Syracuse Basketball: Lately, Chris Bell is shooting from deep at a ridiculous clip

Over the team’s last six Atlantic Coast Conference encounters, Syracuse basketball forward Chris Bell has shot the ball at a remarkable rate from beyond the arc.

In those half-dozen contests, as the Orange has gone 4-2 overall, Bell has made nearly 60 percent of his attempts from 3-point land. That’s incredible.

He’s also making a run at the No. 1 spot within the ACC as it pertains to 3-point shooting percentage while climbing up the national ranks.

In the latest league affair for the ‘Cuse, Bell tallied 18 points on 4-of-5 shooting from long range, as Syracuse basketball squeaked past Notre Dame on Saturday afternoon in Central New York, 88-85.

If the Orange is going to realistically enter the conversation for an invite to this spring’s NCAA Tournament following a two-year absence, Bell’s shooting will prove critical.

Syracuse basketball sophomore Chris Bell is on a 3-point shooting tear.

For one, when he’s on fire, other squads’ defenders are clamping down on him, and that opens up driving lanes to the rim for guys such as sophomore point guard Judah Mintz and sophomore guard J.J. Starling.

Additionally, at this juncture in the 2023-24 season, Bell is the only reliable 3-point shooter on the ‘Cuse roster, and the Orange must possess at least one player (two would be preferrable) who can consistently hit from 3-point range, to keep opposing defenses honest and prevent them from entirely clogging up the paint.

As Syracuse basketball (18-10, 9-8 in the ACC) prepared to host Virginia Tech on Tuesday night in the final regular-season meeting for the Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome, here’s what Bell has done over the last six games:

Home win over Louisville
8-of-10 from deep, 30 total points

Home loss to Clemson
4-of-10 from deep, 16 total points

Home win over North Carolina
3-of-7 from deep, 13 total points

Road loss to Georgia Tech
2-of-7 from deep, 6 total points

Road win over N.C. State
8-of-10 from deep, 26 total points

Home win over Notre Dame
4-of-5 from deep, 18 total points

In these six games, Bell is averaging 18.2 points per contest and connecting on 59.2 percent from beyond the arc.

The 6-foot-7, 188-pound Bell, who is from Concord, Calif., is averaging 12.0 points and 2.3 rebounds per game for the entire 2023-24 stanza, while hitting 42.8 percent from the field, 42.7 percent from 3-point land and 81.5 percent from the free-throw line.

Currently, he’s third on the Syracuse basketball roster in scoring, behind Mintz and Starling, and Bell is No. 1 on the team in 3-point shooting percentage.

On Sunday afternoon when I wrote this column, within the ACC, Bell was No. 2 in 3-point shooting percentage and No. 5 in the conference as it relates to 3-point shots made per game, at 2.71.

Additionally, per the NCAA’s Web site, Bell is currently No. 10 around the entire country in 3-point shooting percentage. That’s tremendous.

It’s a tough ask to expect Bell to continue shooting at nearly 60 percent from beyond the arc, but he’s got a lot of confidence these days. If he can keep on shooting well from 3-point land, that would be huge for the Orange’s stretch run during the remainder of the 2023-24 term.