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For the first time since Nov. 26, 1976, Syracuse men’s basketball had a new head coach as the Adrian Autry era tipped off Monday evening. The Orange bested New Hampshire, who also began the season with a new head coach, in the first of a three-game homestand to start the 2023-24 campaign.

Benny Williams continued to serve his team suspension Monday, which didn’t play too much of a factor in a game where Syracuse led the entire way. Judah Mintz led all Syracuse scorers in a 83-72 win over New Hampshire, the first of two games in three days as the Orange host Canisius Wednesday.

Here some observations from Syracuse’s (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) season-opening win over New Hampshire (0-1, 0-0 America East):

Pushing the pace offensively

Much of Autry’s offensive adjustments were changing the pace. The shift was evident with quick possessions and consistent drives to the paint. Syracuse’s offense forced the Wildcats to get into foul trouble early, picking up four team fouls within the first four minutes and ultimately putting the Orange in the double bonus by the 8:40 mark of the first half.

The opening basket of the season came from an easy Naheem McLeod post-up down low. On another play, J.J. Starling wrapped around a screen before finding Peter Carey, who curled around toward the rim for an alley-oop.

As a team, the Orange had 16 first-half points on the fast break, which contributed to 26 of 42 first-half points in the paint. To give Syracuse its then-largest lead of the game, Justin Taylor swatted a Clarence Daniels jumper. Starling led the break and found Kyle Cuffe Jr. cutting down the left side of the lane. Cuffe Jr. went up and earned a trip to the free throw line, where he put the Orange up 32-9.

Later in the second half, the Orange slowed the game down in an effort to waste some clock. Rather than settling for a deep shot, they worked the ball inside as Quadir Copeland found Maliq Brown for an easy slam, keeping UNH at bay with a 79-68 advantage.

All players showed their aggressiveness on drives, especially the backcourt pairing of Mintz and Startling, who combined for 30 points on the evening.

SU 3-point struggles help UNH come back

The Wildcats trickled back, cutting their halftime deficit to 12, as the Orange rushed some possessions with 3-pointers, going 1-of-9 in the first half. Chris Bell, after making one early into the game, proceeded to miss his next three. Mintz and Starling missed on two straight possessions near the end of the first half as well.

The Wildcats capitalized, closing the half with a couple 3s by Naim Miller and Daniels in part of a 23-10 run.

The Orange’s bread and butter was down low. To start the second half, Taylor bricked a 3-pointer at the top of the key. On the next possession, he pump-faked from deep before driving down the lane for an easy two. Starling and Bell both missed 3s shortly thereafter, and UNH eventually countered with a Jaxson Baker 3-pointer to cut the deficit to eight points.

Cuffe Jr. drained a much needed 3-ball on the right wing after the Wildcats narrowed the Orange lead to six. It was only the third make of 15 attempts from deep at that point. Syracuse started to make a few as Taylor converted on a four-point play from the corner. But similar to his first attempt, Mintz, with just over eight minutes to go in the game, hit the left side of the rim and UNH scored a corner 3 on the next possession.

Syracuse finished just under 24% from deep against UNH.

Picking pockets through perimeter defense

Just 10 minutes into the first half, Mintz already had three steals, fueling the Orange in transition. Mintz, who led the ACC with 59 steals last season, picked Davide Poser’s pocket before leading the counter and finding Copeland alongside him for an emphatic dunk. It forced New Hampshire, trailing 21-6, to call a timeout.

The man-to-man defense forced high pressure in the front court, SU guards defending well-beyond the 3-point line. Earlier in the first half, Mintz intercepted a cross-court pass at the top of the key, leading to an easy slam. Two baskets later, Mintz fought for a loose ball on the ground, as Taylor eventually scored on the other end.

In the second half, a Brown steal off of Miller followed by a quick give-and-go with Taylor put the Orange up 65-53.

The Wildcats struggled to score down low, a reflection of the tight first-half perimeter defense. It didn’t have the height to compare to McLeod and Carey in the front court. And it wasn’t much better from the 3-point line, shooting just 25.8%. Syracuse, led by Copeland’s 13 rebounds, took advantage of the misses by getting out in transition.

Taste of the zone

In the final 10 minutes of the game, Syracuse seemed to showcase some of the 2-3 zone. It slowed the pace down and provided a new look for the Wildcats to break.

At times, they did. Moving the ball around, Ahmad Robinson found Miller in the left corner. Brown, closing out from the paint, attempted to block Miller’s 3-pointer but fouled him. On another play, Trey Woodyard managed to score an and-one on a drive down the paint. Later, Robinson scored on a drive to cut Syracuse’s lead to 75-66.

Clarence Daniels show

If any one player seemed to truly stand out, it was likely Daniels. The 6-foot-6 forward found ways to get baskets inside for the Wildcats, an area in which they struggled. He was also the most aggressive among his team, finding his way to the free throw line for six shots.

Following Taylor’s 3-point miss, Daniels had a four-point run of his own to keep cutting into the deficit. He also scored the final points for the Wildcats at the end of the first half. Daniels helped keep the Wildcats in it before fouling out with just over seven minutes remaining. He led UNH with 21 points.

Published on November 6, 2023 at 9:40 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini