As Eastern Washington worked the ball around the top of the key, trailing 13-8 with just under 11 minutes left in the opening half, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim quickly turned toward Jalen Carey.

“Jalen are you ready?” Boeheim asked Carey.

Carey instantly jumped up and jogged toward the scorer’s table, taking off his long-sleeved Syracuse shirt. The long-awaited debut for Syracuse’s top recruit had finally come. An ankle sprain kept Carey out of the Orange’s two scrimmages and most practices over the past three weeks. But in No. 16 Syracuse’s (1-0) 66-34 blowout season-opening victory over Eastern Washington (0-1) on Tuesday night in the Carrier Dome, Carey was ready, both mentally and physically, he said.

“I didn’t want to rush anything,” Carey said. “… I was able to get back for the first game of the season, and I’ll just take it from here.”

In 18 minutes, Carey finished with seven points and six rebounds, along with an assist and steal. There was some evident rust — he shot 2-for-6 from both the field and line — but it was his first glimpse of competitive collegiate action against a team not named Syracuse, and his first real game since high school.

The left ankle sprain Carey suffered on Oct. 12 in a scrimmage had been a little more severe than expected, he said. His father, John, told The Daily Orange that Carey had planned to be back for SU’s scrimmage against Le Moyne College on Oct. 31.

When that time came, Carey sat on the sideline as junior Tyus Battle manned the point, as he did during the first 10 minutes of Syracuse’s season opener with the Orange’s other point guards, Frank Howard and Howard Washington rehabbing injuries as well. On Tuesday, Washington played seven minutes in his season debut while Howard remained out.

Throughout the last three weeks, Carey said he worked nearly every day, for an hour-and-half with associate athletic director for sports medicine Brad Pike.

There were times the ankle was too sore. But Carey always wanted to work on “a little something”: putting up shots or hitting the treadmill.

Outside of practice, Carey said he worked on keeping his head straight. There were times he’d sit in his room alone, asking why did he have to hurt himself. To get through, he stayed positive, prayed or relied on his family and friends around him.

The ankle is still not 100 percent, Carey said. It’s still swollen and there were times in the game the pain nagged.

Syracuse’s offense struggled out of the gate against Eastern Washington. By the time Carey checked in, midway through the first half, the Orange had just 13 points.

All three of SU’s point guard options were either still injured, or just returning from injuries. The Orange needed a facilitator.

“It’s like if the New Orleans Saints didn’t have a quarterback who could pass,” Boeheim said, “and you ran it every time. They wouldn’t be very good.”

While on the floor, Carey likes to play up-tempo and get the ball out. So once he corralled a missed Eastern Washington 3, Carey saw his opportunity. After quick turn of the hips, Carey burst past halfcourt where two Eagle defenders closed in on him.

Carey sliced between the two before jumping toward the basket, rolling the ball off the glass with his right hand through contact. He walked toward the free-throw line with a small grimace.

“When I got that and-1 there was a little pain,” Carey said. “But after a while, I just learned how to fight through and keep playing.”

The rest of the game, Carey was active both on offense and defense. He jumped on two offensive rebounds and made his only 3-pointer.

Carey says he expects the injury to linger another week, through SU’s next game against Morehead State Saturday.

“We don’t have a quarterback,” Boeheim said. “We’re good enough to win these games, but this isn’t basketball what we’re doing right now.

“We’re just trying to survive until we get people healthy.”

When SU plays Connecticut at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15, when the competition takes a step up, Carey says he expects to finally be 100 percent.

Published on November 6, 2018 at 11:26 pm

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