Syracuse Men’s Basketball Sizes Up and Drops Virginia Tech 84-71 in Final Home Game

By Jesse Cook | @JesseCookTV

REPORTER JESSE COOK: 10 FEET TALL CAN FEEL LIKE A LONG WAY UP, ESPECIALLY WHEN YOU’RE ONE OF THE UNDERSIZED PLAYERS ON THE COURT: A GUARD. THE SYRACUSE GUARD CREW WENT POUND FOR POUND, BLOW FOR BLOW, INCH FOR INCH WITH VIRGINIA TECH ON TUESDAY NIGHT. THE ORANGE CAME OUT WITH THE WIN. ON AVERAGE, S.U. GUARDS STAND ABOUT 6’4.5” — FOR VIRGINIA TECH, IT’S JUST 6’3”, AND SOMETIMES THAT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE. IF YOU ASK AROUND, IT’S NOT JUST THE SIZE OF THE FIGHT IN THE DOG. IT REALLY CAN BE JUST THE SIZE OF THE DOG AND THE FIGHT.

SYRACUSE GUARD KYLE CUFFE: “We’ve got bigger guards. Judah is 6’4”. The fact that he’s able. He’s crafty too. He can get downhill, and people are not gonna know he’s gonna do because he draws so many fouls, so it’s hard to guard him.”

SYRACUSE ASSOCIATE HEAD COACH GERRY MCNAMARA: “We have big physical guards. If you look at our guards, we, we’ve got, you know, Jude’s got great size. He’s more, you know, lanky, than than bulky, but he’s got great size. You know, he’s obviously very crafty with drawing attention, drawing fouls.”

SYRACUSE GUARD JUDAH MINTZ: “I was just able to get to my spots. You know, they tried to press up a lot. I don’t, you know, respectfully I don’t think they were as athletic as me to be able to do that to me, so I was able to get to where I wanted to go.”

SYRACUSE HEAD COACH ADRIAN AUTRY: “I respect the hell out of Judah Mintz — is that he’s a guy. He’s a guy, and he doesn’t run from it. He doesn’t shy from it, good or bad, he comes back every game.”

MINTZ: “You know, I feel like nobody can guard me if I’m being quite honest.”

COOK: S.U.’S HIGHEST PRODUCTION CAME FROM GUARD JUDAH MINTZ. HE DROPPED 29 POINTS ON THE GAME, MARKING HIS FOURTH STRETCH OF BACK-TO-BACK 20 POINT CONTESTS. THAT’S A GOOD WAY TO END THE HOME SLATE AS THEY LITERALLY TEAR APART THE J.M.A. WIRELESS DOME COURT AROUND US. SO SYRACUSE ENDS ITS HOME SCHEDULE WITH A WIN, BUT THAT’S NOT THE END OF THE ROAD. SATURDAY NIGHT MARKS THE LAST ROAD STRETCH OF THE SEASON, STARTING AT 8:00 P.M. IN LOUISVILLE BEFORE THE A.C.C. TOURNAMENT GETS GOING IN ABOUT A WEEK AND A HALF. REPORTING ONE LAST TIME IN THE REGULAR SEASON, FROM THE J.M.A. WIRELESS DOME, I’M JESSE COOK CITRUSTV.