Syracuse had seen what its offense was like without a substantial contribution from Andrew White, and the result was historically bad. The fifth-year senior scored only two points against St. John’s on Dec. 21, and SU endured its worst-ever loss in the Carrier Dome.

White, who leads the Orange with 17.7 points per game, then ripped off a streak of 16 consecutive games with 10-plus points before his next hiccup. This one came against No. 10 Duke on Wednesday, and the result was far from cringe-worthy.

When John Gillon’s banked 3-pointer fell in at the buzzer, no one cared about White’s game-long struggles against Matt Jones’ lockdown defense. The box score showed a win, and more importantly, four other Syracuse players with double-digit points.

“It wasn’t my night,” White said, “and it’s been my night for almost 20 games of the season. … I’m glad that they could take how I was guarded and use it to their advantage.”

In a season full of unexpected turns, SU’s third upset over a Top 10 team was arguably its most stunning feat. The Orange wielded scoring depth that it had only teased up to this point in the season, winning a game in which White and Tyler Lydon combined for their second-lowest point total of the season.

The timing couldn’t have been better for a collective emergence from Gillon, Taurean Thompson and Tyus Battle, and sets Syracuse (17-12, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) up well for a road rematch with No. 7 Louisville (22-6, 10-5) on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“It’s not like I have to find this one person,” Thompson said. “Everybody can do something with the (ball).

“Once we get on a fast break, anybody gets the ball, they’re going to do something with it.”

Given how the 76-72 overtime loss to the Cardinals played out on Feb. 13, SU is going to have to adjust its offensive scheme to beat UofL. The Orange missed 25 3-pointers en route to shooting 24.2 percent behind the arc, including 12 misses from White alone. But he and Lydon, like they usually are, were still the two leading scorers.

If the Orange is going to look inside more against Louisville this time around, gradually the offense will deviate from the norm. Instead of perimeter shots from White and Lydon, the offense will orbit around Gillon’s drives, Battle’s mid-range jumpers and Thompson’s dominant post play.

“If you were to look at our season stats,” White said, trying to construct a scouting report on his own team, “my strategy would be stop (me), show Tyler Lydon some defensive attention and then make everybody else beat you.

“I’m sure that’s what (Duke’s) philosophy was, but those ‘other guys’ beat them.”

In terms of White and Lydon’s supporting cast, no one has surprised more than Thompson. His ability to get to the rim and float short jumpers has led to head coach Jim Boeheim calling him the best interior scorer on the team. The 6-foot-10 freshman is averaging almost 12 points in the Orange’s last five games, finally coupling his scoring with a marked improvement on defense.

Battle is finally recovered from a flu that sapped him of the high energy and shifty play he’s used to exhibiting on the court. Gillon has been completely unpredictable, looking both dreadful and dominant as recently as SU’s last two games.

Given a game-winning, 26-point performance against Duke, there’s some reason to think the pendulum will continue swinging upward for Gillon.

“It’s happened throughout the year,” Lydon said, “guys will step up and come through big. … that’s all you can ask for as long as we’re winning.”

As Syracuse tries to spruce up its NCAA Tournament resume in these final few games, it doesn’t need an offensive hero outside of White and Lydon. SU just needs a little help.

When it got it against the 10th-ranked team in the country, look what happened.

Published on February 25, 2017 at 1:07 pm

Contact Connor: cgrossma@syr.edu | @connorgrossman