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Syracuse Only Beats Eastern Michigan 84-48 From Now On

The Syracuse Orange improved to 6-0 on the season with a win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles last night.

By Sean Keeley
Nate Shron

So that's weird, right? I can see having the exact same score against an opponent two years in a row if it's like, 50-48. But how in the heck do you beat a team 84-48 two years in a row? That takes talent. Or lack thereof.

The Syracuse Orange improved to 6-0 on the season with a win over the Eastern Michigan Eagles last night and everyone else has already written so many wonderful things about the game, I'm just going to defer to them.

Probably more important than the game itself, Jim Boeheim's Talking Point Memo on strength of schedule and the importance of playing tough November and December slates.


Clearly, Boeheim's been reading or hearing about Syracuse's non-conference schedule gripes from someone (Vitale?)...

Here's a story on the actual game itself, specifically Syracuse's penchant for pressing...

If there was an issue for the Orange, it was turnovers, specifically at the guard level. SU committed 18 turnovers against the Eagles. Michael Carter-Williams had six and Brandon Triche had four. Boeheim doesn't seem worried:

"Michael’s played unbelievably well these first five games and today he made a couple what you would say would be youthful, inexperienced mistakes that we should be expecting," SU coach Jim Boeheim said.

"But he’s a quick learner. He sees his mistakes. Most of his mistakes are from trying to make a real good pass to somebody and those you can live with. But we made some really bad turnovers."

Rakeem Christmas, Baye Moussa Keita and DaJuan Coleman combined for 26 points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots in the win and Boeheim thinks they need to keep working hard, getting better and becoming more of an impact unit:

"I think with Rock and Dajuan, they just gotta keep working every day. They just gotta keep getting better," Boeheim said. "They’re not there. We need them to keep getting better. Their progress is going to determine where we go this year."

Trevor Cooney continues to struggle at times but he's fighting through it, which is a good sign. In eighteen minutes of play, he notched 11 points. In fact, it was a big night for the "rookies" as Jerami Grant poured in 11 and Coleman led the team with 14 points.
"He’s a good shooter. He’s going to make some," SU coach Jim Boeheim said. "I think he got hit on the two that he threw up there that were short. But he’s just gotta keep getting in his spots and get his shot up there. The two fouls shots loosened him up a little bit. His defense has been good. He’s just gotta keep plugging away."

And so, the Orange win their 48th consecutive regular season non-conference game, win their 26th-consecutive home (real home) game and keep chugging along. Up next, Long Beach St. on Thursday.

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