Michael Gbinije clanked a step-back 3 with 1:35 remaining in Syracuse’s 24-point win over Holy Cross, but got a wide-open chance 10 seconds later.

It was supposed to be an upbeat finish, but a goose egg still remained in SU’s 3-point shooting column. The crowd rose up, Gbinije stepped into it, fired and held up his follow-through.

Nothing but air. And after walk-on Carter Sanderson’s miss, the Orange finished the game 0-for-14 from beyond the arc.

It ended up not mattering in what was a blowout win over Holy Cross. But SU (5-1) gets another taste of power-five conference competition and a chance to redeem itself from the perimeter when it battles No. 17 Michigan (5-1) at 7:30 p.m. in Ann Arbor, Michigan as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference-Big Ten Challenge on Tuesday.

The Orange has mostly gotten by in the early part of its schedule, but missing 14 3s and making none won’t be an easy recipe for victory against heightened competition.

“You can score 80 or 90 points without making a 3. Without making a 3,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said. “You just have to be better on offense and make the shots that we can make.

“We haven’t shot the ball well from the 3-point line. It is what it is. We have to do what we have to do and score and win.”

Six games in, the Orange has relied on forwards Rakeem Christmas and Chris McCullough to put the ball in the basket. They’ve combined for 46.8 percent of SU’s points.

The Orange now enters the crux of its nonconference schedule and soon, the bodies that will guard and double team Syracuse’s prolific big men will be bigger, stronger and more athletic.

Though Christmas and McCullough’s passing from the post was generally clean early on, it regressed in the 2K Classic. The two forwards combined to commit nine turnovers in SU’s loss to California and win over Iowa the next day.

Now Syracuse takes on a Top 25 team that will collapse inside harder and faster than Holy Cross and Loyola (Maryland) did. Not only will passing from the post be more difficult for the Orange, but getting adequate positioning to begin with won’t be guaranteed, either.

“When you play against a bigger team, it’s going to be harder to put it down low but those guys are good and they work on their game for a reason,” guard Trevor Cooney said of Christmas and McCullough. “You’ve just got to continue to go down to them and if they don’t think they’ll have the right shot, they’ll make the right play.”

To this point, the right play has been to go to the basket and not kick it out to a shooter. Consistent shooting from 3 could help open up SU’s offense, but the Orange is still waiting for that day.

With an 18-for-89 rate from 3-point range six games into the year, Syracuse sits in the bottom five in the country in 3-point shooting percentage.

Cooney’s slump from last year has carried over thus far. Sophomore B.J. Johnson has made just one of his last nine attempts from 3.

Gbinije’s recent play has put him in Boeheim’s doghouse early on. Guard Ron Patterson nailed six 3s in the Orange’s scrimmage victories, but has shot just 1-of-10 since the season started.

“We’ll be fine,” Christmas said. “Our shooters are going to make their shots eventually. They can shoot.”

Until it comes, Syracuse will count on its post play in its half-court sets.

And with bigger, better teams showing up on the calendar, SU point guard Kaleb Joseph held off on predicting how effectively the guards will feed the post, or the post will feed the guards.

Said Joseph: “We won’t know until we get there.”

Published on December 2, 2014 at 12:34 am

Contact Phil: pmdabbra@syr.edu | @PhilDAbb