Syracuse Basketball’s Star Trio Secures Fairly Tight Triumph Over Colgate

The Syracuse basketball squad gave up a barrage of 3-pointers to Colgate, but the Orange still collected a 72-58 victory.

I can tell you this about our 2017-18 SU hoops outfit: while it doesn’t always look pretty, this team has a knack for not losing its composure and finding a way to get the job done.

Case in point, the ‘Cuse surrendered 14 shots from downtown to Central New York neighbor Colgate, yet our boys somehow managed to squeeze out a win before 21,380 fans at the Carrier Dome.

In besting the Raiders (3-6) for the 52^nd instance in a row, Syracuse (8-1) tied a NCAA record for consecutive successes against one opponent.

That’s nice.

Credit sophomore wing Tyus Battle, freshman forward Oshae Brissett and junior point guard Frank Howard for carrying the bulk of the scoring load, as they combined for 62 points, or roughly 86 percent of our total output. Howard has gotten a tad bit turnover prone of late; otherwise, these three gems are performing at a sweet level.

However, Colgate’s production from 3-point range enabled the Raiders to stay within striking distance this past Saturday afternoon; this simultaneously gave me some serious heartburn.

What really impresses me about the current SU roster is that these guys never give up. They don’t panic, even when a large lead dwindles down to single digits. No disrespect here, but I feel like last year’s group would fold after coughing up most – or even all – of an advantage as a contest ran its course.

I acknowledge that we are only nine games into this stanza, but, to date, the grit of this present bunch is admirable. The Orange outlasted the folks at Connecticut and Maryland.

And, now, add Colgate to the list.

Don’t get me wrong, we have plenty to clean up before Atlantic Coast Competition arrives in the near future.

The ‘Cuse, at this juncture, is downright dreadful from 3-point land. We all, realistically, should

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have expected a drop-off from 2016-17, given the sharp-shooters that we lost to graduation and the pros.

Unfortunately, though, Syracuse is among the worst in the country in 3-point percentage, with Battle our sole somewhat reliable threat – at least, so far.

Furthermore, our foes are taking close to 50 percent of their field goals from beyond the arc. While the vaunted 2-3 zone is holding opponents to roughly the national average in 3-pointers connected on, overall, when you take more, you make more.

SU’s saving grace is that it has generated additional possessions as a result of amazing offensive rebounding, and by forcing a solid rate of turnovers. The Orange also excels on defense when its challengers chuck it from inside the 3-point line.

Should Jim Boeheim’s crew improve its own shooting from both downtown and the charity stripe, that would significantly enhance its chances to pick off a few highly ranked ACC programs in the months ahead. In turn, that would tremendously boost Syracuse’s resume when Selection Sunday comes around.

Boeheim, on multiple occasions, has maintained that his squad needs to iron out a ton of kinks if it wants to earn an invite to the Big Dance.

He’s right.

Regardless, considering the low expectations at the onset, you can’t help but display sheer excitement about how things have transpired early on in this term.

The ‘Cuse will suffer its share of setbacks. That’s a given. But SU will also fight tooth and nail in each and every duel.

Such innate toughness is terrific. It’s contagious on this team, and you can only teach that so much.

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Here’s hoping that this positively good stuff continues to surface this Saturday, when Syracuse travels to Georgetown (8-0).

We’ll have an in-depth preview of this feisty match-up with the Hoyas later in the week!

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