One game after an offensive dud against Connecticut, Syracuse (6-3) fell one point short of 100 in a 99-77 win over Boston University (4-6) in the Carrier Dome on Saturday afternoon. Three players scored at least 19 points and despite a 34-point day from Cedric Hankerson, the Orange pulled away in the second half and cruised to a win.

Here are three things we learned from Syracuse’s victory.

Jim Boeheim prefers Taurean Thompson over Dajuan Coleman against zones

Despite Dajuan Coleman scoring in double digits in the three games prior to Saturday, the fifth-year senior only played nine minutes against BU. He scored two points and grabbed four rebounds, one game after logging a double-double with 10 points and 16 rebounds against Connecticut.

A combination of Taurean Thompson having a career day and the Terriers playing a zone led to a decrease in Coleman’s minutes

“Even though Dajuan’s been playing well,” SU head coach Jim Boeheim said, “but against zones we’re better with that lineup.”

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MORE COVERAGE:

• John Gillon scores team-high 23 points after emotional week following grandfather’s death
• Taurean Thompson has career day in Syracuse’s 99-77 victory over Boston University
• Afterthoughts: Even after a big win, Syracuse still left wondering how much it can depend on its defense

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Thompson poured in 22 points, second only to John Gillon’s 23. The freshman was effective in operating from the foul line, either catching, turning and hitting a jump shot or distributing out of the high post. Thompson is arguably Syracuse’s best passing big man, so his ability to take care of the ball and also score forced Boeheim’s hand in keeping Coleman on the bench despite his recent hot streak.

Syracuse isn’t forcing as many turnovers as its head coach would like

Both Gillon and Tyus Battle chuckled when they heard how Boeheim characterized Syracuse’s defense.

“We couldn’t lead the local high school league in steals with this team,” Boeheim said. “We can’t get a steal.”

Battle had just finished saying how Syracuse forced a handful of turnovers, and it was almost three handfuls on Saturday. The Orange racked up a season-high 13 steals after only totaling double digits in steals three times in its first eight games.

Still, Boeheim wanted more. His team allowed 77 points, 34 of which came from Hankerson on 10 3-pointers and four free throws. BU zipped the ball around the zone to free up enough space to heave 41 3-pointers, and apparently Syracuse didn’t cut off nearly as many passes as its head coach would’ve liked.

Jacob Greenfeld | Asst. Photo Editor

Syracuse suffers on the boards when it wants to score more

The Orange’s best offensive lineup, at least on Saturday, is with Thompson at center and Tyler Lydon at power forward. With Coleman, Paschal Chukwu and Tyler Roberson on the bench, SU is sacrificing three of its best rebounders in hopes of scoring more with a smaller lineup.

On Saturday, BU outrebounded the Orange, 42-38. No Syracuse player reached double digits on the boards with Thompson leading the team at seven rebounds. On the offensive glass, the Terriers had a 17-9 advantage.

“Our rebounding is not as good when we go smaller,” Boeheim said. “We’ve gotta battle harder on the boards.”

Published on December 10, 2016 at 5:32 pm

Contact Matt: mcschnei@syr.edu | @matt_schneidman