– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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SYRACUSE, NEW YORK — After an extremely challenging week full of games against teams harboring national championship aspirations, the Syracuse Orange flipped the script in turning their matchup in the ACC/SEC Challenge into a laugher.
Judah Mintz scored a career-high 33 points while forward Chris Bell hit six three-pointers on his way to 20 points as Syracuse had it all its way in the second half during an 80-57 victory over LSU inside the JMA Wireless Dome on Tuesday evening.
The fifth of Bell’s six threes, coming right at the midway point of the second half, capped a 33-14 run to start the second half for the Orange, who played their first game after participating in the star-studded Maui Invitational that took place over the holiday weekend in Honolulu. Syracuse finished in seventh place in the tournament, losing to No. 7 Tennessee and No. 11 Gonzaga before taking down Chaminade in the final game.
Jordan White scored 15 points to lead the Tigers, who had their three-game winning streak snapped. Jalen Reed was the other LSU player who scored in double figures, with 14.
Though longtime head coach Jim Boeheim is no longer on the Syracuse sidelines after his retirement, the Orange’s perimeter defense tonight was reminiscent of the halcyon days of Boeheim’s vaunted 2-3 zone, as LSU went 2-for-22 from three on the evening. White himself went 1-of-9 beyond the arc.
Led by Bell, Syracuse had no such issues from long range, hitting 11-for-21 as a team from long range. The Orange also took 13 more free throws than the Tigers, hitting 19-of-23 (82.6 percent) from the charity stripe.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Tuesday evening’s contest, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Scotty Rausenberger. After clicking on the first photo to enlarge the picture, make sure to press the left and right arrow buttons to scroll through the rest of the pictures. There are 23 pictures in total.
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