The Syracuse basketball team shook off two consecutive losses to defeat Colgate at home 78-51 in Coach Mike Hopkins second game filling in for Jim Boeheim.
Syracuse started the game off incredibly hot, hitting 5 of their first 6 three pointers and racing out to an early 15 point lead. Give credit to Colgate though, as they never let the game get away from them in the first half and made a number of big 3-pointers late to keep them within striking distance.
Malachi Richardson had the hot hand early, hitting 3 first half 3-pointers. Lydon joined him with two of his own, and Gbinije added another two. Cooney hit one as well and it was an impressive display from the outside.
Other than 3s, not much really happened in the first half. Gbinije did an excellent job of distributing the ball, picking up 5 first half assists and really spreading the wealth. He also grabbed 4 rebounds, had 2 steals, and a block to go with 6 points. He stuffed the whole stat sheet and looked like the complete package.
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The defense looked good for the most part, but did give up a few wide open 3’s towards the end of the half. Even so, they had a stretch of over 11 minutes without giving up a field goal, so clearly they were doing something right.
The second half played out much like the first, with SU draining a bunch more 3’s and slowly pulling away from a fiesty Colgate team. Colgate managed to hit 10 3’s themselves to keep the score respectable, but Syracuse, on the heels of 14 3’s of their own just couldn’t be caught. Syracuse ended up winning the game 78-51.
Five players hit double figures in the game. Richardson and Gbinije each had 17 points, Cooney had 14, Lydon had 11, and the big surprise was Dajuan Coleman with 10 points. Coleman got a few of those baskets in garbage time, but that’s fine. He’s got to take what he can get and any made basket is a boost in confidence.
Michael Gbinije was once again the MVP of the game, scoring 17, dishing out 7 assists, grabbing 4 rebounds, and swiping 3 steals. He also hit 50% from the field and 57% from 3 (4-7). For the year he is shooting a staggering 50% from outside and there are no signs of him slowing down. He seems to have limitless range and just doesn’t go cold. He’s really making his case for All-ACC and possibly even All-American with the way he’s playing.
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The only real negative I took away from the game was the lack of playing time for Kaleb Joseph and Franklin Howard. They combined for just 10 minutes and neither really had a chance to get going or get in any kind of flow. Almost half their minutes were in garbage time where they didn’t even get to run any offense.
I really hope Hopkins gets them some playing time before ACC play, because if not, we are going to be in serious trouble if Cooney or Gbinije get into foul trouble. These guys need to get some experience in-game or they are never going to be able to hack it once the pressure builds and they are forced to play due to fouls or injury.
Let’s hope that our next game allows them a bit more time as we face off against St. John’s in Madison Square Garden. Something about playing in the Garden usually brings the best out of Syracuse, so look for a strong showing. That game is on Sunday at noon. Check back here throughout the week for complete coverage of the game and some more analysis of this one.