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Niagara cut Syracuse’s lead to 76-67 with 1:30 left to play. Judah Mintz had committed consecutive turnovers. And the Orange had given up a quick five points on back-to-back possessions.

A brief lack of urgency was shown in the Orange’s offensive sets. They didn’t fly around quick enough defensively to prevent Niagara’s Luke Bumbalough from canning his sixth 3. A timeout was called.

But SU’s players displayed no signs of worry despite seeing its once-double-digit advantage cut down to nine. Out of the huddle, Quadir Copeland corralled a loose ball and found Mintz downcourt for an uncontested lay-in. Then, Syracuse squirmed out of a Purple Eagles full-court press. Mintz broke away and lobbed one up for Maliq Brown to flush the dagger.

In a tune-up contest prior to the bulk of Syracuse’s (9-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) conference schedule, it picked up a commanding 83-71 win over Niagara (3-8, 0-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference). For the majority of Thursday’s home contest, barring a few minor defensive lapses near the tail end, SU displayed dominance. The Orange received a second straight 40-point contribution from their bench core and shot 48.5% from the field.

“I think we’ve made some big strides from Game 1 until now. We’re improving,” said Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry. “I like where we’re at … my bench was great again today…They’re starting to really know who we are as a team.”

Curling around the perimeter to reach the left corner, Bumbalough received a hand-off from Dre Bullock and elevated over Kyle Cuffe Jr. to can his third 3. The shot gave Niagara a 13-12 lead at the 12:09 mark and brought his scoring total to a then-game-high 11 points. He single-handedly kept the Purple Eagles in contention early.

But aside from Bumbalough, the visitors mustered just two points on 1-for-9 shooting across the initial 10 minutes. Ahmad Henderson — a top-10 freshman scorer in the country, averaging 15.2 points — was held scoreless in the opening half, hounded by Mintz and Cuffe Jr.

Seven-footer Harlan Obioha collected a few contested finishes in the paint but the Purple Eagles’ offensive reliance on Bumbalough’s streaky shooting was unsustainable. It quickly crumbled when he missed badly from the left wing, spearheading a 9-0 Orange run that bled into the final seven minutes before halftime.

The quick scoring spurt was fueled by an impressive SU bench as of late — a group that tallied a season-high 44 points to charge a 83-63 dismantling of Oregon last time out. Backup guard Copeland executed well on aggressive drives to the basket, offsetting SU’s lackluster 22.2% effort from 3 in the early going. Benny Williams swished a right-wing triple for his first bucket of the game and Brown efficiently hunted down five early rebounds.

“I think they are all buying into that role. Sometimes everything’s not going to flow right but I think our team is our depth,” Autry said. “I think that’s what makes this team, and if (we’re) going to be really really good, it’s because we can play nine or 10 guys.”

At the break against Niagara, they had come to Syracuse’s aid again, notching 24 of the team’s 38 total to overcome Bumbalough’s early heroics and build a 10-point advantage.

During one of the first possessions of the second half, Mintz picked Henderson’s pocket as the opposing guard attempted a straight-line drive. Racing forward, he beat the Purple Eagles down the floor and dished to a wide-open Chris Bell — who registered his first 3-point make from the left wing.

Then, on the ensuing offensive trip for SU, Mintz recorded another steal before hitting Bell on an outlet feed for a straight forward layup and a comfortable 47-33 cushion.

With just under 10 minutes to play, Copeland provided another tease of Syracuse’s suffocating defensive capabilities. Mirroring Niagara’s Braxton Bayless to block off space, Copeland capitalized and seized control of the ball when Bayless lost his footing near the right elbow.

And as for SU’s collective performance in handling the trigger-happy Bumbalough, they held him to nine second-half points after he had totaled 17 throughout the first frame.

Spanning the final five minutes, Syracuse did look slightly shaky. Chunks of empty offensive trips were cut up by mini victories — J.J. Starling’s first 3 after starting 0-2 from range dashed away memories of a Williams’ turnover. Justin Taylor’s personal slew of jumpers for 11 points helped forget a series of plays where Niagara’s Yaw Obeng-Mensah was allowed to convert a couple of dunks.

Their sparse tenacity should not be excused, but was likely a product of facing off with a middling MAAC side (Niagara ranks 10th out of 11 in its conference). Their occasional but uncharacteristic mistakes made them look sloppy and disjointed. Autry went as far as saying that Syracuse “got lucky” to secure its season-best, fourth straight win. He said if there were two or three more minutes in the game, SU might’ve lost.

“The last four or five minutes (were) just unacceptable,” Autry said. “Immaturity showed, just left our foot off the gas and you just can’t do that. I’m happy we won but I’m not happy how we finished this game up. You can’t do that. You can’t do it.”

Ill-advised shots were taken. Players lumbered down the court aimlessly in transition defense. And, upon the press conference dais, Autry’s harping on the waning moments of Syracuse’s carelessness against Niagara hinted that the same mistakes and oversights could make all the difference versus Pittsburgh on Dec. 30.

“I’m happy we won. I never take winning lightly,” Autry said. “But the word is ‘disappointed’ in how we finished the game.”

Published on December 21, 2023 at 7:25 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff