Syracuse bounced back from its two-game losing streak with a gritty 71-69 victory over Louisiana Tech on Sunday in the Carrier Dome. Here are three takeaways from SU’s grind-it-out victory.

1. Cooney being Cooney

Trevor Cooney was finally the zeroed-in shooter the Orange needs him to be. The junior guard shot 8-of-18 overall, four of which were from beyond the arc, to provide 25 points for a team that otherwise lacked offense when Rakeem Christmas wasn’t on the floor.

Syracuse entered the game as one of the worst five teams in the nation in 3-point shooting percentage. If it hopes to climb out of those depths, Cooney will need to keep doing what he did Sunday afternoon.

2. Josephs’ ups and downs

As has been the case through the early goings, Kaleb Joseph often played like a freshman. Although he shot 4-of-10 and calmly connected on one of his two 3-point attempts, the young point guard committed eight turnovers. A few of them led to easy Bulldogs baskets at the other end, and more of them resulted in an unpleasant Jim Boeheim reaction.

Most of his mistakes stemmed from being overly aggressive trying to push the pace and attempting ill-advised passes, and a few of his blunders came trying to break Louisiana Tech’s full-court press.

But unlike Syracuse’s loss to St. John’s on Dec. 6, Joseph had earned the right to remain out on the floor in crunch time.

3. Roberson active on the boards

Tyler Roberson picked a good night for his best game of the season. The sophomore forward grabbed 17 rebounds — 11 off the offensive glass alone — and netted 14 points. He supplied Syracuse with plenty of second-chance points on a night when it missed too many shots inside the paint — an unusual trend for this year’s Orange, which usually relies on inside scoring more than outside.

Published on December 14, 2014 at 6:43 pm