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Head coach Jim Boeheim hasn’t seen Jesse Edwards take some of the shots he took on Saturday afternoon. Edwards, Boeheim said, was taking such tough shots from inside the paint that he would have been pleased if the center made just 9 of the 15 shots. But Edwards was unstoppable.

In a four-possession sequence midway through the second half, Edwards fueled a Syracuse run that ultimately led to its first Atlantic Coast Conference win since Notre Dame visited the JMA Wireless Dome. First, Symir Torrence sent a quick bounce pass into Edwards on the right post and Edwards took two dribbles before faking right, spinning around Quentin Post and banking in a layup. Two possessions later, Edwards — again from the right post — received a pass. He was slightly more outside, and Post was closer to him. So Edwards simply rose up and got a close jumper to fall.

On the next possession, Edwards grabbed a pass off of a screen with Joe Girard III on the left edge of the free throw line. He thought about a jump shot, but instead put the ball on the floor and drove down the left lane of the paint. Post was waiting for him, but couldn’t do much without fouling Edwards. He stood tall and did what he could to stop the driving 6-foot-11 center, but was easily overcome by Edwards, who notched yet another layup.

Edwards hasn’t been his usual self throughout conference play. It’s been a difficult transition from a hot nonconference start, and while he’s still averaging a double-double, the effects of his experienced prowess underneath the basket haven’t been felt the same by the Orange. But against Post, someone Edwards knows from his days of youth basketball, Edwards dominated, lifting Syracuse (14-10, 7-6 Atlantic Coast) to a 77-68 win over Boston College (11-13, 5-8). His 12-for-15 shooting and 27 points stand as season highs, and he helped SU close out a conference win, stopping the bleed of a three-game losing streak.

“I think he is capable and as he gets stronger and works at things, he has the potential to be a dominant player,” Boeheim said.

Boston College chose to put Post one-on-one with Edwards; in Judah Mintz’s words, the Eagles “picked their poison” between guarding the Orange’s other shooters or leaving Post on an island. Edwards also knows Post more than any other big man in the country. He and BC’s center played youth basketball in the Netherlands. The two players’ houses are 10 minutes apart from each other.

He knows when Post is attempting a fake, drawing a foul and when he’s trying to get close enough force a turnover. And Post took his lickings all night. Once Edwards got the ball, he could do anything he wanted. Boeheim listed it off perfectly: a right handed hook, a lefty hook.

Girard and Mintz saw it early in the game — the one-on-one and the masterclass from the block. They made a more concerted effort early in the game to try lob passes inside to Edwards, who early in the first half slammed down his 35th dunk of the season. To give Syracuse an 18-15 lead with just under 12 minutes remaining in the first half, Girard once again passed the ball down to Edwards on the left block. He backed down Post a few times to get enough space. Then, he spun around Post and got a left-handed jump-hook to fall.

“When Jesse is playing like that, it brings a lot of attention to him,” Mintz said. “We’re going to keep going through him until they stop him.”

Early in the season, Boeheim said that Edwards needs to drive toward the basket. There’s plenty of plays Syracuse has drawn up that entail Edwards setting a pick and rolling down the lane while the guard looks at him for an opening, a feed and a dunk. When the Orange struggle, especially on rebounds, it tends to start with Edwards fading off of the block and not crashing in for dunks and layups like they want him to. But that tends to happen because he’s being double-teamed. None of Syracuse’s forwards have shown that they can consistently help with rebounds, so when opponents lock up Edwards, they out rebound Syracuse.

But Edwards, who in his fourth season at Syracuse is maturing is learning how to handle a double team. So when he’s put up one-on-one — especially against someone he’s known since childhood — “I try and take it as much as I can.” The last time Syracuse played Boston College, Edwards had just 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting. This time, after battling through Virginia, North Carolina and Virginia Tech’s big men, he couldn’t miss.

To close out the evening, Edwards wanted one more to seal it. He even pointed at Mintz while he was inside the paint. Boston College was down with just a few seconds remaining, but there was a sliver of chance that it could come back and possibly hand the Orange a season-high fourth-straight loss. Edwards wasn’t having it, nor was he going to waste his best game of the season. Mintz lofted a pass up to him, Edwards rose up, and like he’d done 35 times prior to Saturday, he slammed down a dunk, sealing the win.

“It was Jesse’s day,” Mintz said.

Published on February 4, 2023 at 11:19 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt