Michael Carter-Williams emerged from the scrum near midcourt with ball in hand. After diving to secure the loose ball, his head jerked up, already searching for the open man.

There, waiting in the front court, was Dion Waiters. Carter-Williams found him with a perfectly placed hit-ahead pass, and Waiters did the rest.

He drove down the left side of the lane and underneath the hoop, took flight and resurfaced on the far side of the basket for an emphatic one-handed slam.

‘He’s one of the best guys at throwing the ball ahead,’ Syracuse guard Brandon Triche said. ‘Guys who do that all the time and put the ball where the right guys can score, you love playing with those guys.’

It was a talent on display throughout SU’s 85-50 win over George Washington (4-5) Saturday, as Carter-Williams turned in arguably the best game of his career for the Orange (10-0). In 18 minutes, the freshman point guard dished out eight assists, scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and committed zero turnovers. His ability to run both the fast break and half-court offense appeared effortless en route to the highest assist total by a Syracuse guard this season.

With SU jumping out to an 11-point lead in the first five-plus minutes of the game, Carter-Williams entered quickly at the 14:44 mark. From that point all the way until the clock read 9:32, Carter-Williams and Waiters manned the two guard positions brilliantly.

During that span, Carter-Williams assisted on four of the Orange’s six field goals with the highlight being Waiters’ dunk.

But just two possessions earlier, Carter-Williams raced up court after a GW basket and found Kris Joseph wide open on the left wing for a 3-pointer. From the time David Pellom’s layup fell through the net on one end to the time Joseph’s 3 swished through on the other, only 11 seconds had past.

An example of Carter-Williams’ superior floor vision.

‘He’s one of the best I’ve seen at when he gets the ball of finding his teammates,’ SU assistant coach Gerry McNamara said. ‘And he certainly did a great job of it tonight.’

Minutes later, he got the ball up the court even faster.

Tony Taylor converted a free throw for the Colonials with 10:39 remaining in the half. And even though George Washington set up a full-court press, Carter-Williams exploded up court and hit C.J. Fair for a layup after four short ticks of the clock.

‘The whole season my job is just to take care of the ball and find the open teammate,’ Carter-Williams said. ‘And I know I’ll be getting more minutes if I keep having limited turnovers.’

He and Waiters also commanded the top of the Syracuse zone during that stretch in the first half. The long arms of Carter-Williams combined with the ferociousness from Waiters forced steals on back-to-back Colonials possessions.

The two were paired up again at the top of the 2-3 zone in the second half, and the result was identical. With the score 61-38 and 12:18 remaining, Carter-Williams and Waiters bounced up and down, arms extended at the top of the defense.

Carter-Williams hounded George Washington’s Nemanja Mikic as he tried to penetrate through the left side of the zone. He forced an errant pass picked off by Waiters for one of his six steals and watched as his backcourt partner coasted down the court for another crowd-pleasing slam.

‘When (Waiters) and Mike are out there, they’re so active up top and they get a lot of steals,’ Triche said. ‘Mike’s arms are so long he can distract guys, get tipped passes. I think Dion needs to thank Mike for enabling him to get those fast breaks.’

And he did thank the freshman. With 13 minutes left in regulation, Waiters found Carter-Williams open on the wing for a 3 to return the favor. Carter-Williams finished the game with five points, all coming in the second half.

In his postgame press conference, head coach Jim Boeheim acknowledged the strong defensive abilities of his freshman point guard. In the locker room, starting point guard Scoop Jardine said this was exactly the type of game that SU needs from Carter-Williams.

Both realize that the freshman will be an important part of the team’s future as Big East play rapidly approaches, and a complete game like Carter-Williams had Friday only reinforces his self-confidence.

‘This is where he’s going to get his confidence at, and this is what we’re going to need out of him all year,’ Jardine said. ‘And for him to come up and give us a spark like that is a huge lift for us.’

mjcohe02@syr.edu

Published on December 10, 2011 at 12:00 pm

Contact Michael: mjcohe02@syr.edu | @Michael_Cohen13