Orange Offense Shines in Commanding Win Over Colgate

Story and photo by Emily Dick.

Syracuse, N.Y.-- The Syracuse Orange had to bounce back from a tough overtime loss to Villanova last Saturday quickly to face the Colgate Raiders Monday night.

In front of an announced Carrier Dome crowd of 18,905, the Orange (7-4) seemed to take out some of its recent frustration, rolling over the Raiders (3-9) in a 78-43 win.

But coach Jim Boeheim doesn't want his team to focus on the past.

“You just want to get to the next game and move on. It’s a long season and you can’t dwell on what has already happened,” Boeheim said.

Shooters Find Stride

Syracuse came out strong offensively with a 16-point run to lead Colgate, 22-5, early in the game.

Redshirt junior guard Trevor Cooney and Junior Michael Gbinije sparked the Orange offense with back-to-back 3-pointers in the first half. Cooney finished 4-9 from deep with 20 points, while Gbinije added 11 points, shooting 2-3 from three.  

Senior center Rakeem Christmas added his third double-double to the mix with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Cooney, who started the season cold, shooting 27 percent from 3-point range in November, is now shooting 43 percent in December. He said he’s starting to feel more comfortable.

“I'm just seeing the floor better. I'm looking for more opportunities. I'm reading the plays better," Cooney said after the game. "That just comes with working with guys like G-Mac (Coach Gerry McNamara) and looking at film. And just looking to be more aggressive from the start.”

Syracuse Bench

After going into halftime with a 43-13 lead, the Orange continued to extend its lead to as much as 43-points in the second half.

Many of the Syracuse starters took seats late in the game to give the bench more minutes. Sophomore guard Ron Patterson added 13 points off the bench, shooting 3-6 from three. Halfway through the second half, Patterson scored eight straight points within one minute and 15 seconds.

“I’m just trying to stay consistent,” Patterson said, “I want to help the team.”

The Syracuse bench scored 27 points in the win. The entire team shot 46.7 percent from the field, along with 50 percent from three.

Where to Improve:

“We’ve had a lot of tough games and I think that overall we have gotten better,” Boeheim said. “But we’ve still got a long way to go to be where we’d like to be, a long way.”

The Orange has struggled with free throws this season, and even in the win, only shot 57 percent from the line.

Turnovers have also plagued Syracuse. The team gave up the ball six times against Colgate, which was a season best, but all six of those turnovers were in the second half.  Syracuse is known to be inconsistent. Against Villanova, the team turned the ball over 20 times.

Another inconsistency? Freshman forward Chris McCullough.

After scoring double digits in the first eight games of the season, McCullough has scored a combined 12 points in the last three games. His field goal percentage for his three-game skid is eleven.

"It's definitely a little slump right now," McCullough said. "I need to get back to it, get re-focused, rest up for this little break and come back ready. I've been through this a lot. It happens to every basketball player. No, I'm not concerned."

The team has a short break for Christmas and will be back in the Dome this Sunday, Dec.28 to take on Long Beach State. Syracuse has two games left before ACC conference games begin.