Malachi Richardson’s mom cupped both hands around her mouth and screamed toward the court as her son approached the foul line. Less than three seconds remained in the game and Syracuse led by one. Richardson had been there before.

Against Clemson, the Orange led by two with 18 seconds left and Richardson made 1-of-2 from the line. The Tigers sent the game to overtime on a 3-pointer and eventually won. Richardson blamed himself for the loss after the game.

Against Duke, Richardson again made 1-of-2 foul shots that gave Syracuse a two-point lead with two seconds remaining. Duke had a chance to win, but the Orange escaped.

On Saturday against Georgia Tech, Richardson stepped to the charity stripe, but this time, he hit both. And despite GT sharpshooter Adam Smith having the last shot to tie after Richardson deflected a half-court heave, Syracuse (15-8, 5-5 Atlantic Coast) squeaked by the Yellow Jackets (12-9, 2-6), 60-57, as Smith’s prayer fell short.

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Richardson went scoreless in the first half but his 13 second-half points guided the Orange down the stretch. The freshman had been averaging over three deep balls per game in SU’s last eight, but he only made one on Saturday. Instead, Richardson attacked the rim, attempted eight free throws and capped off a jekyll-and-hyde afternoon as the closer of Syracuse’s offense.

“I just told him to keep being aggressive, keep being aggressive and that’s what he did,” Trevor Cooney said. “He got to the foul line, made shots, made plays and that’s what we need.”

In the opening 20 minutes, Richardson missed all three of his shots and turned the ball over a team-high three times. With over eight minutes left, he caught the ball at the top of the key and made a move to his left before dribbling. He was called for a travel and threw his hands up in disagreement as SU head coach Jim Boeheim pleaded his case from the bench.

“He never moved his feet, I mean Timmy come on!” Boeheim yelled at a nearby ref.

The frustration quickly dissipated in the second half, though, and Richardson executed a crafty finish at the rim just 40 seconds in. More than half of his field-goal attempts in the second half came from 2-point range and he took eight foul shots in the latter 20 minutes compared to zero in the first.

But before Richardson closed out the game from inside the arc, he set up his finish with one more make from outside it. Georgia Tech led by four with five minutes left. Dajuan Coleman had just fouled out and the Yellow Jackets attacked Tyler Lydon twice in a row and were successful both times. Richardson pulled up from beyond the arc on the other end and sunk a 3 to bring Syracuse within one.

Two minutes later, he finished at the rim while drawing a foul to erase Syracuse’s last deficit of the afternoon.

“That was a huge play,” Boeheim said. “We wanted him to go to the basket a little bit more, which he did.”

Richardson scored three of Syracuse’s final five points, all from the foul line, and grabbed two defensive rebounds and a steal in the final minute. As he trotted to the line with under three seconds remaining and his mom screaming, his close friend Bobby Hines calmly stood next to her without opening his mouth.

The freshman, with the same demeanor, did what he hadn’t before.

“Just needed to make the free throws,” he said with a chuckle.

Published on January 30, 2016 at 4:13 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman