A quick take on Syracuse’s 97-58 win over Le Moyne in its exhibition opener at the Carrier Dome on Monday evening:
- All eyes will be on Dajuan Coleman’s knees this season. Coleman, who missed large parts of the last two seasons with knee injuries finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in 23 minutes of action. Perhaps the most notable sequence came at the end of the first half when Coleman lunged to the floor for a loose ball and bounced up with no issues. So far, so good.
- As Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said during media day, the Orange will be more of a perimeter oriented team this season. Collectively, the Orange was 12 for 32 from downtown, with Michael Gbinije leading the way with 5 of 10 from beyond the arc. Other notables included Malachi Richardson (3-8), Trevor Cooney (0-3) and Kaleb Joseph (2-5).
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- Speaking of Gbinije (led the way with 21 points) and Joseph (11 points, but 4-12 shooting), Gbinije started the game at point guard, something that Boeheim also mentioned prior to the season. Joseph started all but one game at that position last season, but came off the bench tonight. Instead, Boeheim went with Richardson (13 points, 7 rebounds) in the starting lineup, and when Joseph came in to replace him, Gbinije slid to the forward spot.
- As for Syracuse’s other highly touted freshman, Tyler Lydon was active around the rim, finishing with 6 points and 6 rebounds, 5 coming on the offensive glass. It’s worth noting that Lydon spent time playing the center position with Chino Obokoh playing a mostly ineffective 11 minutes.
- Syracuse’s defense didn’t look particularly strong in the first half, going into intermission up just 44-34. But the Orange clamped down to start the second half, holding Le Moyne scoreless for the first 7:45. That allowed SU to surge to a 21-0 run to take complete control of the game.
- How about Adrian Autry in garbage time? Perhaps the loudest cheers of the night came when the walk-on drained a 3-pointer in the game’s final possessions.
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