No. 23 Syracuse opened up its season with an 89-42 rout of Kennesaw State on Friday night in the Carrier Dome. Here are a few quick thoughts from the blowout.

B.J. Johnson can play
And score. With the Syracuse bench shortened by Michael Gbinije’s absence, Johnson played 14 minutes of the first half and was the team’s co-leading scorer with 11 points at the break.

He added six rebounds and a pair of assists, committing his lone turnover on an outlet pass intended for Trevor Cooney off of a rebound.

The sophomore forward’s career-high scoring night of 19 points and eight rebounds started with 14:30 left in the first half when he came in for Tyler Roberson and gave the Orange a boost with four points in a 39-second span in the middle of the first half.

When Cooney and backup center Chinonso Obokoh left the floor with about a minute and a half left to make way for SU’s walk-ons, Johnson left with the regulars.

Christmas is playing like he should
When he’s on the court, Christmas is proving himself to be a threat offensively. He’s demanding the ball now and taking his man to the hoop almost every time he gets it in the paint.

Early in the second half he directed the offense from the top of key. His first half was reduced to just 10 minutes on the floor after he picked up his second foul with 12:07 left in the first half.

After Kennesaw State’s 6-foot-10 center Willy Kouassi was whistled for his third foul just three minutes and 18 seconds into the second half, Christmas continued to do what he pleased to KSU’s defense.

Christmas finished with 21 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes of play.

Patterson is PG3
Kaleb Joseph played limited minutes after appearing to roll his ankle early in the game. With Gbinije out, that left Ron Patterson to run the point when Joseph left the game.

It didn’t matter too much as Syracuse’s stifling zone defense turned the second half into a series of Orange fast breaks only interrupted by SU dominating in the paint.

He did throw a transition pass over Cooney and Jim Boeheim’s head with 1:41 to play, but the Orange already led by more than 40 at that point.

In conclusion, we now know who Boeheim’s third-choice point guard is.

Published on November 14, 2014 at 9:36 pm