Syracuse Basketball: What Maliq Brown did versus Louisville was positively historic

When Syracuse basketball gutted out a two-point win over Louisville earlier this week, sophomore forward Chris Bell was huge, pouring in a career-high 30 points on 8-of-10 shooting from 3-point land, to along with six rebounds and a critical block near the end of this Atlantic Coast Conference clash.

While Bell was arguably the Orange's MVP in a victory where the team was praised by head coach Adrian Autry for demonstrating high character amid a tough last week or so, sophomore big man Maliq Brown rather "quietly" put together a historic performance for Syracuse basketball.

Brown, the 6-foot-8, 222-pound power forward/center out of Culpeper, Va., registered 11 points, nine rebounds, five assists, six blocks and five steals versus the Cardinals, as the Orange prevailed, 94-92, on a late bucket from sophomore wing Quadir Copeland.

In the win, Brown was 4-of-4 from the field and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line. About an hour after this league affair ended, NCAA director of media coordination/statistics David Worlock said on his X page, "Syracuse's Maliq Brown is the first Division I player this year with at least 10 points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks in a game. Did not happen last year either."

So that's pretty cool for Maliq. But wait. There's more.

Check out this nugget regarding Wednesday's performance by Syracuse basketball big man Maliq Brown.

On Thursday, the X account OptaSTATS said that over the last 25 seasons across the NBA, the WNBA and Division I men's and women's basketball, no player had generated a stat line of at least five points, five rebounds, five assists, five steals and five blocks, while shooting 100 percent from the field.

You read that right - the past 25 seasons. Nobody had done that, until Brown did so this past Wednesday evening against Louisville at the JMA Wireless Dome. That's crazy.

Syracuse basketball (15-8, 6-6 in the ACC) needed every bit of Brown's production, along with Bell and others, to escape the Cardinals in a game that the 'Cuse had to have. The Orange is in the midst of a three-game home stand.

Former Syracuse basketball guard Joe Girard III and Clemson (15-7, 5-6 in the ACC) arrive in Central New York on Saturday afternoon, followed by No. 3 North Carolina next week.

If the 'Cuse wants any shot of entering the conversation for a possible invite to this spring's NCAA Tournament, it has to defeat either the Tigers or the Tar Heels. Both ACC encounters, for the moment, represent quadrant-one opportunities for the Orange.

Following the recent news that junior forward Benny Williams was dismissed from the program, the 'Cuse is down to nine players who are available, when you consider that junior center Naheem McLeod and sophomore guard Chance Westry are injured, while freshman center William Patterson is expected to take a redshirt in the current 2023-24 season.

As it pertains to the Orange's big men, with Williams gone and McLeod out, that puts even more pressure on Brown, who has played both power forward and center throughout 2023-24.

Through the first 23 games of this term, Brown is averaging 9.2 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 blocks and 2.1 steals per contest. He is connecting on 70.0 percent from the field, 72.2 percent from the charity stripe and 25.0 percent from beyond the arc.

Other guys, namely Bell, sophomore point guard Judah Mintz and sophomore guard J.J. Starling, are often going to score more points on any given day or night than Brown for the 'Cuse. But to me, no player is more critical to the team's post-season hopes than Maliq.

Wednesday's historic performance versus Louisville was further proof of why he's the most important, the most valuable, player on the Syracuse basketball 2023-24 roster.