I'm hoping that you are not just basing that opinion on a box score. Because the reality is that Lynch abused Edwards by backing him into the lane and then hitting easy turnaround shots over him repeatedly, prompting Boeheim to pull him when it became evident that Minnesota's game plan was to attack / exploit the miniscule Edwards in the paint. THAT'S the reason that he only played 9 minutes. And Edwards playing 9 minutes absolutely WAS the problem, because we were forced to go without a point guard for 3/4 of the game, which got us completely out of synch offensively in a game where we trailed most of the game and could never get on track.
Hopkins being tall was irrelevant. He was a redshirt freshman who barely played that season -- that's why JB never put him in the game.
Not only did I have the misfortune of watching this game live, bringing about an unceremonious end to the careers of DC and Stevie, but I had to re-watch it back in 2014 after losing a bet with some of my Minneapolis friends, as a precursor to our game in that preseason tournament a few years back. Ugly. So the opinion I expressed earlier in the thread isn't based upon 27 year old recollections.