Syracuse shot Colgate out of the Carrier Dome on Tuesday night, making 14-of-30 3s in a 78-51 win over the Raiders. But the Orange (7-2) wasn’t as sharp as a 27-point win may indicate, as the Raiders (2-6) made 10 3s of their own and controlled SU’s frontcourt with no rotational player taller than 6 feet 9 inches.

Here are three things we learned from SU’s uninspiring win, which prevented a three-game losing streak.

1. Syracuse’s best effort is a balanced one, and it starts with Malachi Richardson

Aside from its impressive numbers from deep, the Orange had four double-digit scorers in a tight six-man rotation against the Raiders. More importantly, SU got a near-equal output from Michael Gbinije (17 points), Trevor Cooney (14) and Richardson (17). Those are the team’s only proven scorers, and they naturally create opportunities for one another when they each shoulder a portion of the scoring load.

In a loss to Georgetown on Saturday — an astronomically better defensive team than Colgate — Gbinije led the way with 23 points. But Richardson and Cooney scored a combined 13 points while shooting 4-of-20 from the field and SU lost, 79-72. Richardson was especially bad at 1-for-8, and 0-for-5 from 3 in that game, but helped balance out the box score against the Raiders by regaining his jump shot.

“It just gives us another threat, another worry for the opponent,” Gbinije said of Richardson getting back to form. “The more people we have scoring, the harder it is to key in on one or two guys and it just opens up everything else.”

Instead of picking its poisons with Syracuse’s three scoring threats, Colgate had trouble locking down any of them. But moving forward, simply making shots early in the game will open the floor for all three of these players to operate. With Gbinije and Cooney proving themselves over the last few seasons, Richardson became the key ingredient to the trio’s, and the team’s, offensive success. On Tuesday, he certainly did his part.

“I’m not worried about when I’m missing or making shots,” Richardson said, “I know it’s going to happen anyway. That’s what I do, I’ve been doing it my whole life.”

2. Like Jim Boeheim, Mike Hopkins won’t shy away from a six-man rotation

In his first game as a head coach in the loss to the Hoyas on Saturday, Hopkins played freshman guard Frank Howard for a season-high 13 minutes. The goal was to use Howard’s length to gain extra possessions, and his ability to get to the rim to space the floor. It was also a clear deviation from Boeheim’s tight rotation in SU’s first seven games, which rarely stretched past six players and only saw freshman forward Tyler Lydon get off the bench.

But Hopkins reverted to a six-man rotation against Colgate. Outside of the starting lineup of Gbinije, Cooney, Richardson, Tyler Roberson and Coleman, and Lydon off the bench, four other players played 17 of a possible 200 minutes. That included seven minutes for Howard, five for sophomore guard Kaleb Joseph, four for third-string center Chinonso Obokoh and one for Doyin Akintobi-Adeyeye, who was the first walk-on to play this season.

“I tried to get some of the young guys in the game,” Hopkins said. “It just wasn’t happening, there wasn’t enough energy from them, which I though they would bring.”

Hopkins seems to give players a slightly longer leash on mistakes than Boeheim, notably Coleman and Roberson on defense and off-the-bench guards when they commit turnovers. But he’s not going to play guys just to let them work out kinks, which was evident in his second game as the Orange’s fill-in head coach.

3. Richardson isn’t a one-dimensional shooter

The freshman added another flashy pass to his repertoire on Tuesday, stepping hard to his right before throwing a no-look pass across his body to a cutting Tyler Lydon. Lydon absorbed contact before finishing a layup, and completed a three-point play moments later.

On Syracuse’s first possession of the second half, Richardson took two dribbles into the middle of the paint, drew the attention of Colgate’s matchup zone and dished to Gbinije for an open 3. He finished with three assists, tying his season- and career-high, and showed that he can create shots for his teammates on top of making his own.

Richardson also attacked the basket more in the second half after making three 3s in the first, which showcased his versatility.

“I’ve always been a good passer, it’s just people don’t really talk about it as much,” Richardson said. “I’ve been a good passer and I like passing the ball. I like making the extra pass.”

Published on December 8, 2015 at 11:40 pm