Midway through the second half, Dajuan Coleman backed down Abdul-Malik Abu, pushed him through the paint and spun around to hit a jumper while getting fouled. He went to line, knocked that down, too, and extended Syracuse’s lead to 13.

Flashes of what Coleman could do resurfaced as he further cemented Syracuse’s lead. Those flashes didn’t last for more than a few moments at a time, but he did just enough to help secure the Orange’s lead.

Some rebounds bounced away and he eventually fouled out, but his performance was already enough by then. Coleman racked up seven points and seven rebounds, giving Syracuse a boost in the frontcourt in a 75-66 win. His play wasn’t dazzling, but without Tyler Roberson on the court for much of the game, Coleman got the job done.

“He’s battling,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “He’s doing the best he can out there.”

Syracuse (19-10, 9-7 Atlantic Coast) fended off several North Carolina State (14-15, 4-12) runs to hold onto its lead, which it had for the final 34 minutes of the game, allowing Coleman to stay in the game. After missing the past two seasons because of injury and slowly progressing for much of the nonconference season, Coleman turned in a steady performance on Saturday in the Carrier Dome. Except this time, he stayed on the court for a career-high 35 minutes.

The Wolfpack lead the conference in offensive rebounds with an average of 14.3 per game and Coleman helped limit that to nine even as the Orange lost the rebounding margin by just two, 38-36. In its last two games, SU got outrebounded by 11 and 20 against Louisville and Pittsburgh, respectively. Coleman only played in about half of each of those games as Syracuse trailed most of the time.

“Every time I go in I just want to make my presence felt,” Coleman said. “If that’s pushing the big men around making them uncomfortable, that’s why I try to do.”

Defensively, Coleman’s presence upgraded Syracuse against N.C. State’s big men, Abu and BeeJay Anya. Offensively, he allowed Tyler Lydon to stretch to the outside and attempt seven 3s.

On several occasions, the ball bounced through Coleman’s hands. He could have had more rebounds, Boeheim said, he just couldn’t jump high enough. He could have scored another layup, but he fumbled a Frank Howard pass out of bounds. Still, on a day highlighted by Michael Gbinije’s 34 points in his last regular season home game, Coleman’s play showed tangible improvement from just a few months ago.

“He’s starting to get in a rhythm,” Howard said, “… and just be more comfortable.”

At the beginning of the season, Boeheim stressed that it would take time for Coleman to round into shape. In a Dec. 3 loss to Wisconsin, Coleman only played five minutes and questioned if Boeheim trusted him after the game.

On Saturday, Coleman showed it was all in the past.

“Getting down there and rebounding the ball, giving a lot of effort and making key stops,” Coleman said. “That was the game plan.”

After the game, Coleman stood at his locker straining to keep his right eye open. Just underneath it was a stitched up gash he suffered in the closing minutes of the game when an N.C. State player elbowed him.

Just as his 35 minutes showed he has Boeheim’s trust, his gash showed it wasn’t easy. But against two of the stronger big men in the conference, Coleman did what he had to.

“He’s a big guy,” Boeheim said, “and we needed another big guy out there.”

Published on February 27, 2016 at 6:34 pm

Contact Paul: pmschwed@syr.edu | @pschweds