Mintz scores 18, Copeland 15 and Syracuse eases past Oregon 83-63
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Judah Mintz scored 18 points, Quadir Copeland had 15 points, nine rebounds and five assists off the bench, and Syracuse defeated Oregon 83-63 on Sunday.
Oregon took an early 14-5 lead but Syracuse stormed back and took a 21-20 lead on a dunk by Benny Williams. The Orange stretched their lead to eight points when Williams dunked off a long lob pass from Mintz with 23 seconds left in the half. Syracuse led 33-25 at the break after outscoring Oregon 28-11 over the final 11 1/2 minutes of the period.
Justin Taylor opened the second half with a 3-pointer for Syracuse and the Orange kept up the pressure, although Oregon got as close as 59-44 when Jermaine Couisnard hit a 3-pointer with 9 1/2 to go. But after a quiet first half, Mintz scored 12 points after halftime and Syracuse led by at least 20 points for most of the final 6 minutes.
Mintz had five assists, four steals and three rebounds, although he committed six turnovers. JJ Starling scored 14 points and Maliq Brown had 13 points and four steals off the bench. The Orange (8-3) shot 56.6%, although they made only 5 of 13 3-pointers.
Kwame Evans Jr. scored 17 points, Jackson Shelstad 16 and Kario Oquendo 11 off the bench for Oregon (7-3). The Ducks shot 36% and made only 4 of 27 3-pointers. Couisnard, their leading scorer at 12.3 ppg, scored six points on 2-of-9 shooting.
Syracuse wraps up nonconference play with a home game against Niagara on Thursday. Oregon, too, finishes nonconference play on Thursday when the Ducks will host Kent State.
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