Judah Mintz needed just over 24 minutes to pour in 29 of his career-high 33 points, then Chris Bell and his teammates joined in to put LSU to bed early in an 80-57 Syracuse victory. In their return to action following the Maui Invitational, the Orange (5-2) outscored their guests by a 30-12 margin in the first nine-and-a-half minutes of the second half, blowing open what had been a tight game.
The Tigers (4-3) kept things close in the opening half by grabbing a dozen offensive rebounds, but their advantage on the glass evaporated in the second half. SU dominated the boards after the break, owning a 23-10 lead in rebounding, including allowing LSU a single offensive board after intermission.
That change allowed Syracuse to own the second session, as the Tigers could not overcome their poor ball security (19 turnovers) and wayward perimeter shooting (2-for-22 on 3’s). The Orange, meanwhile, poured it on by hitting 7-of-8 3’s to start the second half.
SU grabbed a four-point lead a couple times in the game’s opening minutes, but the Bayou Bengals wiped out the second margin with seven straight points for a 19-16 lead with a little over nine minutes to go in the first half. Syracuse responded shortly after, getting six straight foul shots to grab a 25-21 advantage.
Mintz was leading the way for the Orange, making the last four of those free throws as he scored or assisted on the last dozen points they posted in the half. The point guard’s work was enough to keep SU in front, as they had a 33-28 lead at halftime.
Mintz was not done, hanging a personal 8-0 run in the first 80 seconds of the second half despite missing a foul shot following his first basket. He made up for that miscue with a three-point play and a corner 3 that forced an LSU timeout with Syracuse enjoying a 41-28 lead.
About five minutes later, Bell flipped the switch and went nuclear from beyond the arc, canning three bombs for a 9-1 burst that pushed the Orange lead to 56-40 and forced another Tiger time out. The break provided no help, as Quadir Copeland went behind the back to set up a Maliq Brown layup, then Justin Taylor added a 3 and Brown followed a miss to make it a 16-1 downpour and a 63-40 SU advantage.
LSU could get no closer than 18 the rest of the way, and when they did, Bell spearheaded an 8-2 run to restore order. The Syracuse lead would eventually reach 26 on a Benny Williams triple with just under three minutes remaining.
Mintz’s career-best night was highlighted by a 13-of-15 mark at the foul line. Bell hit six 3-pointers and had 17 of his 20 points in the second half. Brown had seven points and nine rebounds off the bench.
Jordan Wright topped the Tigers with 15 points while Jalen Reed finished with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double after logging nine points and nine rebounds (five offensive) in the first half. Trae Hannibal added seven markers for LSU.
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