Syracuse Basketball: Top takeaways as ‘Cuse beats Niagara to end non-conference

It wasn’t always pretty, and Niagara put up a fight, but Syracuse basketball managed to wrap up its non-conference calendar during the 2023-24 season with a 12-point win over the Purple Eagles on Thursday evening at the JMA Wireless Dome.

The Orange (9-3) shared the ball quite well, and the ‘Cuse had a balanced scoring attack versus fellow Empire State squad Niagara out of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The result was an 83-71 victory for the Orange.

Eight Syracuse basketball players scored at least six points, and four guys reached double-figures in scoring. Sophomore point guard Judah Mintz paced the Orange with 18 points.

Syracuse basketball rode big advantages in bench points, fast-break points and paint points to defeat Niagara (3-7), whose head coach is Greg Paulus, a Central New York native who played one season as a graduate student at quarterback for Syracuse football.

My top observations as Syracuse basketball triumphed over Niagara.

•First and foremost, with this success, the Orange ended its relatively challenging non-conference docket at 9-2. Given that the ‘Cuse has a first-year head coach in Adrian Autry, as well as a young roster, this is a solid showing.

•Heading into its winter break, Syracuse basketball has some momentum. The ‘Cuse has won four straight and six of its last seven games.

•The Orange moved to 56-28 against the Purple Eagles out of Buffalo, N.Y., and Syracuse basketball has claimed 11 consecutive wins in this series.

•Mintz tallied 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.

•Sophomore big man Maliq Brown was excellent. He was 6-of-6 from the field, and he hit his first 3-pointer of the season. Brown finished with 15 points, 10 boards, two assists and one block.

•Sophomore guard Quadir Copeland, lately, is playing as well as anyone on the Orange roster. Against Niagara, he had 12 points, three rebounds, eight assists, two steals and just one turnover.

•Sophomore wing Justin Taylor had a nice outing, connecting on 3-of-4 from long range. He produced 11 points, three boards, one block and one steal.

•Sophomore guard J.J. Starling, sophomore forward Chris Bell and redshirt sophomore guard Kyle Cuffe Jr. each had seven points, while junior forward Benny Williams contributed six points.

•As a unit, Syracuse basketball hit on 48.5 percent from the field, 36.4 percent from beyond the arc and 69.2 percent from the free-throw line. Niagara, meanwhile, made 41.0 percent from the field, 36.8 percent from 3-point land and 93.3 percent from the charity stripe.

•In statistical categories, the Orange led the Purple Eagles 37-36 in rebounds, 22-11 in assists, 40-26 in bench points, 7-2 in blocks, 20-10 in fast-break points, 8-6 in steals, 15-4 in points off turnovers, 6-2 in second-chance points and 44-32 in paint points. The ‘Cuse committed eight turnovers, as compared to 13 miscues for Niagara.

•After some time off during winter break, Syracuse basketball will turn fully toward Atlantic Coast Conference competition. Next up, the Orange will host Pittsburgh at the Dome. The tip-off is set for noon on Saturday, Dec. 30, with television coverage on The CW Network.