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Quadir Copeland wanted a chance. It’s all he’s asked for since a tumultuous freshman year. He was promised one coming into his sophomore season. That’s why he returned to Syracuse.

Like most offseasons, his was reserved for improvement. There were no openings. Booked solid. Six a.m. wake-up calls for trips from Philadelphia to New Jersey where he’d train with childhood friend Niyir Harris. They only practiced jumpshots.

This makes Copeland’s postgame hollering more believable — “If I’m open I’m shooting the ball no matter what.” He told every reporter this, reiterating the sentiment if ever a similar question arose.

Receiving a skip pass from Judah Mintz, Copeland rose and hit a 3 from the left wing to cap off a thrilling buzzer-beating finish at the JMA Wireless Dome. Teammates swooned and courtside fans wrapped him in endearing bear hugs. He finally got his chance. And he took it.

“It wasn’t no thinking at the end of the day,” Copeland said. “It’s just basketball.”

In a tight-knit affair throughout, Copeland’s buzzer-beating 3 secured Syracuse’s (13-5, 4-3 Atlantic Coast Conference) timeless 72-69 win over Miami (12-6, 3-4 ACC). Despite trailing for a majority of Saturday’s contest, the Orange captured the victory by weathering multiple Hurricane runs and answering with a handful of their own. J.J. Starling finished with a game-high 22 points on six 3-pointers to lead five double-digit SU scorers, and Mintz dished a career-best 13 assists.

“We knew it was going to be a back-and-forth game,” Syracuse head coach Adrian Autry said of Miami. “We just talked about not letting the runs get too big…They’re an explosive team. They can make shots.”

Starling led Syracuse with 22 points through its thrilling 72-69 victory over Miami. Jacob Halsema | Staff Photographer

By way of two uncontested layups inside and a Matthew Cleveland breakaway, Miami jumped out to a 6-0 advantage. Despite being without star forward Norchad Omier, sidelined due to an undisclosed lower-body injury, freshman Michael Nwoko collected four quick points.

Yet, despite its slightly rusty beginning, Syracuse got on the board by way of a Maliq Brown finish inside. Starling then made a left-wing 3, and after SU strung together a couple of much-needed stops, buckets from Benny Williams and Chris Bell tied the contest up at 10-10.

Skying high for one of his eight total rebounds, Mintz executed a quick give-and-go with Williams near the top of the key. Driving right, he elevated at the right elbow to give SU its first lead of the afternoon, 16-14. But a few possessions later, Cleveland converted deep inside to level the score again. The junior Florida State transfer followed with another nifty maneuver to put Miami in front 18-16 moments later, prompting Autry to call timeout.

Throughout Saturday’s opening 15 minutes, the Orange had put together a pretty complete game. They limited second-chance points from the visitors and forced Miami into a couple of forced heaves late in the shot clock. Aside from Cleveland’s aggressive slashing, the Hurricanes turned the ball over in transition — mistakes that led to seven turnovers by halftime.

Then, a furious back-and-forth between both teams occurred right before halftime. First, a sudden 9-0 run — spurred on by a pair of baskets from sharpshooter Nijel Pack, and a crafty inside move from backup guard Bensley Joseph — to make it 29-21 Miami. But Syracuse answered through a 3-pointer each from Bell and Starling to draw the Orange within two again.

“We know they’re a talented team, we know they score,” Mintz said. “So, we knew we weren’t going to get out of this game without hitting some timely, big shots.”

Bell’s 3 came on an open look in the left corner. SU swung passes around the perimeter before Justin Taylor set up Bell for an easy make. Starling’s bucket arrived in similar fashion — off of further selfless distribution from the Orange. Copeland got into a clogged painted area and kicked out to Bell, who delivered one more pass to an uncontested Starling.

At the break, facing a 31-30 deficit, one of SU’s key successes lay in its ability to hold the Hurricanes to a measly 11.1% shooting effort from deep — a stark difference from its ACC-leading 39.6% per game average.

But even when Syracuse’s defense foiled Miami’s attack, a slew of empty offensive trips kept its comeback attempt stagnant. Copeland had lost the ball on the baseline, untouched. Miscommunication between Bell and Brown resulted in possession thrown out of bounds.

A personal 7-0 Starling run put the Orange back on track — a continuation of form after his 17-point performance to spearhead a 69-58 road win over Pittsburgh last time out. He got to his spots whenever he wanted. Whichever way he wanted. A ball fake opened up space for a dribble-pull up at the right elbow. He swished two of those through.

Then, after Brown sprawled out to tip an offensive board to Mintz, the point guard found his backcourt running mate alone in the left corner. Starling canned the 3-point jumper to make it 39-39.

“I thought J.J. was phenomenal right from the beginning. He was locked in, he was ready,” Autry said. “I thought we found him and he took advantage of it.”

In response, the visitors called on Pack, who went on his own heroic spurt. A stepback, left-wing 3 over Brown’s outstretched contest went down. Getting the best of Starling off the dribble on a different play, he hit on a turnaround in-close to maintain a healthy Hurricanes advantage. Joseph contributed by recording a pair of 3s too, one of which came off of making considerable separation opposite Copeland. With 7:01 remaining, Miami led 55-50.

“We knew Pack was… he’s too good of a player,” Autry said. “We feel good about our performance on him and he had 19. That’s the type of player he is.” Pack finished with a team-high 19 points — catalyzing an efficient 46.9% second-half shooting clip for the Hurricanes in the second half.

Streaking past midcourt, Mintz navigated around a Brown screen to find an open lane. Cleveland left his post at the low block which left Bell unmarked for his third 3. From there, an unrelenting basket trade erupted. When Miami increased their advantage to 59-56, Starling hit a 3-pointer from the left corner. When Joseph capitalized off a drive-and-kick to generate a 62-59 cushion, Bell swished his second 3 in less than two minutes.

“J.J. stepping up, he had six 3s. Chris hitting those two big 3s. Stuff like that, that all matters,” Copeland said. “In order to be a team, in order to be a winning team, everybody’s got to do their part.”

Down the stretch, freshman Kyshawn George converted on a righty layup to remedy a Brown dunk — which put Syracuse up 66-64 — with 3:10 left. Moments later, at the 1:17 mark, George banked in a straight-on 3 to tie affairs up at 69-69. But on the Hurricanes’ next possession, they opted for a Joseph turnaround jumper on a go-ahead attempt which fell short.

Copeland took care of the rest.

“I feel like an opportunity is all you can ask for,” Copeland said. “I didn’t ask coach to give me a certain amount of minutes, didn’t ask him to give me a certain role…I just want an opportunity to show what I can do.”

Published on January 20, 2024 at 2:28 pm

Contact Tyler: trschiff@syr.edu | @theTylerSchiff