Jim Boeheim stormed onto the court and screamed at Baye Moussa Keita.

The senior center had been slow getting back on defense early in the second half of Syracuse’s 70-48 win over Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, and the Eagles capitalized with an easy breakaway dunk.

Boeheim berated Keita all the way from half court to the bench after taking a timeout, where Keita sat down alongside fellow centers DaJuan Coleman and Rakeem Christmas. With Coleman out with a left leg contusion and Christmas coming off what Boeheim called Christmas’ worst half of the year, the moment marked a low point for the three SU centers.

“Going forward, we’re going to miss DaJuan,” SU point guard Tyler Ennis said. “But I think our big men our going to fill his void.”

Syracuse will look for improved play from the group, which will likely be without Coleman again, when the No. 2 Orange (13-0) hosts Miami (8-5, 0-1 Atlantic Coast) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in its first-ever in-conference game as a member of the ACC.

For Christmas, the clear deficiencies are rebounding and defensive positioning. For Keita, it’s his lack of offensive contributions. So without Coleman — whose defense has also been inconsistent despite his thinner frame and quickened foot speed — Keita is Syracuse’s only adequate defensive center and Christmas its only productive offensive one.

If Coleman can’t play, Jerami Grant is expected to start on the wing, while Christmas will make his second consecutive start in the middle of the 2-3 zone.

“We just want to go into the ACC strong, show everyone what we can do,” Christmas said. “A lot of people think we will not do good in the ACC. So we just want to go in there and be strong.”

Christmas matched a career-high with 15 points against the Eagles, but grabbed just three boards in 22 minutes and struggled to keep drivers in front of him while playing both the wing and middle positions in the zone.

He caught and finished a couple lobs from Ennis, but was pulled immediately after a minute-long stretch that included two bad fouls and an irate Boeheim late in the first half.

“There’s more than one or two things (he needs to work on defensively),” Boeheim said. “I don’t have time for that.”

Keita disappeared at times against Eastern Michigan after helping energize the Orange to its 78-62 comeback win over then-No. 8 Villanova last Saturday.

Through SU’s first 12 games, the three centers mixed and matched to hold their weight. But the EMU game was the first where their performance was a more glaring weakness. A better team than the Eagles could take advantage.

The Hurricanes, who are in the middle of a rebuilding year, likely are not that team. However, they are led inside by be senior forward Donnavan Kirk, who averages 9.6 points on 47.7-percent shooting and could exploit SU if it’s without Coleman.

Kirk also grabs 7.3 rebounds and is second in the ACC with 2.2 blocks per game.

“Miami has really improved,” Boeheim said. “They started slow and have a lot of young guys, but have really improved their last few games.”

To keep Kirk and sophomore center Tonye Jekiri in check, the Orange will need consistent production from its centers.

The three have proven they can be successful together, but with Coleman’s status uncertain Christmas and Keita could have more weight to carry.

Kirk and the Hurricanes offer a measuring stick. The centers’ first chance to match up against an ACC frontcourt this year and an opportunity to gain some momentum with SU’s game against No. 19 North Carolina on Jan. 11 quickly approaching.

Center depth could be a strength for the Orange by the end of conference play, or it could rival secondary ball handlers for the team’s biggest question mark.

Said Boeheim: “I think we’ve put ourselves in the best position we could possibly put ourselves in. Now we just start something over where we’re 0-0, and we need to focus on that.”

Published on January 3, 2014 at 4:47 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1