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Following consecutive road losses to North Carolina and Pittsburgh, Syracuse needed a response Tuesday night at home against Miami to avoid dropping to 1-4 in the Atlantic Coast Conference for the first time since 2018. The Orange stalled on both ends of the floor to begin the game, but an extended first-half run gave Syracuse the lead.

They pulled away in the second half, and Syracuse (8-4, 2-3 ACC) picked up a 83-57 win against Miami (6-7, 2-6) in the Carrier Dome. Here are three takeaways:

Kadary Richmond shines off the bench 

The Orange were just 1-of-10 from the field to start the game, as the Hurricanes jumped out to a 11-2 lead on the Orange’s starting five. Miami forward Anthony Walker established himself in the high post, and the Hurricanes had no issues throwing bounce passes past Joe Girard III and Buddy Boeheim. 

Head coach Jim Boeheim inserted freshman point guard Kadary Richmond, and he made an immediate impact. On his first defensive possession, he generated a steal off Walker when the Hurricanes tried to go back inside. On the ensuing defensive possession, Richmond poked the ball away and led the break down the entire end. While he missed his only 3-point attempt, his value could be seen in his passing offensively. The Orange tied the game at 11 after Richmond blew by his defender and kicked out to a wide-open Alan Griffin in the corner for 3.

Griffin had two contested 3s that he missed prior, but he was wide open after Richmond drew the defense into the paint. He assisted Girard for an early 3 and notched multiple assists on dunks to Jesse Edwards and Quincy Guerrier.

The Orange finished the end of the first half on a 34-11 run, as Richmond’s takeover of the point guard duties enabled Girard to move off the ball and become more of a shooter than a creator. Richmond’s defense helped Syracuse keep the Hurricanes out of the paint and made them jump shooters, which Miami has struggled with all season and did so again on Tuesday night. 

Girard’s first-half offense powers the Orange

Girard’s opening 11 games of the 2020-21 season have been anything but consistent. While he had big shooting games against Rider, Boston College and Georgetown, he struggled from beyond the arc in both meetings with Pittsburgh and was benched for the final 10 minutes of SU’s 20-point loss to Pitt on Saturday.

Girard missed his first shot of the game, but Richmond joining the lineup enabled him to move off the ball. The sophomore guard made two baskets from inside the paint and began splashing 3s from multiple feet beyond the arc. His three first-half 3s spurned the Orange’s big run, and his assist to Buddy at the end of the half pushed the Orange’s lead to 14 points. 

Miami typically forces opponents to shoot 3-pointers, and even though Boeheim said on Saturday that the Orange were trying to go inside the paint more, early foul trouble from Marek Dolezaj led to Syracuse being more guard-focused on offense. 

Girard finished the game with 23 points on 8-of-15 shooting and 5-of-9 from 3.

Edwards showed he can be a viable backup to Dolezaj 

After North Carolina crushed Syracuse on the glass in the Tar Heels win over SU on Jan. 12, Boeheim didn’t see much from Edwards on the interior.

“He just didn’t compete on the boards,” Boeheim said. “He’s got to compete on the backboards, and he didn’t.”

With center Bourama Sidibe out for the foreseeable future and still not practicing, Boeheim said the Orange have been trying to develop Edwards in practice as a backup option to Dolezaj. While Dolezaj adds to the Orange offensively, the senior forward is undersized on the glass and on defense. 

When Dolezaj picked up two quick fouls on the inside, and the Orange were struggling to contain both Walker in the high post and Nysier Brooks with rebounds, Boeheim turned to Edwards again. The sophomore center played 23 minutes — the most he has all season by far — and tallied 7 points and 6 rebounds. 

Edwards aggressively battled for rebounds at both ends of the floor, drew a few fouls and added some points of his own on a putback. When the Orange had an inbound, he caught Richmond’s pass for a slam dunk. 

The Orange have missed their shot blocking presence without Sidibe on the inside, and Boeheim was unhappy with Edwards for not getting up to block Earl Timberlake’s floater over him on one possession late in the half.

A few possessions later, Edwards blocked him. Syracuse needs someone behind Dolezaj to step up, and Edwards showed in a glimpse Tuesday night that he could be a temporary fill-in to help.

Published on January 19, 2021 at 9:02 pm

Contact Anthony: amdabbun@syr.edu | @AnthonyDabbundo