Syracuse Basketball: Bourama Sidibe career-day leads Orange over Colgate

Syracuse basketball gets its first win of the season vs Colgate thanks to a monster performance from Bourama Sidibe. Here are the details.

It always feels good to get the first win of the season. Syracuse basketball looked like a completely different team vs Colgate in game number two. Here is how it all played out and the top nuggets to take away including a historic day from Bourama Sidibe.

First half

Despite Syracuse basketball rocking with Quincy Guerrier throughout the entire offseason in the starting lineup, Jim Boeheim has gone the veteran route with Marek Dolezaj.

Considering all the hype of Quincy (first-round pick in 2020 NBA mock drafts), odd that he hasn’t found himself a starting spot. Especially after Dolezaj had such a horrible game.

At least this time it didn’t take nearly as long to get a point on the board. Jalen Carey converted his second free throw attempt a minute and a half into the game. As the kids say hashtag progress.

Although in fairness they didn’t score their first offensive basket of the game until there was 13:53 on the clock in the first half. Bourama Sidibe for the second straight game scored the first offensive points of the contest.

Another thing, Syracuse didn’t score until they made a lineup change, Carey out, Joe Girard III into the contest.

The Orange banged their first trifecta of the game about eight minutes in when Buddy Boeheim hit it from deep. Then a few short minutes later he hit his second to tie up the game at 11.

Then Syracuse shifted to pounding it inside, Bourama Sidibe continues to be an inside presence for the Orange this year. The difference? Jim Boeheim says he’s finally healthy.

Top first-half nuggets:

• Bourama Sidibe’s stock is up and that’s a really positive sign for the Orange moving forward. In the first half, he scored eight points and collected eight boards.
• Where is Elijah Hughes?
  • A few times last season he went invisible in games and it was okay because the Orange had other options. This season they have depth, but not the same star power that can take over games as Elijah can.
  • He ended up with seven first-half points but they all came late, he has to be a steadying presence for this offense.
• Colgate couldn’t hit water if they fell out of a boat in the first half: 6-of-21 from deep.
• Orange getting the majority of the boards 24:14 over Colgate.

Second half

After a sluggish start again from Jalen Carey to start the game, Boeheim went to Joe Girard III in the first half. To start the second half he continued to ride JG3 in the lineup.

The Orange got their first offensive bucket of the game inside on a nice feed to Marek Dolezaj within the first minute of the second half.

Speaking of Dolezaj he displayed a coast-to-coast spin move and slam dunk to send the crowd into a craze!

The thing that has become evident very early in the 2019-20 Syracuse basketball season is the point guard situation.

Jalen Carey isn’t a real threat from beyond the arc and teams know that. Joe Girard III is a real threat from deep which keeps defenses honest and allows him to open up the rest of his game.

It no longer feels like ‘if’ it’s a matter of ‘when’ Jim Boeheim will turn the keys of the program to JG3 so he can be the point guard this year for the Orange.

https://twitter.com/Cuse_MBB/status/1194784839024750595

It took a lot longer than fans would’ve liked, but the Syracuse offense really started moving and grooving with JG3 at the helm. The biggest piece was the transition offense where Syracuse really looked in their element vs the Raiders.

A sub midway through the second half was one fans should keep an eye out for, Robert Braswell. If Jim Boeheim lets him, he can have a real impact for Syracuse this year. He can stroke it from deep and provide some relief at the forward spot.

Ultimately Syracuse got the first dub of the season vs the Raiders winning this one 70 to 54. That was thanks in large part to a historic performance from a healthy Bourama Sidibe.

He scored 12 points (and didn’t miss a shot going 6-for-6), collected 14 boards, and registered a block.

Up next for the Orange is a super quick turnaround as they continue their homestand vs Seattle on Saturday evening at 7:00 p.m.