Judah Mintz scored a career-high 33 points to lift Syracuse past visiting LSU 80-57 in an ACC/SEC Challenge game onTuesday.
Coming off a four-point effort against Chaminade — the second-lowest scoring output of his two-year career — Mintz turned in a much crisper performance in this one. He finished 9-of-16 from the field while making both of his 3-pointers and also went 13-of-15 from the foul line.
Chris Bell knocked down six 3-pointers and contributed 20 points for the Orange (5-2), while Maliq Brown chipped in seven points and nine rebounds. Justin Taylor added six points, seven rebounds and five assists in a complementary role.
Jordan Wright had 15 points and Jalen Reed notched 14 points and 11 boards to pace LSU (4-3), which shot just 2-of-22 from outside the arc while allowing Syracuse to shoot 11-of-21 from long distance.
Neither team led by more than six at any point in the first half. The final bucket of the session was Mintz’s transition dunk that sent the Orange into the locker room with a 33-28 advantage.
Mintz scored 17 first-half points thanks in large part to 10-of-11 free-throw shooting.
The sophomore didn’t miss a beat in the second half either, opening the period with eight straight points to extend Syracuse’s lead to 41-28. He began the burst with a layup and then converted a three-point play before hitting a 3-pointer, forcing LSU to call timeout.
The Tigers responded with six of the next eight points before Mintz countered with a driving layup to regain a double-digit lead.
Bell’s 3-pointer with just over 13 minutes left ignited a 13-0 run by the hosts. Bell made another 3-pointer less than a minute later, and Taylor added one shortly thereafter. When Bell drained another triple with about 10 minutes left, the suddenly lopsided scoreboard read Syracuse 66, LSU 42.
The closest the Tigers got down the stretch was 66-48 before Bell hit another 3-pointer to restore order.
–Field Level Media
