Syracuse used a strong second half to win comfortably over Canisius, 85-61. Here are my grades from the game:
CJ Fair: B
After two straight games with double-doubles, Fair had a quiet night with 8 points and 6 rebounds. He also committed a team-high 3 turnovers.
Rakeem Christmas: A-
Christmas is really started to develop an offensive arsenal and finished with 10 points. He had a couple of nice post moves and even hit a jumper. You’d like to see more rebounds (2), but he also tied for a team-high in blocks (3).
DaJuan Coleman: B+
Coleman was active in his 16 minutes, with 7 points and 6 rebounds. He struggled from the line though, going just 1-5.
» Related: Complete team effort leads Syracuse past Monmouth
Brandon Triche: A-
Triche had his most efficient offensive performance of the season, needing only 12 shots to get 19 points. He also contributed 5 assists.
Michael Carter-Williams: A
Carter-Williams had just one assist at halftime, and then poured in 13 after intermission. It’s no coincidence that Syracuse was only +4 on the scoreboard in the first half and +21 in the second. He also only had 2 turnovers and chipped in 12 points.
James Southerland: A
Southerland has finally found his touch from downtown after not hitting a 3 since the Arkansas game. He went 3-6 from beyond the arc, but more importantly, didn’t just settle for his outside shot. 6 of his 9 baskets came from 2-point land, and a few of those were on shots that Southerland set up with his own dribble. His 21 points were a game high.
» Related: What we learned from the win
Baye Keita: B+
Keita continued his efficient season, with 6 rebounds and 3 blocks in just 9 minutes of play. He wasn’t needed as much against a smaller Canisius team, but he’ll get many more opportunities during Big East play.
Trevor Cooney: D
Cooney had a “blink and you missed him” kind of game, going 0-2 in 4 minutes. “He got off to a bad start and Brandon and Michael were playing great,” Boeheim said. “Trevor will bounce back.”
Jerami Grant: C
Grant also saw limited playing time, hitting one 3 in 6 minutes of play. Interestingly, when Grant was in Southerland got some minutes at the top of the zone with Carter-Williams. That means, the shortest player on the floor at that time was Carter-Williams at 6’6″.
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