Syracuse struggled through much of the first half, but came to life in time to pick up a road win against Florida State on Wednesday night, 76-67. The Orange (15-10, 8-6 ACC) trailed by eight late in the first half, but got a big second half effort from their three top players in knocking off the Seminoles (8-17, 6-8).
Joe Girard III hit from long range five times in the game for SU, splitting his game-high 26 points equally over the two halves and snagging seven rebounds. Jesse Edwards rolled up an 18-point, 12-rebound double-double to go with three blocks while Judah Mintz had 14 of his 16 points after halftime. Chris Bell added ten points, including eight after halftime.
Matthew Cleveland topped FSU with 19 points and 12 rebounds while Darin Green, Jr. matched Girard’s long-range performance with five threes for the majority of his 17 points. Naheem McLeod had 16 points and eight boards, getting all but two of each in the first half, while Chandler Jackson chipped in with seven points and nine assists.
The Orange got out of the gates quickly, hanging the first seven points of the game. Maliq Brown got things going literally right off the jump, taking a long opening tap by Edwards for a dunk. Edwards then scored in the post and Girard capped the hot start with a pull-up three in transition just past the two-minute marker.
Shortly after that, Florida State responded with a half dozen points, but SU replied in kind to grab a 15-8 lead. The Syracuse offense bogged down at that point, as they mustered a single field goal in a span of nearly nine minutes. They were able to hold on to the lead for a few more minutes, but the Seminoles eventually rattled off 13 straight points to take the lead at 27-19.
Naheem McLeod did a lot work in staking FSU to that lead, rolling up eight of his 14 first half points in that run, all coming on dunks as the ‘Noles worked the high-low game against the zone to perfection. Girard propelled an Orange comeback, drilling a pair of triples and adding a slashing lay-up for a personal 8-2 run to help SU pull within a deuce, but Florida State stretched the margin to 35-29 at halftime.
The hosts nudged their lead out to seven on three occasions in the opening minutes of the second half, but SU broke through with a 10-2 run to take the lead. Edwards started things with a reverse alley-oop, then Chris Bell had a three-point-play. Bell then matched an FSU jumper and Girard connected on a three for a 45-44 Syracuse lead just over five minutes out of the break.
The advantage was short-lived, as the Seminoles took the lead back on the next possession and eventually expanded the gap to 54-49. The Orange responded once more, as Judah Mintz paced them in running off 13 of the game’s next 15 points for a six-point lead and forcing a Florida State timeout.
Mintz started the burst with a three-point-play, then Bell connected for a corner three. Following a Seminole bucket, Mintz added another three-point play, then followed a Girard jump shot with a short bank shot on the break. The ‘Noles requested a break in the action with 8:15 to play.
The rest did not slow down Mintz, as he took off for a lefty lay-up and foul after an FSU miss, but could not complete the three-point-play. Girard added one foul shot on the next trip to finish the run at 16-2 in Syracuse’s favor with the scoreboard reading 65-56 with 7:09 to play.
Florida State clawed back into the game, putting the clamps on the Orange and chipping away at the margin to get within 65-61 with just over three minutes left. SU fended off that threat with another Mintz lay-up and two Edwards free throws, then Girard canned the dagger with just under a minute left, sticking a deep right wing three late in the shot clock for a 74-64 lead.
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