Jerami Grant said he shot 23-for-25 from the free throw line during practice on Friday.

The next day, though, Grant finished 2-of-6 from the stripe.

“I don’t know what happened,” he said.

Grant wasn’t the exception, though. He was part of an epidemic. No. 9 Syracuse (3-0) shot just 12-of-28 from the line in its 69-50 win over Colgate (0-2). The Orange’s free throw percentage dipped to a dreadful 60.2 on the season.

Saturday’s 42.9-percent performance didn’t cost SU against the Raiders, but it might down the road. The Orange hit 67.5 percent of its free throws last year and 69.8 the season before.

Michael Gbinije shot 5-of-12. DaJuan Coleman was 0-for-3. C.J. Fair missed his only free throw. The only player who converted consistently was Trevor Cooney, who made 5-of-6.

Fair said it’s not something you can really pinpoint. The key is to forget the previous one and move forward. In practice, he said he always has to make 10 in a row before leaving.

But all that practice didn’t translate to the game for Syracuse.

“I missed my one and only free throw,” Fair said, “and that’s something I hate.”

Grant acknowledged that Syracuse hasn’t shot the ball well from the line at all this year. He said he doesn’t know why SU has struggled so far, but he knows the season is still young.

“It’s only been a couple games,” Grant said, “so definitely going forward, it’s going to get better.”

Published on November 16, 2013 at 11:27 pm

Contact Trevor: tbhass@syr.edu | @TrevorHass