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Adrian Autry was just trying to make it to the 4:00 mark.

Judah Mintz had been sitting since picking up his fourth foul with 12:06 remaining. Cornell had been slowly creeping back, but the head coach knew if he made it there, he could trust Mintz to make it the final few minutes without fouling.

Mintz did. His emphatic slam was the final basket, preceded by a dunk from Quadir Copeland, a crucial free-throw jumper from J.J. Starling and must-make free throws from Copeland and Mintz. Syracuse’s three-point lead with 2:40 turned into 11 by the game’s end in an 81-70 win for the Orange.

“I knew that if I put (Mintz) in any earlier, I don’t know if he would have finished this game and we need him to finish (games),” Autry said.

Syracuse (6-3, 0-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) led by as much as 14 in the second half, but Cornell (7-2, 0-0 Ivy League) trickled back into the game. The Big Red loved pulling the trigger from beyond the arc, shooting 21 3-pointers in the first 20 minutes, but found much more success inside in the second half to come back. In the end Syracuse defeated Cornell for the 43rd straight time, dating back to 1968.

Autry benched Benny Williams on Tuesday, saying he played the guys that he thought “could help” Syracuse win the game.

The Orange’s 3-ball was better — shooting 13-of-32 — and that won it the game. Mintz, who drained a career-high five, combined with Chris Bell for 10 of them. The 13 3-pointers were a season-high, besting its 12 against Chaminade at the Allstate Maui Invitational. Collectively, the teams combined for 65 3-point attempts.

“It’s big time,” Autry said of the 3-point shooting. “That’s something that we have not done well. The games that we have shot the ball well, we won from the 3-point line.”

Last season, Syracuse only had one outing where it hit double-digit 3 pointers, when it fell to Wake Forest in the ACC Tournament in Jim Boeheim’s final game. And the last time it had 13 was against Duke in March 2022. This season, SU has had three games with double-digit 3-pointers.

To begin the second half, Syracuse scored 17 points in the first 4:47. A once three-point halftime lead blossomed into 11 via triples from Bell and Mintz as well as layups from Justin Taylor and Starling. The 3-ball was falling for the Orange and their success from deep built just enough of a cushion to bounce back after a defeat to UVA Saturday.

Mintz enjoyed shooting 3-pointers, going 5-of-7 in the game, and mainly shot from the top of the key or the wing. He finished with 28 points to lead all scorers and the five 3-pointers by Mintz are now a career-high. His previous best was four on Feb. 22, 2023, at Clemson. He also added seven points from the free-throw line.

“I think it makes it easier for my team,” Mintz said of his 3-point shooting against Cornell. “Not having a point guard that’s able to hit 3s can make it harder on your teammates and I think last year, that’s one thing that we struggled with.”

In the opening minutes of the game, both teams launched a total of 13 triples within the first 5:30 of the game and accounted for the first 18 of 21 points of the game. Bell made one of a couple triples near the top of the key while Mintz made two, including one with contact well-beyond the left wing. Taylor, who had three on the night, nailed one from the right side out of the first media timeout.

In last year’s matchup against the Orange, Cornell attempted a program-record 48 3s, but a streak of misses in the second half buried itself away. The Big Red didn’t shoot that many on Tuesday evening, going 9-of-33.

Bell found his groove immediately in the second half. From the left wing, he penetrated into the paint and scored the layup. Then after a Starling layup, Bell made a pair of triples from his preferred left side of the floor to help extend the lead back to 11. Tuesday was the fourth game this season with at least four 3-pointers. Down the stretch, he also had a baseline jumper and finished with 19 points. He also recorded four of the team’s nine blocks.

“It’s just open shots, that’s it,” Bell said. “It’s just taking my shots where I get them. I’m trying to find other people where they were at and their open spots.”

During the stretch where the Orange were in foul trouble, they turned to players like Bell, Taylor and Starling offensively. Taylor knocked down his third triple from the right wing to extend the lead to 64-50 with 10 minutes left. Defensively, Maliq Brown corralled in the boards down the stretch, finishing with a team-high 12 rebounds, seven of which were offensive.

Autry said the team couldn’t catch a rhythm in the stretch where Cornell came back, similar to how the first half played out. After an 18-6 run put Syracuse up 33-20, Cornell cut the lead to just three by the break.

“I don’t think me and Chris (Bell) feel too much pressure,” Taylor said of 3-point shooting. “It’s both good for us to have the green light from the coaches and have that confidence instilled in us from the coaches.”

The Orange missed their final seven field goals of the first half, allowing Cornell to cut back the deficit to 34-31 at the half. Syracuse also turned the ball over a couple of times. Brown lost possession on an inbound play, but mainly the shots weren’t falling for Syracuse near the end of the first frame.

Autry expected an up-and-down game, attributing it to the pace that Cornell plays at. The Big Red, which cycled 13 players to the floor, entered as one of the fastest-playing teams in the country and the Orange matched it. Autry told his team not to worry too much about the change in scoring runs for either side.

“We want to play fast,” Taylor said. “We knew it was going to be a fast-paced game and we were well conditioned for it.”

Cornell’s final run consisted of a Keller Boothby 3-ball in response to Bell’s fifth triple. Then, Sean Hansen scored a layup down low and drew a foul on Starling. Isaiah Gray had a poster jam on Kyle Cuffe Jr. on the fast break and had a free throw before, putting the team within three.

Syracuse had the final run, though, ending the game on a 10-2 spurt, and it was enough to force Cornell to begin the foul game. The Big Red ran out of steam. Guy Ragland Jr. chucked up a brick from deep and missed the front-end of a one-and-one free throw. Cooper Noard and Hansen also missed 3-balls in the final two minutes, allowing Syracuse to escape with another win over Cornell.

“I want to take good shots,” Autry said. “I don’t try to over coach shot selection. The 32 (3s), we had the right guys shooting them, so if the right guys are shooting them then I’m okay with that.”

Published on December 5, 2023 at 10:40 pm

Contact Cole: colebambini@gmail.com | @ColeBambini