat his man and finished off the dunk right before the buzzer giving the Orange a 39-28 lead at the break.

Louisville head coach Kenny Payne said forward Brandon Huntley-Hatfield was supposed to be in front of Mintz, while Ty’Laur Johnson was meant to stay behind the point guard. But Johnson instead twisted his body, giving Mintz some leverage to have a step and an open lane to the basket. Brown dissected the play in simpler terms.

“Judah’s fast,” Brown said. “So it was just about letting him explode off the first pass.”

The second half was more of a mixed bag. Mintz was dealing with foul trouble while Starling finished with three fouls and Copeland fouled out.

At the same time, though, Mintz excelled, burying a step back 3 and fadeaway jumpers, while tearing through any defense Louisville threw at him. Any time the Cardinals stopped him, he was there to respond. With just under eight minutes remaining in the first half, Emmanuel Okorafor rejected Mintz. But the Cardinals missed on the other end of the floor and Mintz responded with an open dunk.

With Mintz stuck on the bench until 14:49 left in the game following a technical foul, the Cardinals started to inch their way back. Mike James scored five straight points off a free throw, layup and a dunk, igniting the crowd in the KFC Yum! Center and making the game a six-point contest. Tre White cut it down to a five-point game with a 3-pointer from the left wing.

Louisville wasn’t making shots, though. SU head coach Adrian Autry said he thought in the second matchup with the Cardinals, the Orange did a better job of locating the opposing shooters in the 2-3 zone and forcing them into tougher shots.

Instead, U-of-L relied on the aforementioned foul trouble to limp its way back into the contest. With Copeland gone, the Orange started to prolong possessions, but to no real effect as it was a 10-point game with under 3:30 to go. Syracuse still responded. After Skyy Clark hit a triple, Starling answered with a banked-in floater.

But Mintz and Taylor sealed Louisville’s fate. Mintz drew another shooting foul with 1:48 to go and hit both shots from the charity stripe. The Cardinals’ James buried a 3-pointer to make the score 78-74. But against the full-court press, Taylor drew a foul and buried both free throws. He went 1-of-5 from the line, but then made three straight to cement the result.

One month ago, the Orange were blown out on the road against the Demon Deacons and Autry apologized to the university for the performance. Since then, Syracuse is 6-2 with two road victories and a win over a top 10 opponent, even as multiple wins came after a strong first half and a weaker second. But with a similar performance, Autry said that the past month prepared his team for these scenarios.

“Everyone talks about how you get these leads, you lose these leads. But that happens. That happens in college basketball,” Autry said. “I think you got to learn how to win. And I think we’re learning how to win these games. We have won these games.”

Published on March 2, 2024 at 10:57 pm

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