After a slow start, Syracuse outpaced Long Beach State by 18 points on Sunday in the Carrier Dome thanks to Michael Gbinije and Rakeem Christmas. Here are three observations from the Orange’s win over the 49ers.

Wing players stepping up

Syracuse’s early-season offense has been centered around Rakeem Christmas and Chris McCullough throughout the better part of the nonconference season. Trevor Cooney made just 13 of his first 46 3s on the season and Michael Gbinije made three of his first 21.

But on Sunday, that duo combined for 40 points and played the entire game in the 85-67 win. Gbinije’s 24 were a career high, and Cooney continued his resurgence after an atrocious start to his season.

With Syracuse down 21-17 early, the pair hit three 3s — two by Cooney — in the span of 65 seconds to give the Orange a 26-21 advantage, a lead it would hold the rest of the way.

The press paid dividends

Jim Boeheim has been known to employ the press in times of desperation — mainly when SU is down big to teams it shouldn’t be — and he did again today. After a Gbinije jump shot cut the 49ers lead to 14-8, the Orange press forced David Samuels into an errant pass and Christmas turned it into a three-point play.

Cooney forced a turnover just seconds later, and it would turn into a Gbinije layup. Kaleb Joseph converted on a McCullough steal right after as SU completed an 11-0 run.

Tyler Roberson coming up big

The sophomore didn’t get a chance to make much of a difference in the first half, missing his only shot. But when his number got called in the second frame, he played well.

The forward connected on 3-of-6 from the field, including a slam dunk on an outlet pass from Gbinije to put the Orange up 12 with 4:34 to play and on its way to an 18-point victory.

Published on December 28, 2014 at 4:18 pm