With under nine minutes left in the game and Syracuse clinging to a four-point lead, Trevor Cooney turned his eyes up court and saw Tyler Roberson streaking past the Orange bench.

Cooney called for a Roberson screen with the Elon defense scrambling back, and bounced a pass between two defenders that found Roberson alone at the right elbow. The junior forward stroked a 15-foot jumper. Moments later, Michael Gbinije stole the Phoenix’s inbounds pass and, without even dribbling, hit a 3 that bumped Syracuse’s lead to nine. 

The two-play sequence highlighted an otherwise listless offensive performance, and Syracuse (3-0) stumbled by Elon (2-2) in a 66-55 win in the Carrier Dome on Saturday. To do so, the Orange again went away from the 3-point shot in favor of attacking the basket. For the second straight game, the Orange needed that mid-game adjustment to edge a lesser opponent.

And SU largely did so in spite of itself.

“Offensively we’re going to have to play better to have any success this year,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said.

Syracuse led 29-23 at halftime, even after shooting 2-for-8 from 3 and giving up eight offensive rebounds.

But a quick push from the Phoenix evened the score at 34-34 with 16:20 left in the game. Elon forward Brian Dawkins, who didn’t score in the first half, netted eight points inside at the start of the second. Luke Eddy added two 3s from the top of the key as the Phoenix grabbed a brief one-point lead, and Boeheim stewed in front of the Orange bench.

At that point, Syracuse was giving up open looks on one end and bricking them on the other. The answer, as it was against St. Bonaventure on Tuesday, was to attack the rim with abandon.

“We’re going to play teams that are going to dare us to shoot sometimes and pack the paint,” Gbinije said. “But today getting to the rim was more effective, especially with the way the game was being called. So we just wanted to put the pressure on them.”

The Orange shot 13-of-15 from the free-throw line in the second half and, in turn, was an efficient 4-for-7 from 3 to finish the game. Freshman Malachi Richardson finished 1-for-7 from the field and 1-for-6 from deep, but his 10 free throws on 12 attempts was a microcosm of the team’s performance. Syracuse has expressed an interested in living behind the 3-point line but, in just its third game, had to separate itself inside the arc.

SU’s 20 made free throws doubled Elon’s 10 attempts, and that was the ultimate difference in the game.

“It creates so much more for us,” Cooney said of Syracuse attacking the rim more. “… That’s what we have to do, we have to make plays for each other. We are a team that is capable of that, and we just have to go out there and get in the lane and if we can’t get all the way to the basket we have to find the open guy. 

Next, the Orange heads to the Battle 4 Atlantis, where at least two tough games await. Then Syracuse returns home against Wisconsin on Dec. 2, and travels to Georgetown and St. John’s shortly thereafter. The early part of its schedule, with three inferior opponents, looked like a good chance for SU to figure out what kind of team it is.

But Saturday was mostly a showcase of what Syracuse is not — most notably a team that can’t rely on 3s every night, for better or worse.

“We’re winning because we’re a little bit better than these teams,” said Boeheim, talking about Lehigh, St. Bonaventure and now Elon. “I wouldn’t necessarily say we’re a lot better. We have to get better, that’s for sure.”

Published on November 21, 2015 at 8:59 pm

Contact Jesse: [email protected] | @dougherty_jesse