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After a strong 83-63 Power Five win over Oregon in South Dakota that featured 44 points from its bench, Syracuse returned to the JMA Wireless Dome for a matchup with Niagara. The matchup with the Purple Eagles marked SU’s final nonconference, regular-season game and the 84th meeting between the sides.

Syracuse (9-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) and Niagara (3-8, 0-2 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference) battled back-and-forth early. Luke Bumbalough kept the Purple Eagles in the mix during the first 20 minutes, scoring 17 first-half points behind five 3-pointers. The Syracuse bench translated its strong performance against Oregon to Thursday’s game as SU held a 38-27 halftime lead.

The Orange slowly extended its lead in the second half. Judah Mintz continued his scoring while multiple other starters began to convert field goal attempts. Niagara continued to linger behind Bumbalough’s career-high 26 points, but SU capped off its nonconference slate with a 83-71 win.

Here are some observations from Syracuse’s win over Niagara:

Copeland, Brown continue strong performances

In the nation’s capital, Quadir Copeland set a then-career-high 14 points, highlighted by a one-handed slam down the stretch. Against Oregon Sunday, he set a new career-high with 15 points, contributing heavily to the bench’s strong performance against the Ducks.

Copeland found his groove in recent games, scoring nine first-half points against the Purple Eagles. He totaled a couple strong takes into the paint, including one where he spun around Dre Bullock and scored inside. After Maliq Brown stuffed a Bumbalough shot down low, Copeland scored on the other end. Syracuse had 20 first-half points in the paint compared to the Purple Eagles’ six. In the second half, Copeland also had an alley-oop assist to Benny Williams.

To give Syracuse a 67-51 lead, Copeland found Brown posted up down low. Brown easily scored over his defender to get himself into double figures. Against the Ducks Sunday, he finished with a then-season-high 13 points before finishing with 15 against Niagara. Copeland finished Thursday’s win with 12.

Ball hawks

In the first half, Syracuse notched four steals and four blocks, which led to a quick offensive transition. To jump out to a 6-2 lead, Justin Taylor blocked Yaw Obeng-Mensah’s shot down low, leading to a missed 3 by Ahmad Henderson II. On the offensive side, J.J. Starling drained a deep 2.

On back-to-back plays in the second half, Taylor and Naheem McLeod stuffed Obeng-Mensah, which led to a Mintz bucket. On the ensuing Purple Eagles possession, Mintz stole the ball from Henderson II on the solo press. Mintz dished to Chris Bell on the left wing for a triple.

McLeod had his first block in the opening half, stuffing it off the backboard. Bell grabbed the rebound, finding Mintz sprinting down the floor as he scored with a one-handed slam. Brown and Williams also recorded blocks.

In the second half as Syracuse held a 58-43 lead, Kyle Cuffe Jr. got a piece of a Braxton Bayless’ layup inside. He ran the floor on the other end but just missed the layup. Then a few possessions later, Cuffe Jr. stuffed Dre Bullock on the right block and hit a left-wing 3 on the other end.

After Mintz was pickpocketed, Williams hustled back, stealing the ball from Aime Rutayisire. The steal prevented the lead from getting shortened to 10. Mintz then scored the and-one seconds later.

Bench production continues

Against Oregon, it was the bench that sparked the blowout win over the Ducks, collectively scoring 44 points. This tied a season-high against Chaminade. The trend continued versus Niagara as the bench finished with 40 points.

In a stretch from 12:36 to 3:48 in the first half, the bench scored 22 consecutive points for the Orange, displaying a mix of scoring options including free throws by Brown and Williams and strong takes by Copeland and Cuffe Jr. Brown scored his first 3-pointer on the season as Cuffe Jr. found him wide-open on the right wing.

To give Syracuse its then-largest lead of the game, Cuffe Jr. penetrated into the lane, spinning around his defender, but just missing the layup. Brown trailed behind, grabbing the offensive board and slamming it home in the same motion, giving Syracuse a 32-20 lead.

Aside from scoring, the bench was effective in other areas. On the glass, Brown followed up a Copeland missed 3 from the corner. Starling was cutting on the other block, where Brown dished out to for the second-chance points.

Getting going in the second half

In the first half, aside from Mintz, it was mostly the bench that did the bulk of the scoring. Taylor was held scoreless in the first half while Bell, though having two assists, only tallied a midrange jumper.

Both Taylor and Bell started making buckets in the second half to extend the Orange’s lead over the Purple Eagles. In a span of 122 seconds, Taylor notched two 3s as well as a midrange jumper. One of the 3s gave the Orange a 17-point lead, their largest of the game at that point.

Published on December 21, 2023 at 7:31 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini