For most of the second half, Syracuse’s best scoring opportunities rested in Michael Gbinije’s hands.

So when St. Bonaventure went zone with the scoreboard showing four minutes and a five-point Orange lead, Gbinije stood at the top of the key with two options at his fingertips: Make a play and bury St. Bonaventure. Falter and keep the Bonnies’ upset hopes alive.

He passed to his teammates but they threw the ball right back to him. He directed them with his finger, scanned the defense and, when the shot clock dipped below five seconds, waved Dajuan Coleman up to give him an on-ball screen.

As the student section nervously counted down — three… two…  — Gbinije faked a pass to the wing, cleared space in the middle and hung in the air above the foul line. Then he threw up a floater that nicked the square on the backboard and rolled into the net.

Seconds later, Trevor Cooney stole the St. Bonaventure inbounds pass and a Tyler Lydon 3 stretched Syracuse’s lead to 10 points. The Orange (2-0) then coasted to a 79-66 win over the Bonnies (1-1) on Tuesday night, as Gbinije helped SU bury a lackluster first half and sidestep an early-season letdown.

The senior point guard finished with a game-high 23 points while shooting 8-for-14 from the field, and added six assists and four steals. Thirteen of his points came in the second half, and there’s no coincidence that it brought the Orange to life.

“(Gbinije) was able to get going and get to the basket and was really able to control the tempo,” Cooney said. “I think it’s just great for him to do that, and I think he’ll have the confidence going forward that he can really take over games like that.”

The Bonnies hit a 3, Gbinije picked up a foul and Jim Boeheim subbed him out just four minutes and 39 seconds into the game. It was rare for Gbinije — who played 37 minutes in Syracuse’s opener and 38 on Tuesday — to come out at all, much less before the second media timeout.

But Boeheim didn’t like what he was seeing, and crouched next to Gbinije to let him know.

“It was good coaching. He took me out, gave me an earful and told me what I was supposed to do,” Gbinije said. “Then he put me in for my next opportunity and that definitely got me going.”

First, Boeheim wanted Gbinije to play better defense and keep St. Bonaventure from getting the ball in the middle of the Orange zone. Second, he wanted his most versatile scorer to attack the Bonnies defense and, in turn, create scoring opportunities for his teammates.

That didn’t materialize right away, as Syracuse trudged through the first half and the Bonnies went into the break with a 35-29 lead. But Gbinije, even with three first-half fouls, came out of the break with a full head of steam as Syracuse committed to going to the rim.

With 13:28 left, Gbinije caught a pass on the right wing and hit a 3 to pull SU within five. On the next play, he ran under a Malachi Richardson airball and dunked two-handed to cut the deficit to three. He answered a St. Bonaventure bucket by crossing over his defender and hitting a fadeaway from 18 feet, again cutting the lead to three.

When he put the ball on the floor once Syracuse gained the lead, all five Bonnies hung onto his every move. Three of them collapsed on him around the six-minute mark and he flipped a pass to Richardson. The freshman canned a 3 to bump the Orange lead to six, and Gbinije took it from there.

In the past two years, as Gbinije evolved from off-the-bench wing with long arms to starting point guard with long range, he said he often thought too much. He second guessed passes. He hesitated on his jumper. He confused himself.

Now, Gbinije said, he’s stopped thinking so much and lets the game come to him. He reads situation and reacts. He’s not afraid to make mistakes and, in turn, makes less of them.

And when his team was at risk of falling to a mid-major team in November, he was capable of deciding that wouldn’t be the case.

“I noticed that they were looking to give me the ball,” Gbinije said. “So I stepped up a couple times.”

Published on November 17, 2015 at 9:13 pm

Contact Jesse: jcdoug01@syr.edu | @dougherty_jesse