TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Jim Boeheim stood on his tiptoes and raised his eyebrows. He wanted Jerami Grant to milk the clock instead of feeding Rakeem Christmas for a wide-open transition alley-oop.

Boeheim started to yap at Grant, but the Syracuse head coach quickly stopped. Then he moved his hands forward as if it tell Grant it was OK. The game was out of reach.

Christmas’ throw-down ballooned SU’s lead to 13 with 3:43 left in regulation.

The margin didn’t reach single digits again, as No. 7 Syracuse (27-4, 14-4 Atlantic Coast) capped off the regular season with a decisive 74-58 win over Florida State (18-12, 9-9) in front of 10,435 at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center on Sunday afternoon.

C.J. Fair carried the Orange with 22 points and seven rebounds, Tyler Ennis added 16 points and four assists and Grant chipped in 16 and eight boards in his return to the starting lineup as SU avoided its fifth loss in six games.

“It feels good,” SU guard Michael Gbinije said. “I think the team’s back on track now.”

Syracuse’s past five games were a roadblock for a team previously oozing with confidence. There was the loss to Boston College that ended the pursuit of perfection. The controversial loss to Duke. The blowout loss to Virginia to decide the ACC regular-season title. The embarrassing loss to Georgia Tech at home on Senior Night.

All four came in a two-week span and left many questioning a team that previously responded to every challenge it faced without flinching.

But against Florida State, none of the Orange’s recent problems were present. The Orange dominated the glass, outrebounding FSU 43-24. Grant started and shined, providing a third scoring option for a team lacking one while he sat with a sore back. SU didn’t need to magically come alive in the final minutes, but instead pulled away.

Syracuse played sound basketball for nearly the entire game, piecing together arguably its best performance since beating Duke on Feb. 1.

“Coming in all of us said this was a must win for us,” SU guard Trevor Cooney said. “Going into the ACC tournament as a two-seed, you want to go in with a win.”

For the first time in weeks, Syracuse was clearly the better team. Boeheim, who has criticized his team’s offense consistently in the latter part of the season, didn’t have much to complain about on Sunday.

“I thought we got some good rebounds tonight,” Boeheim said. “Better than we have been, and we were able to get it out and get it down the court.”

Syracuse shot 48.3 percent from the floor, its best clip since the first Duke game, finally breaking out of its streak of offensive ineptitude.

During the slump, Syracuse was largely unable to counter when other teams made a run. This time, the Orange fended Florida State off twice and went on runs of its own.

When FSU snatched the lead in the first half, SU ripped off a 13-2 spurt, including five straight points from Ennis. Assistant coach Mike Hopkins pumped his fist and swiveled his entire torso in excitement after a Christmas dunk to close the frame.

In the second half, the Seminoles trimmed the deficit to one with 12:38 to go. Tomahawk Chop chants emerged in waves from the typically football-frenzied fan base. When Okaro White — who kept Florida State in the game with 20 points — hit a jumper, the fans swung their arms forward and backward like a pendulum.

The possibility of a fifth loss in sixth games loomed. But as it did all game, SU responded.

Syracuse went on yet another 11-2 run and stymied yet another FSU comeback attempt. The Orange took a 59-48 lead on a baseball pass from Fair to Grant, who converted an and-one in transition.

And after Christmas’ dunk, Florida State’s chances disappeared. Ennis clapped his hands and grinned as he took his spot atop the zone. This one was over.

“A lot of times teams play out of their minds when it’s their Senior Day and they need a win to get into the Tournament,” Fair said. “You can’t really expect them to do the norm, so it was good to come out of here with a win.”

Now Syracuse is back on track at an ideal time. With its first ACC tournament game on Friday at 7 p.m., the Orange’s recent slippage is no longer a pressing issue.

It’s just one win, but it stops a much larger trend. Syracuse finally played a complete game, and that gives the team confidence going forward.

“I think it’s a building process,” Gbinije said. “I think we’re going to be good from here on out.”

Published on March 9, 2014 at 4:10 pm

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