It wasn’t pretty at the end, but Syracuse held on to beat Louisville 82-76 tonight. Despite the team’s second-half struggles, there are plenty of good grades to hand out to the starting lineup tonight.
Judah Mintz: B+
Mintz’s stat line looks pretty solid, but there were some big issues tonight. 21 points on over 50% shooting is an efficient day from the guard, and 6/8 on free throws is more than acceptable. 5 assists is also a decent number from Mintz.
The two main problems were turnovers and a lack of discipline. Mintz tallied an ugly 5 TOs, more than any other player on either team. The discipline incidents were more problematic. He picked up a technical foul, and was also seen yelling at teammates during the second half.
Despite the rocky end, Mintz did his job.
Chris Bell: A
Bell is still riding his hot streak. He tallied 23 points, and hit over half of his field goals, triples, and free throws. Plus, 7 rebounds is heroic from a guy that used to be lucky to snag 1.
Bell’s most important contribution might have been his defense. He came up with 3 major blocks, many of the chase-down variety. Another day, another good day from Bell.
Justin Taylor: A-
For Justin Taylor’s standards this season, it was an A+ performance. However, it’s important to keep a high standard. 11 points and 5 boards was reasonably good against Louisville, but he did miss 6 big free throws.
Taylor is slowly, but surely, getting back on track.
Maliq Brown: A
When you spend 40 minutes on the court, it’s hard to have a flawless game. Brown didn’t accomplish that, but he got close. He recorded a double-double, played solid defense down low, and added his usual 3 steals. Brown gets the job done every night, and the matchup against Louisville was no exception.
JJ Starling: B
Starling didn’t play a super clean game tonight. He barely got into double figures with a 10-point performance, but his four turnovers were mighty costly. Starling had all the flaws of Mintz’s game, but without the upper ceiling of offense. That’s why he bumps down to a B.
