All season long the players and Jim Boeheim have said this team can shoot. We hear about what great shooters James Southerland and Brandon Triche are in practice. Well, this game was pretty much like practice for the Orange. Syracuse beat Colgate, 100-43. The 57-point win equaled the biggest margin of victory of the Boeheim era.
There’s no reason for a long recap for a game like this. So instead here are a few stats that show how Syracuse won by such a huge margin:
-Syracuse had 10 blocks and 12 steals in the first half.
-Colgate had a 14-minute drought without a field goal.
-Colgate had just 8 points at the half (a Carrier Dome record).
-Syracuse came into the game averaging 29% from three-point range. They shot 44% last night.
But what might show just how big of a blowout this was was the fact that Matt Tomaszewksi (definitely had to look that up to spell it) came into the game with about 9:30 remaining. The junior had played a total of two minutes prior to last night when he quadrupled that with 8 minutes AND he knocked down a three-pointer.
The Orange’s shooting problems have been a problem all season long but they were fantastic last night. Syracuse had been winning games on dunks and layups but against Colgate they hit 18 of 30 jumpers (11/25 from three-point range). They scored 38 points on layups, 47 on jumpers and 15 from the free throw line. They were really firing on all cylinders.
The man that got them going from the start was Brandon Triche. He knocked down two three-pointers in the first 95 seconds to give the Orange an 8-0 lead. It snapped an 0-for-13 streak in about 168 minutes played without a triple. Last season Triche shot 40% from distance but was shooting just 21% prior to last night. He knocked down three of his five attempts to boost his average while scoring 14 points.
“We’re not as bad of shooters as our stats say,” Triche said after the game. No one expects SU to shoot over 40% from three every night but they certainly can do better than the 24% they had shot in their previous seven games. Games like these will certainly help those stats but none of that will matter unless they can show they can shoot like that against a quality opponent.
Notes
-Fab Melo played just six minutes and left the game because of soreness in his right Achilles. His left Achilles was hurting before and now his right. The good news is he’ll have a few days off as the Orange don’t play again until next Saturday. But the injury is certainly concerning and could linger throughout the season.
-Rick Jackson recorded his eighth double-double (yawn).
-Looks like James Southerland hasn’t lost any confidence by sitting on the bench. He put up four three-pointers, hitting just one (but it was from well-behind the NBA three-point line…).
Robbie Gillies is a senior columnist for The Juice Online. He is also an editor for Real Clear Sports. See more at http://www.realclearsports.com/