Syracuse and Colgate had played 13 times entering Wednesday night. The Orange won each of those matchups while holding the Raiders to less than 40 points five times leading up to their 14th matchup.

The teams last squared off in 2011 and it resulted in an 83-32 Orange victory. Wednesday night’s roster, comprising of nine players in the midst of their first season for SU, maintained the status quo.

Syracuse (9-0) steamrolled Colgate (4-5), 79-39, in the Carrier Dome, for its largest margin of victory of the 2017-18 season. In its last three games against the Raiders, SU has outscored them 237-97. The Orange led every major statistical category including field goals (31-16), rebounds (47-36), steals (9-7), points in the paint (32-20) and blocks (6-3). SU also set a season-high for 3-pointers (13) and matched the Raiders point-total from behind the arc. The win capped off Syracuse’s best start to a season since 2009, when it won its first 12 games.

“We were able to attack their forwards on the baseline and get some open looks early in the game,” Syracuse coach Quentin Hillsman said. “I thought it got us going and got our confidence up. That was the key to the game, we got comfortable.”

Colgate led for 16 seconds thanks to its first possession. Summer King won the jump ball, snagged an offensive rebound and swung it to Tegan Graham who then passed to Nia Ahart who drained a 3 from the wing.

Sixteen seconds later, freshman forward Digna Strautmane launched a 3 from the top of the key, watched it bounce off the rim twice and in to tie the game. Less than a minute later, Strautmane pushed off a defender and drained an elbow jumper. Just like that, SU had a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.

SU led by 17 at the end of the first quarter. Three days earlier, Syracuse had jumped out to an early 13-point lead against Stony Brook in the first quarter before the Seawolves outscored it 23-8 in the second. Against the Raiders, the Orange didn’t let up. It drilled nine 3s in the first 20 minutes of play and went on a 24-6 run of its own.

“When we get ahead like that,” sophomore guard Tiana Mangakahia said. “…We just have to keep pushing.”

For most games this season, Syracuse’s optimal performance meant having 75 to 80 possessions, playing fast, and shooting the ball well. On Wednesday night, SU had 84 possessions and shot 34.2 percent from deep, its second-highest 3-point percentage.

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Most of its 3s were open looks. Instead of driving to the rim, SU passed the ball around the perimeter, drew Colgate’s zone in and flipped passes to the open shooter, much like Stony Brook did to the Orange. With 23 seconds left in the first half, sophomore guard Tiana Mangakahia passed to an open Isis Young who punctuated the half with a 3-pointer and a fist bump.

“We were moving the ball and getting open shots,” Hillsman said. “That’s the big thing for us to make open 3s and we were able to make one more pass and make an extra pass and get really good looks at the rim.”

Coming out of the halftime break, Syracuse continued an early-season trend: Following up explosive offensive quarters with anemic ones. Against Wisconsin on Nov. 23, SU followed up a 27-point second quarter with a 15-point third. The Orange scored 24 in the first and eight in the next quarter in its most-recent game.

The offense cooled after it had extended its lead to 38. The Raiders went on a 9-0 run that resulted in Hillsman burning a timeout. Before Colgate could chip away any further, Syracuse went on a 13-0 run of its own that featured Strautmane converting a layup, Mangakahia nailing a turnaround, off-balance jumper, Gabrielle Cooper hitting a 3 and Jasmine Nwajei scoring six points.

Heading into the fourth, Syracuse needed two 3-pointers to set its single-game high. The first came two-and-a-half minutes into the final frame. Strautmane fired a pass to Nwajei who flipped it to Drummond who hit the corner jumper, just like it had done all night. Five minutes later, Drummond notched another three from the same spot.

“Any time we can get good looks,” Hillsman said. “We have good shooters and they should be able to make those shots and they did that tonight.”

After the teams had cleared the floor, a few Colgate players hung around near the sidelines with their families. Some were clothed in Raider sweaters and jackets and walked to the center court, right near the ‘31’ commemorating Pearl Washington, and posed for a photo. The game had been decided shortly after tip-off and there was nothing left to do but appreciate the environment.

Published on December 6, 2017 at 11:04 pm

Contact Nick: nialvare@syr.edu | @nick_a_alvarez