Against Hampton, Ron Patterson can get back to doing what comes naturally to him.

He can catch, shoot and score. He’ll dribble, but won’t be nearly as responsible for doing so as he was against Kennesaw State on Friday night. Backup point guard Michael Gbinije was out for that game and a combination of a briefly buckled knee and foul trouble limited starter Kaleb Joseph to 23 minutes.

But with Gbinije available again and Joseph having walked it off, Patterson will most likely ditch the backup point guard duties. He managed them well against the Owls, dishing out four assists and turning the ball over just once, but when No. 23 Syracuse (1-0) hosts Hampton (0-1) at 4 p.m. on Sunday, it can look forward to having Patterson back in his shooting guard role.

“I think Mike coming back will put everybody back in their natural positions. (Patterson)’s best off catch-and-shoot and hitting shots,” Joseph said. “So that’s where we’ll probably utilize him at.”

Joseph played just eight minutes of the second half as Syracuse broke open its season-opening win over the Owls. That left Patterson to run the point as the Orange ran the visitors off the floor.

With about five and a half minutes left in the game, Patterson dribbled down the middle of the court, stopped at the top of the key and flung the ball to forward B.J. Johnson in the right corner. Johnson flushed the 3, giving Patterson his first assist of the game. Patterson ran back on defense pumping his fist for Johnson.

“That’s like my wingman,” Johnson said of Patterson. “So every time I do something well he’s on me for that and every time he does something well I’m on him for that.”

Patterson is likely to be doing more of the scoring himself against the Pirates on Sunday. He did take nine shots against Kennesaw State, but they weren’t the kind of catch-and-shoot looks he had in the preseason.

He had to take the ball up the court and drift in and out of the lane at times. And as a result, he had to set up his teammates instead of positioning himself.

“It’s not his position,” head coach Jim Boeheim said. “But he did OK there.”

And while Patterson struggled, going 2-of-9 from the field, he excelled as the game opened up into the series of fast breaks.

Twenty seconds after throwing a pass over guard Trevor Cooney’s — and Boeheim’s — head, Patterson ran the floor and scored SU’s final points of the game.

“He got us into our sets and he was able to push the ball a little bit and make some good reads,” Cooney said. “I thought he was great.”

Published on November 16, 2014 at 10:35 am

Contact Jacob: jmklinge@syr.edu | @Jacob_Klinger_