NewhouseSports SMC: Syracuse Basketball Caps Off Exhibition Play: Defeats Ryerson 81-46

Jim Boeheim begins his 38 year as head coach of the Orange

By: Andrew Pogar

SYRACUSE - C.J. Fair scored 15 of his 18 points in the first half, DaJuan Coleman recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and the Syracuse men's basketball team dispatched Ryerson University 81-46 in an exhibition win on Tuesday in front of an announced crowd of 6,674 at the Carrier Dome.

The Rams scored the first basket to start the second half cutting the Orange lead to 14 points and prompting Orange head coach Jim Boeheim to a call a timeout. But that would be the closest Ryerson would get. A three from Trevor Cooney and a layup by freshman guard Tyler Ennis helped spark a 16-0 run for the Orange to secure the victory.

The Orange defense was also in full effect Tuesday, forcing 24 turnovers, blocking eight shots, and outrebounding the Rams 49 to 37.

"I thought they made us work on defense," Boeheim said. "They did a lot of screening, things we're going to see. I thought it was a good exercise for us."

Despite the margin of victory, the Orange shot only 23 pecent on three-pointers.

"That's going to happen," said Boeheim, who is entering his 38th season as head coach of the Orange. "You're going to have games where that happens where you get 22 good looks and you make five. Some games you're going to make nine or 10 but we still have to get better on the boards."

While the Orange struggled from beyond the arc, Boeheim was pleased with his starting frontcourt's performance from Coleman and Rakeem Christmas, who chipped in 10 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

"I think DaJuan and him are doing things better in spurts," Boeheim said. "I thought DaJaun was much better rebounding the ball tonight. I thought he was much more physical going up to get it. I think that part of it was really good."

"When they get a lot of touches, just like anybody, you get into a rhythm and you get more

C.J. Fair was named the ACC Preseason POY

confidence," echoed senior forward C.J. Fair. "DaJuan is finishing well and if he misses he's going to get the offensive rebound."

"And Rakeem, he's always had the ability it's just confidence and coach has confidence in him."

Freshman point guard Tyler Ennis added seven points, five assists, and a game-high four steals. The Brampton, Ontario native has played five of his first six games for SU against Canadian colleges.

"He's important for our team," Boeheim said. "I told him at halftime that he's got to be a little bit more aggressive offensively and when you tell him something he does it."

Aaron Best and Adika Peter-McNeilly both paced Ryerson with 11 points each.

During his post-game news conference, Boeheim discussed criticism circulating around the graduation rates of his basketball program.

"I think if you have 12 players over a four year period and they play for four years and only five graduate, I think that's an institutional problem," Boeheim said. "You haven't done a good job with those guys. However, in our case it's not what happened.

"We had six guys stay out of the 12; five graduated. The other six, a couple for the NBA, a couple weren't playing enough and transferred. One guy was hurt and just didn't play anymore."

"So if somebody could explain to me how if six guys choose to leave for whatever reason and I think some of them were good reasons in that 12 person group. So if somebody can tell me how we're supposed to graduate a guy who leaves I would love for them to come and tell me that. Explain how we can do that."

The Orange will open the 2013-14 season against Cornell on Friday in the Carrier Dome.

"There's a lot of things at this stage...a lot of positives and you know we're going into Friday night and you know I think everybody's anxious to start the season," Boeheim said. "We've had pretty good preparation to this point and I think we'll be ready to go."

Below are photos taken from the game: