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Syracuse’s game plan was familiar to Tucker Richardson. The Orange knew he could catch and shoot 3-pointers like few others in the country. Other than that, though, a simple man-to-man defense, was going to suffice.

But with 7:06 remaining in the first half, Richardson grabbed an errand pass from down low at the top of the key. Jeff Woodward was just trying to extend a Raider possession after getting double-teamed deep in the paint. He chucked up a pass that Braeden Smith also thought was intended for him. But Richardson got to it first, then readjusted and began his shooting motion. Then Smith bumped into him, halting any chance at a catch-and-shoot 3. Despite this, Richardson simply took one step to his right and got a shot off before Joe Girard III could get in a position to stop the shot. The ensuing make extended Colgate’s lead to 30-18.

Richardson put together a standout performance, one he’s grown accustomed to in the early going of his senior season. Richardson finished with a career-high 27 points, paced the Raiders with four steals and added six rebounds and four assists. He was the conductor of the Colgate (3-1, 0-0 Patriot League) offense that quickly buried the Orange (1-1, 0-0 Atlantic Coast) in the first half and pulled away to an 80-68 win.

“He’s been, in a sense, a savant as a basketball player,” Raiders head coach Matt Langel said. “He can do so many things without electrifying the crowd or being in highlights.”

Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim said Colgate is one of the best teams against the man-to-man defense. It’s all the Raiders play in the Patriot League and in nonconference play, so even the big guys are set up to be pass-first and look to swing the ball around. Boeheim also said Colgate is one of the best passing teams in the country. It tended to utilize the extra pass, swinging it around the top of the key to find the open man, who proved to be Richardson 11 times.

The way to break through the zone, or Syracuse’s man defense, Langel said, was a flurry of pass and shot fakes. He added that the Raiders were able to get 22 assists on field goals. In the final minutes of the first half, Richardson once again stood at the top of the zone with Girard close by on defense. He’d passed it off to Braeden Smith, who was working on Judah Mintz inside, but failing to gain any ground. With enough space for a catch-and-shoot back to Richardson, Smith fired a pass up to the top of the key and watched as Richardson buried another shot with Girard’s outstretched hand in his face.

“He’s the best player in their league, and he’s always played well against us,” Boeheim said.

Midway through the game, as Syracuse’s offense slogged along in what Boeheim called a “horrendous” performance, he switched to zone defense. Mintz said the original game plan was to be in man defense and that he believed it was working. Though he believes he allowed Richardson to score a backdoor layup on him, Mintz liked that the Orange stuck to their game plan of exploiting Colgate’s weaknesses in one-on-one coverage. But Richardson was already 5-for-7 from deep with 19 points.

Boeheim said the zone is still a work in progress, especially with young players like Mintz in the lineup. But whether it was man defense or the 2-3 zone, Syracuse struggled against Colgate and allowed eight second-half points to Richardson. To begin the second half, Richardson swung a pass from Smith around to Ryan Moffatt, who was nestled in the right corner for another 3-pointer.

“Coach thought that zone would be better since we were struggling during a couple of shots, but he just continued to hit shots all game,” Mintz said.

SU’s problem, a young team that Boeheim said was not as good as Colgate right now, is that it couldn’t pin down Richardson. Langel said last week to reporters that he couldn’t put into words how valuable Richardson was to the team. On Tuesday, he forced Girard to shoot 15 times before the guard reached 14 points. The Raiders switched him to cover Mintz, then the freshman stopped getting good looks. Richardson battled for loose balls underneath the paint, grabbing six defensive boards despite standing at just 6-foot-5. He facilitated a Raiders offense that hung 80 points on Syracuse, slamming the door on a high-scoring SU lineup to the tune of just 68 points.

Richardson was everywhere, and the Orange ensured he made an impact no matter where he stood on the court. Late in the second half, Richardson dumped the ball over to Oliver Lynch-Daniels, the first move in yet another seamlessly conducted possession. Lynch-Daniels saw Smith streaking in front of him ahead of the freshman’s man and lobbed up a pass for an alley-oop attempt. The pass was short, and Smith airballed the attempt, but grabbed the rebound and push it out to Richardson.

As the play was developing, Richardson stood at the top, then began making his way to the left side of the arc. Symir Torrence had crashed the boards on the alley-oop attempt, leaving Richardson wide open on the edge to knock down one of his eventual six 3-pointers.

“One of the things with younger players is they’re playing in defense, and I don’t think they even realized where (Richardson) was,” Boeheim said.

Published on November 15, 2022 at 10:59 pm

Contact Anthony: aalandt@syr.edu | @anthonyalandt