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It was the kind of shot Chris Bell says he’s been taking his whole life. It was a deep shot, a couple steps removed from the 3-point line, and there was a hand in his face, but still enough room to rise and flick his wrist. 

It was also a shot Syracuse, trailing by two with 3:20 left, needed. And Bell, as he did throughout his career-high 17-point performance, delivered. The shot was perfect, needing no part of the rim to splash through. Bell clearly had taken — and made — that shot plenty of times before. Justin Taylor, who runs shooting competitions against Bell in practice, said he’s seen his fellow freshman shoot like that “a million times.” He’d just been waiting for Bell to explode. 

“That’s what he does,” Taylor said. “Today, obviously, he really went off and helped us win the game. We definitely would not have won it without his shooting.” 

Without Bell, Syracuse likely doesn’t complete the 12-point second-half comeback it did on Saturday night against Notre Dame. The Irish hit a season-high 15 3-pointers and looked in control of the game early in the second half.  But then SU set up its full-court press, Bell and Taylor began hitting shots, Maliq Brown added a few dunks, and within minutes, the Orange were in a one-possession game. Bell’s 3 put them ahead for the first time in the second half, and Syracuse used several defensive stops and free throws to pull out a 78-73 win, their ninth in 11 games. 

“The game was in serious jeopardy, and these guys just made some plays,” head coach Jim Boeheim said postgame. “It was an unbelievable effort to get back into this game.”

Bell was recruited to Syracuse as a highly-regarded shooter. He earned a starting spot in large part because of that, but his lack of strong rebounding and defense has led to inconsistent minutes and shot attempts — his nine shots Saturday were his most in a month and his five 3s on eight attempts were both career-highs. 

Despite this, Bell said he’s “always” super confident with his shot. And how about on deep shots, like that one in the second half? 

“I’m very confident,” Bell answered without hesitation. 

On Wednesday, Bell said he cut his leg diving into the Syracuse bench to save a loose ball. He came out of the game moments later, concluding a 10-minute, six-point performance early in the second half. Doctors gave him Ibuprofen and wrapped up the leg, and while Bell said it’s still healing, he feels a “lot better.” 

And that was plenty clear when he spotted up for a triple midway through the second half, SU down nine, and he only had a split second to gather Mounir Hima’s pass and put up a 3-pointer. No problem — he drilled it and flashed three fingers into the air afterwards. 

“It feels good just to know my shot still works,” Bell said. “(But) I was more happy that we got the win.”

Taylor tied the game less than a minute after Bell’s 3 with one of his own, filling in behind a driving Judah Mintz at the top of the arc and stepping into a deep shot. Taylor said it wasn’t a set play, just a “rhythm” shot that Syracuse practices a lot in practice. He drained it. 

The Orange had gotten into the spot in part because of their full-court press, which got cranked up nine minutes into the second half. Notre Dame had shot 50% from beyond the arc in the first half and it continued its hot shooting early in the second. At halftime, Boeheim told his team they were losing because of their defense, Bell said. Syracuse, then, “took that to heart.” In the second half, the Fighting Irish shot only 31.6% from 3. 

Chris Bell finished with a career-high 17 points in Syracuse’s win over Notre Dame, securing the season sweep over the Fighting Irish. Meghan Hendricks | Photo Editor

But with the Orange still down by several possessions midway through the second half, Boeheim turned to the press, telling his team in a timeout they needed to get aggressive, go for steals and make ND rush its shots. It worked — the press sped ND up, and while SU couldn’t generate any steals, they forced the Irish into shorter possessions and rushed shots that led to air balls and shot clock violations. The same open 3s that Notre Dame hit with ease in the first half began bouncing off the rim. 

And once Bell and others started hitting shots, momentum — and the lead — firmly stuck on Syracuse’s side. 

“It shows our resilience,” Taylor said. “Obviously we need to work on starting better, but how we fought back definitely shows how tough and resilient we are.”

Boeheim said the game swung when Joe Girard III, after turning the ball over and getting knocked to the ground in the process, exited the game with a cut above his right eye and 12:51 remaining. A SU spokesperson said Girard didn’t need stitches, but with the senior off the court, Boeheim turned to a lineup of four freshmen (Mintz, Taylor, Bell and Brown) and Jesse Edwards. The coach said postgame without hesitation that it was the first time in his 47-year career that he’s played four freshmen together in meaningful minutes. 

Taylor, playing the shooting guard position instead of his normal small forward spot, responded with a baseline jumper and Mintz and Brown both notched and-one layups. Notre Dame turned to a zone defensively, but Mintz picked it apart, recording eight assists (his most since December 10) by repeatedly getting inside after SU screened the top of the zone. 

Then, down by two with 2:34 left, Mintz drilled a crucial foul-line jumper that tied the game. Two minutes later, he hit two free throws that gave Syracuse a five-point lead. And after Dane Goodwin’s 3-pointer clanked long off the rim, SU’s comeback win was secured. 

Mintz’s play, along with the press and some offensive help from Edwards and Brown certainly were keys, but on a night when the Orange needed it the most, it was Bell and his pure jumper — the one that catapulted SU into the lead in the first place — that made the victory possible. 

Bell’s up-and-down freshman campaign hit, to this point, its peak with 3:20 left Saturday night. But after all, he’s been taking that shot his whole life. And confidence isn’t a problem. 

“It was big for us as a young group, just to see that we can fight adversity,” Bell said. “I’m glad tonight we got the win.”

Published on January 14, 2023 at 9:14 pm

Contact Connor: csmith49@syr.edu | @csmith17_