Orange Lose To Tigers In Regular Season Finale

Tuesday, March 5

Clemson, SC

7 PM

Syracuse University

20-11,11-9ACC

Clemson

21-9,11-8ACC

Syracuse

Clemson

3/5/2024 9:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

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Sophomore guard Judah Mintz topped 20 points for the fourth straight contest, but Syracuse (20-11, 11-9 ACC) was defeated by Clemson (21-9, 11-8), 90-75, on Tuesday night in the Littlejohn Coliseum.

Mintz, who finished with 20 points, led an Orange offense that had four performers score in double figures. Sophomore swingman Quadir Copeland contributed 17 points and sophomores Maliq Brown, a center, and guard J.J. Starling, produced 12 and 10 points, respectively. Brown added 11 rebounds for his second straight double-double and fourth of this season.

Senior center PJ Hall scored 21 of his game-leading 25 points in the first half. The backcourt duo of Joseph Girard III (21 points), a graduate, and senior Chase Hunter (17), combined for 38 points. Junior forward Ian Schieffelin recorded a double-double with 16 points and 16 rebounds.

WHEN THE GAME WAS DECIDED
With the score knotted at 5-5, the Tigers scored 11-straight points to go ahead by 11, 4:43 into the contest. Hall contributed eight during the rally. After grabbing the advantage, Clemson held onto the lead for the remainder of the affair. The Orange came within five with 11:47 left in the second half, but four Tigers produced points in a retaliating 9-1 scoring run that gave them a double-digit lead, 65-52, with 8:30 remaining.

HALL LEADS TIGERS TO FIRST HALF SURGE
PJ Hall contributed a commanding 21 points in the first half to lead all scorers. He made nine-of-12 attempts from the field, including two-of-three from beyond the arc, in the first 20 minutes of action. Clemson converted 17-of-33 (.515) attempts from the field in the first half.

The Orange sparked a run at the 10:19 mark that cut their deficit to two. Starling hit a jumper, Copeland made two at the line and laid one in, and Mintz capped off the run with a conventional three-point play. The rally made the score 25-23 in favor of Clemson with 8:07 to go in the first half.

Syracuse trailed by two with 5:27 remaining in the first half. The Orange went one-of-seven from the field over the final five minutes of the half while Clemson made five-of-six field goal attempts in the span. The Tigers' efficiency allowed them to extend their lead to 12 and go into the intermission with a 42-30 lead.

CLEMSON HOLDS ON TO FINISH
Syracuse was 16-of-30 (.533) from the field in the second half, but Clemson countered by making 15-of-24 (.625) field goal attempts and seven-of-12 from 3-point range. Girard led all scorers in the final 20 minutes with 16 points. He converted all three of his 3-point shots and went seven-of-seven from the foul line.

Mintz made the first two buckets out of the break to cut Syracuse's deficit to single digits, 42-34, with 19:11 to go. After Starling made one-of-two from the charity stripe, the Tigers made three-of-four from 3-point range in a 9-4 run that put them ahead by double-digits, 51-39, with 16:06 left. The Orange retaliated with a 12-5 run that brought them within five of Clemson, 56-51, with 11:47 remaining. Chris Bell sparked the run with his first 3-pointer of the contest. Copeland hit one from long range, Mintz knocked down a jumper and Brown capped off the stretchwith two free throws and a second-chance layup.

The Orange trailed by seven with 10 minutes left in the affair. From the 9:35 mark until 8:30 to go, Clemson strung together six unanswered points to push its lead to 65-52. Syracuse came within eight with 1:46 on the clock after back-to-back 3-pointers from sophomore guard Kyle Cuffe Jr., but the Tigers held the Orange to just one point for the remainder of the outing.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

Mintz scored 20-or-more points for the 16^th time this season. Nine of those efforts have come against ACC opponents.
With his 10 points, Starling has scored in double-figures in 16 straight contests.
Mintz made four-of-seven free throw attempts. Since 2013, he leads all ACC performers for season free throws made in conference games with 117. NC State's Anthony Barber (2015-16) is second on the list with 113.
Brown came into the contest as the conference leader in steals per game. He had two swipes in the outing.

UP NEXT
Syracuse has concluded the regular season and awaits the 2024 ACC Tournament. The first round of the tournament begins on Tuesday, March 12 at the Capital One Arena in Washington D.C.

For complete coverage of Syracuse men's basketball, follow the team on Twitter (@Cuse_MBB) and Instagram (@cuse_mbb).