Judah Mintz has a lot of weight on his shoulders. Based on the needs of where Syracuse is in the standings prior to the ACC tournament and March Madness, Mintz played his most complete game in an Orange uniform earlier this week.
Mintz looked like a different animal in Tuesday’s 84-71 win over Virginia Tech. He finished with 29 points, the second most in his career, and notched six assists. Mintz also nailed all eight of his free throw chances.
“He’s had a lot of big games and this is up there,” said head coach Adrian Autry after SU’s third straight win. “He was phenomenal tonight. I thought he had control of the game. I thought he had good shots. I thought he got people involved. He got back to making his free throws.”
There were multiple instances where Mintz played with a revised energy that SU fans don’t see too often, although he’s fairly consistent. He dove for loose balls, and continued to drive to the rim instead of settling for three-pointers.
With five minutes left in the second half, Mintz weaved through three VT defenders and made a layup. The sophomore doesn’t confidently make his way through the paint in a play like this last season. That’s maturity and aggressiveness at its finest. Last year, Mintz probably would’ve settled to attempt a three-pointer at the top of the arch rather than steaming downhill.
Syracuse fans could argue that Mintz’s best game of the season was his 33-point performance against LSU in the ACC/SEC Challenge in late November. Also, he posted 10 points, 13 assists, and eight rebounds in Quadir Copeland’s buzzer-beating win over Miami. But for the style and attitude in which Mintz played on Tuesday, it’s hard to ask for much more than that.
This is the Mintz that Syracuse fans should be fond of night in and night out. Some of the stardom was taken away from him this season when JJ Starling arrived, but Mintz has held his ground. He’s averaging over 18 points, four assists, and three rebounds per game.
“He’s a guy,” said Autry. “He doesn’t run from it whether it’s good or bad every game…You don’t have too many people like that with that makeup.”
Mintz is the leader of SU. He needs to continue to express that down the stretch, especially considering how relevant the Orange are with two regular season games remaining.
Mintz can stay hot on Saturday when Syracuse hits the road for a matchup against ACC’s bottom team, Louisville, at 8:00 p.m. He recorded 21 points in the Orange’s 94-92 victory over the ‘Cards in early February.
It’s March, which means stars can go from good to great in college basketball.
