College men's basketball: Boeheim deeply frustrated by Syracuse forwards' rebounding game

Jan. 6—SYRACUSE — Passing the midway point of his 47th season as Syracuse University men's basketball head coach, Jim Boeheim remains mystified by one key development holding the Orange back.

Boeheim again vented frustration over the lack of rebounding production from the SU forwards following a nail-biting 70-69 victory over Louisville on Tuesday night.

The Hall of Fame coach has pointed to a lack of effort crashing the boards as a collective position group on multiple occasions in postgame press conferences this year.

Syracuse (10-5 overall, 3-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) is set to face 11th-ranked Virginia (10-3, 2-2) at 5 p.m. Saturday in Charlottesville, Va. That game will be televised on the ACC Network.

Boeheim had reached his limit again after noting that 6-foot-1 shooting guard Joseph Girard III grabbed seven rebounds to help pull out the victory over the Cardinals while five different forwards combined to grab eight boards for the Orange.

"We can't win that way," Boeheim said. "The most frustrating thing I've ever seen in 47 years of coaching, how you can just watch and not go after the ball. I can't understand it."

Syracuse starting forwards Benny Williams and Chris Bell are averaging 4.7 and 1.5 rebounds per game, respectively, and have combined for just 5.5 boards on average in four conference games.

The starting SU forward pairing has combined to average 10 or more boards every other season since SU joined the ACC in 2013.

Williams appeared to turn the corner by tallying a career-high 11 rebounds the previous game against Boston College on Dec. 31 but finished with just three points and three boards in 28 minutes at Louisville.

Boeheim noted multiple plays where Williams was free to crash toward the rim but stood in place and said coaches have reviewed them with the 6-foot-9 sophomore and first-year starter in film sessions.

"I can't figure it out, I just can't," Boeheim said. "He's our best forward day in and day out at practice, he's shooting well, he's 6-9 and can jump, and he's playing 27 minutes and getting three rebounds?"

Syracuse entered the weekend ranked seventh in the ACC with 36.7 rebounds per game and is fifth in offensive rebounds (10.9). But SU has allowed 38 boards per game to opponents, which is the most by an ACC team and ranks 336th nationally.

That total represents the second highest over the last 20 seasons for SU, and the most since the 2006-07 team surrendered 39.1 per game to combined foes. SU has done so with three of its four ACC outings against bottom-six teams in the conference for rebounds.

Syracuse has been out-rebounded in three of its four ACC outings with a negative margin of 19 in those games combined — this despite center Jesse Edwards averaging 10.9 boards per game to rank fifth nationally.

Boeheim has gone deeper into the bench than he traditionally prefers with up to six forwards getting their chance to contribute. Justin Taylor has essentially split time with Bell but fills the same spot-up shooter role, adding only two rebounds per game.

Freshman Maliq Brown has shown the ability to grab boards in bunches for spurts and is averaging 3.5 rebounds in just 12 minutes per game, but he has been held to two rebounds in 15 combined minutes over the last two.

Freshman Quadir Copeland (1.5 rebounds per game) and veteran John Bol Ajak (2.5) have not shown they can consistently improve that specific issue in their limited run with each playing less than 12 minutes per game.

"(Bell and Taylor) are in position, they're just not used to battling and you have to battle there," Boeheim said. "Benny is big and strong and he's not doing the job we need on the boards, and early Maliq was, but now he's kind of gone with them and he's kind of watching out there, too."

After hauling in 11 boards against Boston College, Williams spoke of the SU forward group coming along collectively and trying to rally behind each other in their pursuit of consistent performance.

Williams noted that Ajak fired him up and helped inspire his second-half outburst of nine points and nine rebounds that game. He also spoke of the freshman Brown calling out plays in practices that week, directing him and Edwards as another sign of growing chemistry among the young group.

"We talk a lot now, before the season we didn't really talk as a group, but now we're more locked in," Williams said of the SU forwards. "We know what we have to do, talking about different rotations, rebounding, running the floor, little things. ... Not even on the court, just a leadership standpoint off the court really helps our forward group, too."

TORRENCE EXPECTED BACK

Syracuse backup point guard Symir Torrence missed Tuesday's win at Louisville with a hurt shoulder.

Boeheim noted on his Thursday night radio show that Torrence practiced earlier that day and "seemed fine," appearing likely to return for today's game at Virginia.

Torrence had appeared in all 14 prior games, averaging 3.7 points and 1.7 assists as a steadying presence off the bench in his second year at SU.

ACC HONORS MINTZ AGAIN

Syracuse freshman point guard Judah Mintz recently received his third ACC Rookie of the Week honors to join rare company.

He became the first SU freshman to garner the nod for a third time since Tyler Ennis was recognized five times in the 2013-14 season.

Mintz is averaging 15.8 points, 4.2 assists, and 2.3 steals per game. He entered the weekend tied for fifth among NCAA Division I freshmen in scoring while leading all ACC players in steals.

BENNETT SEEKS UVA MILESTONE

Virginia coach Tony Bennett enters Saturday's game against SU just one win shy of becoming the all-time winningest head coach in program history.

Bennett has posted a 326-120 mark in 14 seasons for the Cavaliers, and a 395-153 record in 17 years as a head coach overall. He currently shares the UVA all-time mark with Terry Holland, who went 326-173 in 16 years at the helm.